"A sweet tale of finding hope and redemption in unlikely places"

Jack Torres' partner on Border Patrol has recently been killed. This tragedy causes Jack to lose all faith and has turned him into a man whose only goal is vengeance. Now Jack's mission has brought him to Ft. Worth, Texas, to go deep undercover and try to find the men running trade in illegal immigration across the border from Mexico. He never expects that his mission will lead him to the one person who can help him find his trust in God once more.

Meg St. John is a landscape designer who doesn't like the INS because they are always causing problems for her crew. She is too kind and innocent to realize what is happening right under her nose. Meeting Jack has put her in danger and affected her more than she'd like. Someone knows Jack's secret and will stop at nothing to prevent him from fulfilling his mission. Will his new found faith in his Savior be enough to save him and Meg? What of the slowly blossoming relationship between Jack and Meg? Will she still care for him when she knows the truth about his identity?

Under Cover of Darkness by Elizabeth White is a sweet tale of finding hope and redemption in unlikely places. Meg's faith in God is an inherent part of her being and shows itself in every single aspect of her life. It makes her the strong, happy woman she is and provides her with everything she needs. Jack's arrival in her life shakes things up a bit for her, but she helps him to discover what is most important in life. Without this aspect of the story, it would have been very different, and probably not as heart warming.

The idea of basing a story on the unfortunate practice of running what amounts to nothing more than slave labor through illegal immigration is an intriguing one. This subject matter provides the suspense that runs through the story. Readers are kept guessing as to who exactly the enemies are, and how much they know about Jack's mission. This reviewer thought she had the villain pegged, only to find out in the end she couldn't have been more wrong. The necessity of Jack keeping his cover provides plenty of tension between him and Meg, as she tries to come to terms with who she thinks he is. Jack is torn over his attraction to Meg. He knows what happened to his late partner's family and does not want to put someone else through that agony.

Under Cover of Darkness is sure to appeal to readers who love a sweet story of love and have their own strong faith in God. One will come to understand, if they don't already realize, that all anyone has to do is trust in God and He will bring them through the strongest of tribulations. Faith is all that is required for people to find what they need most.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, December 2005. All rights reserved.

Reviewed by Kelley Hartsell
Courtesy Love Romances
Posted July 9, 2006

Summary

As landscape architect Meg St. John struggles with difficulties on a career-making project, she is befriended by Jack Torres. Unbeknownst to Meg, Jack is a border patrol agent working undercover to break up a smuggling gang within Meg's company -- a situation that soon puts them both in grave danger.