Close Encounters by Sandra Kitt

Description from Goodreads

Hailed by E. Lynn Harris as a “bold and imaginative” tale that is “sure to keep readers turning the pages,” Sandra Kitt’s interracial love story presents a man and a woman whose fates are changed forever by a random act of violence

Lee Grafton is a divorced cop and the father of a teenage girl. Carol Taggart is a newly single professor. Their lives collide one night when Carol is caught in the crossfire of an undercover drug sting gone south. Shot and seriously wounded, she finds an unexpected friend in Lee . . . unaware that the man she’s falling for could be the shooter.

Twenty years on the street do nothing to prepare Lee for the night that changes his life. Determined to make amends, the special-operations lieutenant finds himself irresistibly drawn to Carol. But Lee soon faces a new threat. With his career and heart on the line, he races to prevent Carol from becoming a victim once again.

Passionate and bold, Close Encounters shatters myths about race, gender, and love.

I gave this book four stars out of five

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It had a fast paced plot, with numerous twists and turns along the way. There are a number of interesting subplots that bleed into the action of the main plot, that are all tied up nicely before the final resolution of the story.

This book was a great romance, but it was so much more than simply that. This book had many of the elements of a great crime story. In addition it dealt with a number of difficult topics of an interracial nature.

The action began almost immediately, and set the stage for the development of the remainder of the story. The main characters were all introduced, in some way, in the first few pages of the book. The characters were interesting and the author made them very believable, through great description and the use of ordinary language and dialogue.

I particularly enjoyed the treatment of the burgeoning relationship between Lee and Carol, as the revelation of his involvement in her situation was revealed. The trials and tribulations that the two were subjected to, in order to be together, and for their relationship to progress, gave the story significant interest and provided adversity and challenge for each of the main characters.

The ancillary characters were also well developed and provided additional interest, both in their involvement to the main plot, and in their own right.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a clever romance, that is not just a straightforward love story. If you enjoy reading about two people having to struggle and overcome hardship, simply in order to be together, then this would certainly be a great book to read.

This review was based on a review copy provided by Netgalley and the publisher Open Road Media as part of the Retro Reads Program.