Review: Rogers writes some of today's BEST historical romances.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 29, 2012
Henderson Flats, Idaho Territory, 1885. Thirteen years ago Benjamin "Ben" Lawrence had been sent off to Harvard by his mean father, Ezra. Today, Ben is a Boston attorney of high repute working for the prestigious law firm of Morris & Graves. Creighton Morris is ready to give Ben a senior partnership. All Ben has to do is marry Creighton's daughter, Patience, who he has been courting. First, however, Ben must return to Owyhee Country for the reading of his father's will. Once his business in the Idaho Territory is completed, Ben plans to bring his mother, Mabel, and his sister, Suzanne, back to Boston with him.Jake (do not call her Janelle) O'Keefe is the only female foreman in the Idaho Territory and the best at what she did. Currently, she is the foreman of the Bar EL. Jake has been working some ranch land of her own for the past three years. She calls it the Circle J and plans to start a horse breeding operation there. When Ezra's will states that Jake must remain as foreman to the Bar EL for another year, or not be given the clear title to the Circle J, she is livid. Worse, she is responsible for seeing that Ben lives up to his part of the will's conditions. She has no desire to teach the fancy lawyer how to rope or run the Bar EL. And she certainly does not want a greenhorn at her side during roundup. No matter how tempting she finds the man to be.Ben knows that he can easily contest Ezra's will. None of the stipulations are allowable. But the locals respect a man who can work as hard as they do, and Ben definitely wants to make a good impression on the six-foot, red-headed, bar-brawling cowhand. That means resuming the ranch duties he had left behind thirteen years prior. Yet it soon becomes obvious that someone was working against him and Jake. Some of the shenanigans are more than irritating. They are dangerous. To add to Ben's problems, Patience and her brother, Reginald, arrives. Patience is determined to marry Ben immediately and then take him back to her daddy. But the way Patience is treating his family and friends has Ben seeing her in a different and unflattering light. Now the question becomes whether he wants to easy, rich lawyer life in Boston with Patience or the hard ranch life in Owyhee Country with his sassy foreman.***** FIVE STARS! Jacquie Rogers writes some of the best Historical Romances on today's market. Not content to simply write a plot and toss in a lot of bed scenes and/or filler, this author adds in subplots, humor, action, suspense, and some endearing strays. The secondary characters come across as real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, and have their own set of problems. It is nice to have a hero who cannot only do the hard, physical work required of him, but also be highly educated as well. Absolutely fantastic! *****Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.