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Cassandra Zerek is a miner's daughter, but her father, Milo, had done his best to protect her from the seamy side of life often found in the mining towns. As a promise to his dear departed wife, Milo Zerek has seen to it that Cassie was educated only by nuns.
Now, a grown woman, Cassie intends to become a nun herself. She longs to help with the orphans and serve the Lord in any way that she can. Cassie believes that everyone has a good side, and that includes Luke Taggart, the richest man in town. Even though the man owns much of the town, including a few morally questionable establishments, Cassie catches him in an act of charity, and just knows that he has goodness hidden beneath his formidable exterior.
Luke Taggart is jaded, right down to his very core. Raised in poverty by a prostitute, he'd managed to raise himself to the status of the very rich and respected. But, he's bored with all that money can buy, bored with the 'loose women' with whom he usually keeps company, bored with gambling and drinking and carousing. Hell, he's even bored with making money, something that has him a bit worried, because his sole ambition had always been to make money. And then he meets Cassie Zerek, and decides that he has to have her - no matter the cost. Her innocence and pure sweetness captivate him, and he begins to see her as the one thing that may cure his ennui - if only for a couple of months.
After a few subtle rounds of trickery, Luke has Cassie ensconced firmly under his roof. Now, the only trick is to keep her there.
Author Catherine Anderson has crafted an endearing and exceedingly clever romance in SIMPLY LOVE. With characters so real that readers will laugh and cry with them as they journey towards their personal discovery of true love. Ms. Anderson captures the pureness and naiveté of her heroine perfectly. Conversely, Anderson also manages to convey the sheer depravity of the very rich and the seamy side of prostitution. This book is a study in contradictions, blended seamlessly by the author's skill with the written word, at times so sweetly innocent that readers want to weep, then so deeply sensual that they'll be fanning themselves to cool off.
SIMPLY LOVE is one of those rare finds that every reader searches for: a keeper. So engrossing that it'll have you turning pages until the very end, and then sighing for more. Personally, I can't wait to see more from this very talented author!
Reviewed by Janean Nusz
for The Road to Romance
March 15, 2005
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