Two Hearts Denied — Lyn Cote

Each bearing a different painful past-Claire, a lovely, young lawyer and Ryker, a hardened detective--what can break the barriers that stand between them and a future together?

Brand-new lawyer, Claire Oberlin, wishes she could put the past behind her. She hasn't been able to rid herself of feelings for her best friend's husband. They dated in high school and she never completely got over him. When they host a party at their place to celebrate her passing the bar exam, something unexpected and horrible happens. Her best friend's husband never turns up. And within midnight hours his abandoned truck is found near a Chicago area forest preserve.

Ryker O'Neil, the detective who finds the truck, leads the investigation. Has the man disappeared of his own accord or has he been kidnapped? As this mystery proceeds, Claire and Ryker are thrown together over and over. Ryker has his own secret freezing his emotions in the past. And he believes that the missing husband has disappeared of his own accord -- something Claire vehemently disagrees with. Will he be found and prove which one's right? And will both Claire and Ryker be able to put away their pasts and win a future together?