"Fascinating, well-plotted romantic suspense."

Dane White Eagle is working undercover to discover the location of Bobby and Leland Big Elk's lab where they manufacture tainted Ecstasy that is killing the people. Bobby is in prison on an unrelated charge. Leland lives on the Cold Creek Indian Reservation and is very interested in dating Dane's mother. While Dane longs to warn his mother away from the man, to do so would ruin a long-running investigation.

When Dane's young sister is murdered, Dane and the FBI agents he is working with set it up as a mercy killing. With the unknowing help of an ambulance chasing lawyer and the testimony of Dr. Claire Colby, Dane is quickly convicted and sent to prison, where he gets close to Bobby Big Elk. Maybe too close. Dane is attacked and stabbed by another prisoner and finds himself under the care of the very woman whose testimony helped land him in prison.

Seeking a change in her life, Claire decides to leave emergency work and takes a job on the Cold Creek Indian Reservation with the Indian Health Service. She is stunned when Dane walks into her clinic one day, a free man, having been released on a "technicality". He has returned to the reservation in order to keep an eye on Leland Big Elk. Despite the fact she testified at his trial, Claire felt there was always more going on, and was relieved when Dane returns home. She's willing to help Dane in whatever way she can, but even she isn't in on the whole story of what's happening on the reservation.

Ms. Aitken has created a fascinating page turner in SECRET SHADOWS. Her characters are likable and full of depth and she gives a peek into the proud culture of the Lakota people. This is a well-plotted, character driven story. I couldn't put this one down until I'd turned the final page!

Reviewed by Paula Myers
Posted November 17, 2004

Summary

What happens when undercover FBI agent Dane White Eagle is

What happens when beautiful trauma doctor Claire Colby is the best witness against Dane that the prosecuting attorney has?

Hiding his work on a drug sting with the FBI from his friends and family isn't the most difficult thing Dane White Eagle has done. But, allowing himself to be convicted for his twelve-year old sister's murder and falling in love with the woman who helped put him in prison certainly is.

As Assistant Director of the Trauma Department at Pennington Hospital, Dr. Claire Colby has dedicated her life to healing the sick and wounded. She never imagined that learning to trust her heart and falling in love with Dane White Eagle, a convicted murderer from Cold Creek Reservation, would be the most magnificent healing of all.