New Mexico Territory - July 1877.  Logan Ryan is in search of Claire Waters-the woman who was brought to his parent’s ranch to recover from being beaten so severely by her attacker, she'd had been left for dead.  Logan Ryan needs to locate Claire Waters. He needs to know she is all right and not in trouble.  She left the ranch when he was unable to take her wherever she needed to go.  He was surprised to say the least when he finds her in a saloon, he didn’t have any idea she was one of those women.  Logan is also looking for Dee, the woman who ran out on him, he needs to know why and if there are any feelings for Dee.

Claire Waters was dead.  She survived her attack.  She has come back to The Dove, the saloon her Mother owns.  She’s also in disguise. She is not taking any chances, only a few people know she is back.  She wants to keep it that way.  When she came back, she learned her Mother and her brother Jimmy traveled to Cimarron to look for something, but she doesn’t know what.  She is afraid something has happened.  She decides to go look for them when she runs into Logan.  She does not trust anyone, not since her attack.  Can she trust him?  She decides to tell him her plan.  Of course, he feels he needs to go with her, to protect her and to also see if he can locate Dee.  Claire doesn’t know anything about his past with Dee.

Logan meets the one person who knows Claire better than Claire knows herself, Tia Anita.  She is an old Indian woman, Claire has known for most of her life.  She is the person Claire turns to when the women at The Dove have more serious medical problems than Claire can handle.  Claire has a dream of being a doctor, but schools take money, which is the one thing Claire doesn’t have much of.

This is the second book in this series.  The first book, The Wren, was a 2004 HOLT Medallion Finalist.  I have no doubt The Dove will also make the HOLT list.

If you have not read The Wren, please read it before The Dove.  The characters from the first book do play a prominent role in The Dove.  As I have not had the pleasure of reading first book, there were places in The Dove I was lost.

I enjoyed The Dove.  It was fast-paced, had the elements of a historical western romance, the romance, of course, and had a few mysteries along the way.  The secondary character of Tia was a joy.  I hope to see her story in a book from this author.  If you enjoy historical westerns (romance) this book will not disappoint.

Reviewed by Patsy Glans for The Road to Romance

February 8, 2005