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Angel Buchanan is an investigative reporter with an interesting story to do. She had been looking for her father for years. He abandoned her and her mother when she was just four years old. She’s just discovered that the late “Artist of the Heart”, Stephen Whitney, was her father. This successful artist is a man famous for his family values. That thought nearly makes Angel choke, as she still hasn’t gotten over never being able to get to know him. Also, Angel and her mother lived a rough and difficult life, and for that Angel blames her father.
Stephen has recently been killed, and the paper Angel works for wants to write up a big story on him. Angel will write the story all right. She’ll go to his family, learn all about Stephen and his life, and expose his secret. However, things don’t quite go as planned when Angel arrives for the funeral. She firsts meets a young, distraught teen, who was Stephen’s daughter. Then, she meets Stephen’s widow, and her twin sister, who seems to be grieving far more than the widow. Most exciting of all, Angel meets Cooper Jones, Stephen’s brother-in-law, who Angel soon realizes is the famous C.J. Jones, a lawyer who all but dropped out of sight.
While Angel is getting the scoop on Stephen, she’d like to get the scoop on Cooper, in more ways than one. Cooper and his family all live at a retreat, amongst monks, and this is where this story takes a humorous turn. The retreat is a sanctuary, with quite a few rules – no electricity, no cell phones, and no talking! Let’s not forget meat and caffeine – they are not allowed either! This is so not Angel. All this for a story? Yet she stays, and the longer she does, she realizes that the enigmatic Cooper is a man she’s finding harder and harder to resist.
Angel learns so much while at the retreat, including getting to know the family she never knew she had, although she isn’t ready tell them who she actually is. Cooper is wonderful. He guards his secrets, and that of his family well, and is the ultimate protector. Yet, he can’t maintain full guard or protection over his heart. This is where the story takes another turn. Two people you just know are good for each other, yet fight their passions, their desires. You want to say: Tell him. Or Tell her. This is a couple the reader will want to see together, secrets or no secrets.
Ms. Ridgway certainly captured my attention with DO NOT DISTURB. Rich with main and secondary characters who each add a delicious mix to a delightful story. The romance takes place at a nice pace, all the while secrets are slowly being revealed. The conclusion was tense, and I love how it caught me off-guard. Yet it left me with a “feel good” feeling. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Ridgway.
Reviewed by Robin Taylor
for The Road to Romance
May 28, 2004
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