Shades of Truth, by Sandra Orchard (Love Inspired, 2012)
Kim Corbett works with her brother Darryl at Hope Manor, the youth detention centre founded by their dying father. This is a Christian facility, and it’s recently lost the government funding required to keep in operation. Kim’s so desperate to get the funding back, she won’t say anything that could bring bad press—even if it means keeping quiet when a former resident nearly runs her down.
Ethan Reed was recruited from Toronto’s city police to go undercover at the centre as a new employee. One of the workers is setting the youth up as drug dealers when they get out. And at least one of the small town’s own officers is likely involved.
This is a rough assignment for Ethan, because he’s a former young offender himself. His past lets him bond with the kids, but it brings back a lot of pain he thought he’d already dealt with. Falling for Kim doesn’t make things any easier when he’s convinced himself he doesn’t deserve love and happiness.
Shades of Truth is the second novel in Sandra Orchard’s Undercover Cops series, set in the same town of Miller’s Bay, and readers of the first book will recognize Kim’s friend Ginny, the previous heroine.
It’s a fast-paced read, with believable characters. I like how we get to see the young offenders as real people and not just trouble-waiting-for-a-way-to-happen, and how we see Kim and Ethan each struggling with their own areas of growth.
Shades of Truth will be on-shelf in stores for early March 2012, so now’s the time to get your copy the easy way. If you miss it there, it’ll still be available online in print and ebook formats.
Canadian author Sandra Orchard’s next Love Inspired novel will be Critical Condition, releasing October 2012. You can visit her website, and be sure to check out the fun “extras” for readers of Deep Cover. Sandra blogs at Conversations About Characters, and there’s an interesting interview with Sandra at Fiction Finder and another at Canadian Christians Who Write.