When Marlee Frampton lost her twin sister to a murder/ kidnap when she was pregnant with Marlee's niece, she made it her life's work to catch the murderer/baby thief.
She worked hard for 10 long years and thinks she finally has a chance to catch them.
Cooper Owens knows his friends would never adopt a black market baby, so when he finds out what Marlee is up to, he and his friends make it their mission to help. They knew that these were dangerous people, but they didn't know how dangerous. As they found out more and more about the ring, more bodies turned up, and several of the people helping Marlee were viciously attacked.
Marly and Owen got very close, so close they never wanted to be separated, but was it possible? Could they stop the baby ring without any else dying? Can they build a life together?
Ms. Grant weaves a tale of intrigue, with strong families and friendships. She also injects a hot and steamy love story in her tale of mystery. I highly recommend it to lovers of cowboy intrigue and smokin' hot romance.
I requested and received a NetGalley Arc to peruse gratis and offer my opinion in the same.

The story of Cooper and Marlee
They meet when she is in town investigating his friends. The story is emotional at times and not quite what I expected, bu a good read.

I adore Donna Grant and the stories and characters she creates!
I enjoyed getting back to previous characters from other books in this series. However, the main topic in this book of abducted infants, pregnant mothers murdered and their babies cut from the womb to be sold to the highest bidder was an extremely difficult one to read about. When I read, I submerge myself in the storyline and this one was difficult. Not even the building relationship between Marlee and Cooper could pull me out of the sickening and disturbing topic. Marlee hunting down the people killing pregnant women, avenging her sister and finding her niece is how she meets Cooper and his friends and family. The storyline started off strong but then Stella and her weird sudden consciousness toward killing people especially Marlee was just strange. Then there was the paragraphs that just ended with one character and started in with another character and situation, that was confusing and not a smooth flow reading. The the story wraps up quickly, not all questions answeted, Hea no epilogue the end.
Not my favorite book by this author but I will continue reading her books.

After her pregnant sister was murdered, the baby cut from her and sold, Marlee left her job as a police officer and became a PI spending the next ten years searching for her stolen niece and the ones who killed her sister and the crooked adoption agencies responsible for so many of these atrocities. She meets Cooper Owens when her investigation leads her to Texas and to the Harpers who just adopted a newborn. Cooper, the Harpers, the Easts (whom we’ve met and enjoyed in previous Heart of Texas novels) join forces with Marlee to help in her investigation and Cooper falls for the beautiful and hard-working PI and sparks fly.

Suspense and romance make for a great weekend of reading in this latest Heart of Texas novel from Donna Grant. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC to enjoy and review.

The book begins with a horrific crime. It has been 10 years since Marlee's pregnant twin sister was murdered. In her 8th month the baby was ripped from her body and kidnapped. As a private investigator Marlee has made it her mission to find out who committed the crime. This leads her to Clearview, Texas where she meets Cooper. While his friends have just adopted a.baby, Marlee believes they may have adopted a stolen baby. With Cooper's help they begin their investigation and while doing so their relationship heats up. What we have here is a novel high in suspense and a bit of romance. High in emotion, this is a book you cannot put down. I have never read anything by Donna Grant before, but this won't be my last.

Loved this book. The characters, the storyline, the challenges met by Marlee, Cooper and friends.

Why do things alone when there are people who will help? That's a question Marlee will have to answer during her journey.

Tissues may be needed but there will also be lots of emotions through this book. Plus I want to read Jace's story next.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of my favorite series and guarantees suspense, surprise and sexiness.

The beginning of this Book starts with an event that sparks Marlee Frampton with a passion to fight for a cause and get justice. The last ten years she has spent tracking a crime ring of baby snatchers and corrupt adoptions. Her search has led her to Clearview, Texas and the famous East/Harpers and their band of friends. (You'll definitely want to read the other books in this series if you haven't- they are great!)

Marlee has done her due diligence on the background of this group and thinks an "in" with the group might be easy with sexy Cooper Owens. Cooper is taken with the beautiful Marlee but soon realizes that she is out for something else- more than just a dinner date. With Cooper burned and Marlee shooting herself in her own foot as they say, it's going to be a hard, long journey to figure out the clues that brought her to town. Marlee is smart and brilliant, but most of all has a story that aligns her with the group and they soon are backing her on the mission.

