The Groom (Altar-ed Destinies #2)

INTERRACIAL:  Accomplished cardiothoracic surgeon Lyle Cummings lives a fairly stolid, orderly life until the day he is left standing at the altar.  Just when his world is crashing down around him, he meets Katrina Giordano, a feisty and carefree singer who shows him a zest for life that he didn't know he was missing. Katrina is the daughter of a powerful and dangerous man, and she's always been caught in the middle of his turf wars.  Now the men who stole the life of her brother and mother are after her, but she's determined to stay out from under her father's influence. Meeting and falling for a rich and rigidly disciplined surgeon wasn't in her plans, but Katrina and Lyle find in each other a passion and sense of belonging that can't be denied. 

This opposites-attract story packs a powerful and unexpected emotional punch!  This remarkably different couple meshed so well; they each filled a need in the other, and this aspect of the story was beautifully told.  Not only do Lyle and Katrina give each other passion, but the writing is so evocative and compelling that it's obvious to the reader that they belong together for a myriad of reasons.  Amid the pressures of high society and a high-stress job, and stuck in the middle of a mafia-like war, their romance was the calm in the storm. This was at times a tearjerker, at times devastatingly sexy, and still others fast paced and exciting.  Above all, though, this was a believable, wholly memorable love story!

Nicole Duke