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Tess McKinley, a Boston-raised heiress running away from an arranged marriage, is certain her destiny lies in the pioneering West, but she doesn’t have any practical skills like sewing or cooking. She shows up at Gabe Calloway’s ranch, where her arrival is unannounced and unwanted. Gabe doesn’t have the time or inclination to let some rich girl play cowboy on his ranch, and he’s determined to fight his attraction to this stranger. Tess uses determination and hard work to make a home for herself in the community, but can she win Gabe’s heart?
This debut author’s writing style is easy to read; she has created a vivid place with many interesting characters. The Calloway brothers are both strong and attractive men; either one would make a perfect hero for a romance book. There are even a few humourous moments in the book, mostly due to some of Gabe’s dialogue.
While I liked the characters of Tess and Collette, I found them to be contradictory. They both exhibit amazing amounts of courage and resolve, but then suddenly their personalities change. Tess, for instance, shows her backbone when she stands up to the mercantile woman, and daring when she comes out West by herself. However, she also acts incredibly naïve as well as spineless when it comes to her feeling for Gabriel. Instead of doing something about his reluctance to admit his feelings towards her, she decides to run away from the situation by moving into town. Collette is very similar to Tess; she’s strong enough to handle all those brothers of hers and to attract a tough and brave man, but descends into stereotypical female hopelessness when she comes across problems furthering her romantic relationship. I wish both women were stronger – I wanted to shake some good sense into them every time they exhibited these weaknesses.
Despite the flaws in some of the character development, I enjoyed this book and would definitely consider reading more of the author’s work.
Reviewed by S. Khaw
for The Road to Romance
February 25, 2005
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