If I didn't Care by Kait Nolan

If I Didn't Care was my N in the series.  It is about best friends Judd and Autumn who have a shared trauma from the past which shapes their future lives - Autumn's father tried to kill them both. Set in the small town of Wishful, the story centres on these two characters as they try and deal with the fact that Autumn's father is being released from prison.

The blurb says:

He has one mission

Since they were children, career cop Judd Hamilton has built his life around taking care of his best friend, Autumn Buchanan. While he might once have dreamed of a different future for them, everything changed the day her father tried to kill them both. Determined to keep her safe, Judd put his feelings aside and turned his focus to protecting her, always.

She leads a double life

Nobody in their small town would ever dream that Autumn, Wishful's friendly librarian, is really successful erotic romantic suspense author, Rumor Fairchild. No one knows that the swoon-worthy hero of her series is based on her best friend, Judd. He's been fulfilling her rescue fantasies for years, and now she's ready to catapult them out of the friend zone to make her real life romance come true.

Their nightmare returns

But when the past comes full circle and Autumn's father returns to Wishful, even the power of Judd's badge isn't enough to keep her safe from the madman. If he wants the chance at a future with the one girl he's always loved, Judd may have to toss everything he's worked for aside to do the one job that matters.

This book is a romance, but with a definite suspense element to it. Though the who-done-it side of things was quite predictable (I won't say more as to not give it away), the build up of suspense and the plot was really good. There are plenty of humorous scenes too, especially at the book club...

If I Didn't Care is the first of the Wishing For A Hero series, and I happily spent a day being immersed in Autumn and Judd's lives.