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Branded reminds me of the old song lyric, "It's sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along." Slade Dalton is the oldest of three sons, and holds himself to blame for his father's death. As a result, he leaves the Lazy Heart Ranch to become a bounty hunter. Usually he works alone, but hooks up with a partner, Nate Bonner. Then Nate is killed in front of him, and Slade decides it's past time to go home. He knows his younger brother Grady wants to get the ranch away from him, and Slade plans to claim it before that can happen.
Lacey Sarah Jarrell and her wolfhound, Oliver, head to the ranch ahead of her fiancé, Grady Dalton. Lacey was being threatened with marriage to a man who enjoyed “taming” women. When Arthur Widstaff took a horsewhip to Lacey, she decided that she would not, under any circumstances, marry him. Grady Dalton came into her life at that moment, and she jumped at the chance to marry Grady and move from England to Colorado. She and her father had a falling out over her shocking behavior, and his plan to marry her to Widstaff was punishment. He agreed to the engagement to Grady knowing she would be out of the country.
On the way to the Lazy Heart, Slade encounters a beautiful woman being robbed. He admires her refusal to cooperate with the highwaymen. Lacey doesn’t appreciate his manner of rescue, and lets him know it.
Once at the ranch, they realize they are about to become in-laws. Slade and Grady have always competed. But Grady isn’t there, and Lacey and Slade fall in love. Slade encourages Lacey to break her engagement, and becomes furious when she refuses.
It isn’t until Grady arrives that Lacey has to face what marriage to one brother, while loving the other will mean. But Grady isn’t going to let Lacey go easily.
This book is entertaining, and poignant. Lacey grows from a haughty, spoiled aristocrat to a spunky, hard-working, but relaxed woman. Slade has to cope with wanting what can’t be his and his anger at Lacey’s refusal to break her engagement. The resolution of their problem is exciting, and satisfying. This book is definitely worth reading, and I hope the author continues to write.
Reviewed by Nancy Riggins-Hume
for The Road to Romance
August 11, 2004
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