Callie Dunbrooke is called to Woodsboro, Maryland after a skull is found by a real estate developer while clearing a site. She's an archaeologist and quickly determines the skull is a major find. Things get complicated when her ex-husband, Jake Grayson, is assigned to her excavation team and the developer gets aggressive about his work site being taken over. Vandalism escalates to things more sinister and Callie is also confronted with some surprises involving her family. Jake and Callie's relationship is complicated and fiery. Their marriage ended a year before because of communication breakdowns and it's obvious they're not over each other. Jake is even more endearing as he is committed to doing things differently to win Callie back and, in the process of doing so, wins the hearts of readers. His support of Callie when she's dealt some pretty emotional personal blows was unwavering and done in a way that best suited her needs. Roberts does her typical great job of crafting a compelling hero but falls a bit short with Callie, who comes across as difficult and insensitive instead of the competent, self-assured woman that you'd imagine she is in actuality. It was one of the issues for me with this story and I found myself overcompensating to make the romance work. There were actually three relationships involved in this story, which made it even more interesting and engaging. Additionally, the subplot involving Callie's personal background added quite a bit of tension and substance. Lastly, the mystery surrounding the sinister events at the dig site provided more layers to this complicated story. The complexities of the relationships were at the forefront and Roberts struck the right balance between them and they converged seamlessly. While I learned about the archaelogical process, I didn't feel overwhelmed by it and it provided a good backdrop for the story. I really liked this book and its emphasis on characters, relationships and family. The personal trauma the characters faced were heartbreaking and their reactions were realistically drawn. I liked the people in the story, even Callie, in spite of the flaws in how she was characterized. It's an extremely interesting book and is now one of my favorites.
