From Publishers Weekly In this first book in the projected Northern Intrigue trilogy， Cote plaits together faith， love and suspense for an inspirational romance set against the snowy backdrop of Steadfast， Wis. Tall， handsome sheriff Rodd Durand is hot on the trail of "the Weasel，" a burglar who targets isolated homes of the elderly. Raised by his father and great-uncle， Rodd considers all women a mystery， until sweet home nurse Wendy Carey piques his interest. But Wendy has kept her heart under wraps too long and has sworn off romance. Love is inevitable， but first Rodd and Wendy must make peace with their pasts. To Cote's credit， there are some fairly original snowmobile chase scenes， and the "bad guys" are somewhat multifaceted (the nefarious Uncle Dutch is shown as both a drunken brawler and also a softie who put Christmas gifts under Wendy's tree when she was a child). There are contrived situations to allow Rodd and Wendy to spend the night together， but things never heat up past a kiss. An unlikely scene has Rodd miraculously pull a baby from a car before it explodes， killing the parents， then conveniently place the baby in the care of Penny Weaver， who has suffered several miscarriages. Despite some weak spots， this full-length novel is an improvement over Cote's most recent novella， For Varina's Heart， which appeared in Tyndale's Letters of the Heart collection. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information， Inc. From Booklist Veteran romance writer Cote begins a series called Northern Intrigue with Winter's Secret. It's the tale of a home health nurse in northern Wisconsin， Wendy Carey， a local girl who's proud of her education and of the care she gives to the homebound elderly. Suddenly， her busy though insular world is turned topsy-turvy with the realization that something in her routine is an aid to burglarizing her patients. She joins with the muscular sheriff to sleuth out the culprit， and the two make a futile attempt to resist each other's charms. A predictable romance that fails to generate much suspense. John MortCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved See all Editorial Reviews