Sara Walsh is facing two major fears: one from her past and one from her present. She is struggling not to fall for the man who is protecting her from the danger that lurks in the shadows. What lies there is her darkest fear from her past, a man who is intent on killing the one witness who will be his downfall—Sara.  

As part of the witness protection program, Sara has come a long way in her life, succeeding as an author and living in peace thanks to the help of her brother, Dave. All she longs for is a normal life and the freedom that comes with it, instead of constantly being guarded and living in fear that lurking around the next corner may be downfall.

But what Sara hadn’t anticipated is getting stuck in an elevator with Adam Black, the ex football player who is trying to build a life beyond the gridiron. When the circuit blows and darkness settles in, Sara panics. Feigning a simple fear of the dark, she’s surprised by her reaction to Adam’s attempts to comfort her and put her at ease. And Adam is also taken aback by his own reaction as he quickly falls under the spell of this beautiful, mysterious and evidently haunted woman who ironically checks all the boxes on his list for the perfect wife.

This book is the prequel in the O’Malley series by Dee Henderson. I happened upon and read another in the series years ago and enjoyed it immensely, however I couldn’t remember the title, only the author. So I unearthed the series and decided to read this collection straight through.

What brought Danger in the Shadows into my “Books I Love” category was of course the occupation of the protagonist. Sara is a children’s book author. Props there! One of the ways that Sara is working through her fears and survivor guilt is writing children’s books under a pseudonym. And when she is finally able to write the true story of losing her sister, she lets go of some of the pain by sharing her burden with the world. That was a very intriguing element to this plot.

While this is classified as an “inspirational romance,” it’s not overloaded with spirituality so it should appeal to all audiences interested in romantic suspense. Still there is a true theme of faith that both main characters cling to throughout the grim reality of their shared circumstances—facing down a killer from Sara’s past. That overarching plot will let you know this is one of the many books by Dee Henderson that I would describe as raw, complex, adventurous and addictive.