I just turned the last page of Virginia Kantra’s latest offering, after reading it in one sitting, and thought, “Ms. Kantra is going to the top.”

Maddox Palmer was the bad boy of the small town of Cutler, North Carolina. Called “Mad Dog” because of his skill on the football field, the name stuck through the years for those who considered him a delinquent – which is what he was in his teens, even though his father was Cutler’s Chief of Police. Now a cop with the Atlanta Police Department, he’s come home for a few weeks after being gone for twelve years. He’s been suspended for shooting a teenager in the line of duty. Of course Maddox (MD for short) is taken by surprise when he learns Ann Barclay Cross, the girl of his adolescent fantasies, has been convicted of a crime and is in the middle of a dirty divorce from her abusive husband Rob, Cutler’s golden boy.

Ann is a wounded woman, though strong in her determination to protect her nine-year-old son, Mitchell. But she’s soft and insecure on the inside, and Maddox sees right through her outward displays of defensiveness when she pushes him away. She’s determined to get her life back and live it for herself. Maddox has plans to make her his, to comfort her wounds and protect her, to get beneath that shield of courage she’s built around herself, and stay there.

This book is a contrast between the softness of romance – the growing love, the gentleness, goodness, displays of affection, and hope for a wonderful future – and the harshness of the physical brutalities of the outside world, even those hidden behind closed doors. And Ms. Kantra handles it beautifully. My quibbles with it are so minor they’re not even worth mentioning. The characters are well-fleshed and interesting, the romance sparkles, and the “feel” of a small southern town comes alive as the drama unfolds for the reader to a page-turning climax.

Although Mad Dog and Annie is a book centered around domestic violence and the conquest of personal demons, it’s not a dark romance at all. The story contains several “laugh out loud” moments, and the dialogue – especially between Maddox and Annie – simply shines. These are characters the reader will want to know, and come to adore and admire.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. It’s worth twice the cover price. My hat is off to you, Ms. Kantra. Now, do us a favor and give us another one quickly please?