Sanctuary

At first glance 'Sanctuary' may appear to be a romantic novel, but it isn't. Nothing is as straightforward as it seems.When Ben receives a garbled email message from Katie, an old flame, he knows that the peace and tranquillity that he had hoped for by moving to France has ended.Ben Coverdale is a happy, successful young man. He has a business which is thriving, and has been living with Mary Willson for the past five years.But on the fifth anniversary of their moving in together, Mary announces that she is leaving him to live with Donald, a man many years her senior.If that was not bad enough for Ben, within a few days of that announcement, Katie Forrester an outrageous, feisty, sexy blonde who has wanted to have an affair with Ben for a long time, calls on him to tell him that she is about to marry Dave Atkinson, who, unbeknown to either of them, is currently involved with a people smuggling organisation. Ben realises that he is now in a position to fulfil a dream that he has had in his head for many years; to move to France and start a new life there - to put all this behind him and have a life of peace and tranquillity. After searching, and eventually finding his dream cottage, he moves away from the UK determined to leave all the painful memories behind him. The message he receives from Katie has been sent from an internet café in Frankfurt, saying that she has been kidnapped and needs his help. Ben cannot resist the challenge and sets off to find her. A combination of trickery by Katie, and a trap set by Ben and the staff of the internet café, Ben manages to free her from her captors and take her back to his new home, La Sanctuaire.Ben is totally unaware that Mary's new relationship has not worked out the way she had hoped. She is perturbed by Donald's behaviour. He is acting more and more strangely, insisting that she change her hairstyle, buying strangely outrageous dresses for her, and doing his best to keep her away from her previous friends. Things are made much worse when Mary discovers, and has to admit to Donald, that she is carrying Ben's child. Donald wants no part of the baby, but insists, nonetheless, that she must stay with him.As things deteriorate further, Mary and the baby are taken, with the help of an old friend, to meet up with Ben, only to find that her old adversary, Katie, is there before her.