Keeper of the Bride by Tess Gerritsen

I've always been a big Tess Gerritsen fan.  This is a book from her early days in her transition to mystery.  She previously wrote romance, and you can see that in her early mystery books.

The story starts with Nina at a church.  It's her wedding day, and she's all dressed to walk down the aisle.  Everything goes wrong though when she is handed a note from her fiance saying "Sorry, I need some time to think."  Naturally she's a mess when she realizes she's been left at the alter.  Everyone leaves and the priest is taking her home when the church explodes.  Sam, the detective from the bomb squad, is the lead investigator.  It doesn't take them long to realize that the bomb was meant to kill Nina, and she's in danger.  Her family isn't much help due to all the strained relations between them, so it falls to Sam to keep her safe.  At the same time, he's trying to figure out who wants her dead, and why these bombs have an identical signature to earlier crimes.

Once the story started it moved at a fast pace, and there were plot twists every few pages.  It definitely keeps the reader interested.  There are really 2 story lines to this book.  The first and more prevalent romantic story line is between Nina and Sam.  Nina starts to fall for Sam, but he pushes her away since he's afraid she just has "white knight" syndrome.  The second story line involves the bombings.  The bomb signature matches that of a previous bomber that's assumed dead.  The detectives work on trying to find out if there's an apprentice, and what the identical bombs mean for Nina.

The book was the high action you expect from Tess Gerritsen, but it definitely had a touch more romance than her more recent books.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, I actually thought it brought more to the story.  But if you're reading this expecting a Rizzoli & Isles type book, you'll be left wanting.  If you are a Sandra Brown fan on the other hand, this is right up your alley.

<3, jacq