I loved Marlee and Cooper together- they seem meant to be so that's always a sign of good writing. The suspense and twist and turns in this story made for a very suspenseful and entertaining read. While you remain focused on the main mission, the secondary characters keep you entertained along with Cooper and Marlee. Of course, I can't help but wonder which gets the next story- Jase hopefully.

I really enjoyed the story. It was detailed and intriguing. I felt let down a tad at the rushed Epilogue but know that with the detail of the story it probably called for a shorter Epilogue.

This book was so boring to me. I didn't feel the connection between the main characters, and while I sympathized with Marlee's drive to help people in similar situations as the one she found herself when her sister was murdered, it didn't go beyond that. In fact, we don't find out anything about her niece, whether she's alive or not, and I think the synopsis leads us to believe that there would be a resolution to her case.
The romance was just, overall, wishy-washy, nothing really gripped me or made me interested.

Donna Grant books - in whatever genre are always my favorites! I have loved this series about a very tightly knit group of friends and family in Texas. I am very glad she is giving Cooper a story - and hopefully Jace next! Cooper is the quintessential good guy. He is always first in line to help his friends - especially his best friend Jace. Cooper lost his father when he was a teenager and was raised by his mother (and Jace's parents). The death of his father resulted in a large insurance payout. He and his mom have used the proceeds to invest and as a result - don't really need to work. Cooper has worked hard at helping his friends and filling the gaps for his community.

Marlee is a cop, turned private investigator whose mission in life is to find missing infants. She focuses on those that are kidnapped after they have been forcibly cut from their mother's body, with their mother being left for dead. She is passionate and driven. She went down this path after her sister was murdered for the kidnapper to take hr infant niece.

The entire concept is horrifying and all too real. Marlee is focused on Cooper's close friends who have just adopted an infant boy. She believes they may be involved in an off the books adoption - not knowing that something like that would never happen with these people. Marlee decides to approach Cooper as a means to getting information about his friends. That goes over about as well as you'd expect - but Cooper is still incredibly drawn to Marlee. Although its never really stated - it is pretty much love at first sight for both of them.

One of the things I appreciated most about this book - is that the level of drama between Cooper and Marlee is very low - especially in consideration of the things going on around them. I really loved both characters - and it was nice to not see them let their walls come up or really commit to paths that kept them apart. I liked seeing the possible path for the stories of the other unattached characters in the series to go down. I can't wait for more!

Overall - this is a great series and this book is a star!

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

I couldn't put this book down. I was waiting for every little twist and turn in the story. Marlee and Cooper's relationship was filled with every emotion possible to relate to. I liked how there was enough back story to all the characters and how they intertwined with each other. I can't wait for future books with their story and happily ever after.

ARC received for review

Another great book in this series. I loved Cooper in the previous books, and he was great in this one too. Marlee was a little confusing at times. Then the bad guys were all over the place and one was really, really nasty.

There were a couple story lines that weren't wrapped up [ where was the missing baby boy and where was her sister (hide spoiler)].

I can't wait for the next book, and I hope it's Jace's. Bless his heart what he went through in his past.

Wow, this book grabbed my attention from the very first page and kept me hooked until the very last page. This is a romance woven within a horrific story of baby's being stolen from their mother's womb. When Marlee rolls into Clearview hot on the trail of a missing baby, she believes that Coopers friends may have adopted a stolen baby. Cooper, despite his attraction to Marlee, can't believe it of his friends. Before long, they're working together to learn if the baby is stolen as well as tracking down the group responsible for such horrific crimes.

As they investigate, Cooper and Marlee's romance begins to sizzle, even as obstacles are thrown in their way. I loved the characters and found myself totally engrossed in their story and invested in their getting a HEA ending - I couldn't put this book down.

This one is a must read for fans of the genre, however, just be aware that the crimes described are horrific. I am a fan of the author and have her on my must read authors' list. While this is part of a series, this is a stand alone novel, however, it's so good that you really owe it to yourself to read them all.