Gabe had resigned from the US Navy when politicians sacrificed the lives of some sailors to political expediency. Josh sought him out, hired him and he has been with Redstone for eight years. About the time of his resignation from the Navy, Gabe's wife Hope had mysteriously disappeared.

The story opens as Hope's parents are trying to persuade him to have her declared dead so all might reach a form of closure. As he is agonizing about this decision, Cara Thorpe, Hope's closest girlfriend, appears with a post card from Hope. A postcard that had been mailed eight years ago, just now reaching Cara, accompanied with the appropriate apologies of the U.S. Post Office.

The card had been mailed from a small mountain village that neither Cara nor Gabe had ever heard of. Clearly, Hope had been there the day it was mailed as the card made reference to "two miracles" she wanted to share with Cara. Cara and Gabe decide to visit the town and see if they can discover anything that will help them make sense of her disappearance.

Cara had been the quiet mousy girl drawn to the vibrant beautiful Hope for their entire lives. Childhood neighbors, they had always been friends, Hope sharing with Cara her easy confidence and after marriage to Gabe, also sharing many of their good times without making Cara feel like the third wheel. Cara's darkest secret was that she lived for these times as she was unequivocally in love with Gabe herself.

Cara has spent much of the eight years since the disappearance reforming herself to a confident beautiful woman. Gabe is stunned to see the change.

When they reach the town, they quickly realize there was a part of Hope's life that neither knew anything about. The story chronicles the discovery of that life and the growing attraction Gabe is beginning to feel for Cara, and the continuing passion that Cara has for Gabe. This is intermingled with their respective guilt each has for their feelings, and their respective hurt for being left out of a part of Hope's life.

While leisurely and predictable, in Her Best Friend's Husband Justine Davis employs her well known skill for character development, dialogue, scene descriptions, pacing and plot development to deliver another interesting romantic suspense novel.

--Thea Davis