Pros: Heart-warming romance/family story
Cons: Some loose ends and a shaky start
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Edwina Ladoux is losing her home—and truth be told, it’s been in ruins ever since the Civil War paid an all-too-personal visit. On impulse she sets herself up as a mail-order bride, hoping that starting over in Heartbreak Creek, Colorado, will make everything all right again. She sets off with her half-sister, Prudence, not expecting huge, taciturn Declan Brodie, a widowed rancher who was himself expecting a sturdy farm wife who could mother his four children, not a temperamental Southern girl who can’t even cook.
With some (okay, a lot) of help from Prudence, and her own fiery temper and steel backbone, Ed slowly adjusts to ranch life and even riding herd on a bunch of unruly kids—until an Indian attack leaves the ranch in ruins. Ed finds that just as things are getting dangerous, she’s ready to fight for her new family—and it’ll take all her fire and steel to hold onto what she’s gained.
