I’ve been eagerly awaiting Andrea Kane’s second contemporary romantic suspense since I read Run For Your Life, her first contemporary story. While I’ve always enjoyed Kane’s historicals, I think she’s really found her niche in contemporaries. No Way Out wasn’t quite as edge-of-your-seat as Run For Your Life, but it’s still a good follow-up.

Julia Talbot teaches second grade. Her favorite pupil is Brian Talbot, the mayor’s son. Julia’s area of interest is emotional abuse in children, and between that and the special bond she shares with Brian, she notices immediately when he starts to have problems. Julia’s concern, however, comes at the wrong time. An election cycle and pressure from a crooked contributor have Brian’s family on edge. His uncle Connor steps in to help, and he and Julia form a bond of their own. The political situation escalates and then Brian is kidnapped; Julia and Conner must find him.

Julia is one of those perfect heroines I usually hate, but her perfection didn’t bother me at all here, probably because Kane doesn’t beat you over the head with it. Julia is a warm and loving person, a child advocate. She loves the kids in her classes and looks out for them. As it goes without saying that perfect heroines are usually beautiful; Julia is kind, beautiful, and smart. But she is also human, and her conflicts about her attraction to Connor versus her concern about Brian’s welfare make her very vulnerable.

Connor is a powerful, wealthy man who loves his nephew dearly. Connor and his brother, Stephen (Brian’s father), have issues with their father, but they’ve dealt with it in very different ways. Connor’s way was to stand up to the man and not care what he thought while helping Stephen out of jams. Connor is independent and strong, a definite take-charge man without being overbearing or too alpha.

Connor and Julia share a powerful attraction. At first there’s some animosity, but it’s the result of mistaken assumptions on both sides. Connor’s initial plan is to keep Julia occupied by dating her while he and Stephen work out Stephen’s problem. After their first date, however, he realizes he feels more for her and wants to pursue it. Julia also feels something for him fairly soon after they start dating, and the relationship becomes more serious than either intended and moves at a faster pace. I liked this pair.

Kane deviates a bit from her usual method of handing the couple an external challenge instead of an internal, emotionally driven one. The conflict for Julia and Connor comes in several directions: Julia’s concern for Brian; Connor’s concern for Brian while also helping Stephen and keeping family secrets; Julia’s casual dating relationship with another man; and Julia’s temporary mistrust of Connor’s motives.

Throughout the book, readers are aware of who the villain is and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Knowing that made it a little hard for me to sustain interest in the suspense. I was more interested in Connor and Julia. However, Kane throws in a twist at the end that made me sit up and think, “Okay, I did not see that coming.”

As for secondary characters, Brian was just adorable; a sweet kid, not overly cute, and smart as a whip. Stephen was a mess, but he finally gets straightened out and priorities become quite clear. Stephen’s wife and campaign manager also share a chunk of stage time, as does Julia’s other suitor.

While No Way Out didn’t quite hit the high mark for me that Run For Your Life did, it was still quite an enjoyable read, one that I can recommend with few reservations. Pocket has had a buried treasure in Andrea Kane for a while, and now she seems to be getting the push she needs to make it to the top. I can’t wait until she gets there.