The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzman

The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads: Kristen Heitzmann Delivers Powerful New Romantic Suspense 
Morgan Spencer has had just about all he can take of life. Following the tragic death of his wife, Jill, he retreats to his brother's Rocky Mountain ranch to heal and focus on the care of his infant daughter, Olivia. Two years later, Morgan begins to make plans to return to his home in Santa Barbara to pick up the pieces of his life and career. 
Quinn Riley has been avoiding her past for four years. Standing up for the truth has forced her into a life of fear and isolation. After a "chance" first meeting and a Thanksgiving snowstorm, Quinn is drawn into the Spencer family's warm and loving world, and she begins to believe she might find freedom in their friendship. 

The man Quinn helped put behind bars has recently been released, however, and she fears her past will endanger the entire Spencer family. As the danger heightens, she determines to leave town for the sake of the people who have come to mean so much to her. 

Fixing problems is what Morgan Spencer does best, and he is not willing to let Quinn run away, possibly into the clutches of a man bent on revenge. But Morgan's solution sends him and Quinn on an unexpected path, with repercussions neither could have anticipated.
My thoughts: The overall storyline was intriguing and there was solid character development. Other reviews I read mentioned the unbelievably of events but that wasn't what bothered me. It's fiction, after all, and I was more concerned about developing relationships which was well done.

The book was good but not great. At times it dragged and included superfluous scenes which had to struggling to continue on. My biggest irritation was the pronouns used where proper nouns were needed. With so many people in a scene, "he" or "she" did not clearly identify characters. Also, point of view flip flopped too quickly to keep up. What really bothered me was the inconsistent verb tense. Coupled with lack of proper nouns, I finished the book ambivalently.

 *I received a free copy of this book from publishing company in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.