After a permanent injury to his leg, Carlton Marsh leaves his federal position to work security for his former boss's new company. His first assignment is protecting paranoid author and illustrator Mara Shore, pen-name for Leah Beach. When the threat becomes real, he will do his best to keep her safe from costumed and masked people who are trying to find the location of the mule she modeled one of her characters after. The cane he walks with becomes an asset to use for her protection. At a Comic-Con the criminals approach her and threaten Leah for information about a mule that her rescue ranch acquired. Sylvester the mule was malnourished and in poor health when he came to her. He is still having some health issues requiring veterinarian care. She refuses to give them what they want, thinking they should be reported to cruelty to animals for the condition he arrived in. She recently added his picture to the comic strip she creates for each weekday. Sylvester is an Appaloosa mule with easily recognizable spots. When Carlton sees the drawing of the mule with spots, he makes an unhappy connection to the recent past. During the last federal case Carlton worked, the same spotted mule ran him over, reinjuring an old wound and ending his hopes of ever walking without a cane and possibly ever having children of his own. He is angry his boss assigned him to the case involving the same animal.
Leah isn't sure she can trust her bodyguard, especially since he acted like the threats weren't serious enough to warrant his help at first. Her past makes it difficult to trust others, especially men. As a teen, a boyfriend who wanted her celebrity father to pay a ransom kidnapped her. That led to a solitary lifestyle, hiding from fame, her father, and people in general. Her love of mules is all she's needed up until now. She's made an exception with a small crew of people who help her at the ranch. With the popularity of her new graphic novel, her agent talked Leah into going on a book tour. Leah had resisted at first, but when a donor cut support to the rescue ranch, she made the decision to promote her book in order to provide continued support for her animals. When she is threatened, all she wants to do is end the tour and go home. A confrontation at her hotel will convince her that Carlton can provide protection to complete the remaining book signing. When they decide to investigate the reason behind the threats, danger will fill their path as they criminals track them to the ranch where her workers and animals are threatened. Once again, Leah will have to deal with betrayal and kidnapping. With Carlton at her side, will she be able to overcome her past fears?
Boswell, Bettie: - Bettie Boswell has always loved to read and write. That interest helped her create musicals for both church choirs and school students. After retiring from teaching for thirty-three years, she decided to write and illustrate stories to share with the world. Her writing interests extend from works for children to adults and from fiction to non-fiction. At the time of this writing she has eight children's books. She recently joined Mt. Zion Ridge Press as a children's editor. Hidden Talent is her sixth novel for Christian adult readers and third Christian romantic suspense in the Forest Glen Suspense Series. Her other novels, in the related On Cue Series, are contemporary and split-time Christian romances. So far, all the novels have taken place near the fictional town of Forest Glen. There is at least one more in the works that will involve K-9 Officer Marta Miller from this book. Bettie has written other works for the education market, magazine articles, and contributed to lesson plan collections, devotionals, Guideposts true story collections, and short story anthologies. She is a minister's wife, church musician, mother of two grown men, has one daughter-in-law, and is a grandma to three talented grandchildren. She loves the arts and shares her doodles, and photography from her daily walks, on social media.
