Black Hills. Nora Roberts

Black Hills
Nora Roberts
Published: Doubleday Book Clubs
Date: 2009
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 538
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Source: Own book

Lil Chance fell in love with Cooper Sullivan pretty much the first time she saw him, an awkward teenager staying with his grandparents on their cattle ranch in Montana while his parents went through a messy divorce. They spent every summer together, trekking in the Black Hills, tracking cougar and falling in love. Then Cooper broke her heart and moved back to New York City.

Ten years later and Cooper has given up his job in the police force to run the ranch after his grandfather is injured in a fall. Lil has stayed true to her love of cougars and of the Black Hills and opened an animal sanctuary. She has been targeted by animal rights campaigners in the past but this time someone seems intent on murder. As hikers are killed, animals mutilated and a family member goes missing, Lil knows that she has no choice but to turn to Cooper for help in her fight for survival ...

I know I've come late to Black Hills by Nora Roberts, I've had it sitting there on audio for awhile but as I am not so fond of male narrators I picked this book up cheaply at last year's Fair and so have just enjoyed the read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and read through it quickly in a couple of days.  As always Nora Roberts includes a good romance, great characters, interesting suspense, fun dialogue and as well this time, added in wild animals and a wild life refuge.

Lil and Cooper have been friends since childhood, when Cooper came to his grandparents farm for the summer, as a young New Yorker, and not at all comfortable with the life in the back blocks. However over time that changed and he came to appreciate life there.  After a time of courtship in their early twenties Lil and Cooper parted ways.  While Lil did not appreciate this, it was necessary for both of them.

Lil goes on to become an expert in her field and sets up a wild life refuge, not far from her parents' farm.  She has a passion for this field and I enjoyed learning some details about the various animals housed there - bobcats, cougars, an old tiger and a whole lot more.  Especially delightful was the relationship Lil had with Baby, a cougar who could have chosen the wild, but elected in no uncertain terms to stay with Lil.

There are some nasty murders in the story and ultimately this murderer has his sights on Lil, the suspense builds slowly as the story of Lil and Cooper plays out.  When the final part came of course Lil wins out with a little help from her friends.