Review: Four great brothers!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2014
All of these books stand alone.  However it is best to read in the order of the brothers so you can see how they got where they are. SHADES OF HONOR the first book, is about the oldest brother.  He goes off to war, just a child himself, sees the horrors of war and returns home.  He suffers from PTSD but they didn't know that then.  He brings his 4 year old daughter, abandon by the mother that he never married.  He is having a hard time adjusting to civilian life.  His brother, Kyle, is running the family lumber mill and has turned from a fun-loving young boy into a hardened man because of all the responsibilities thrust upon him at the death of their father.  This was a good story.  I liked it and all the characters.  Radiford falls in love with Kyle's fiancé and trouble begins.  They have their HEA but at Kyle's expense.  Good story.THE LONGING is Kyle's story.  You love this guy but he just cannot catch a break.  First he loses his fiancé to his oldest brother. Then his mentor and best friend, Tom, dies of a heart attack after they have a bad argument. He promises to look after the daughter and widow and does so by buying the mill that Tom owns.  Turns out it is heavily mortgaged and in debt. Then he marries the daughter, against his better judgment, but more on her later.  Now he has to work overtime to try and save Tom's mill and keep his own from going bankrupt along with the finances of his 3 brothers.  I felt so bad for this guy.  He just needed one thing to make his life worth living.Now, Amelia, the heroine of this story.  PLEASE DON'T READ any further if you don't want to know how I feel about this selfish, self-centered, immature little witch.  I cannot stand this girl.  For a 21 year old in the 1800's she was very immature.  Kicking the shin of a severely injured man, kicking a sawmill machine and risking other's lives as well as her own, stomping her foot like a 3 year old every time she loses her temper and doesn't get her way.  I wanted to slap her into next week.  At 17 she has sex with the town cad, knowing he was returning to college in the fall, she gives him her precious gift, her virginity, which seems a little like date rape the first time.  But there were more times than once.  But, he leaves for school and she doesn't see him again for 5 years.  She is heartbroken, soiled and devastated.  But, it doesn't keep her from tricking Kyle into marrying her.  Then she gets upset when he is not open and loving towards her but she won't have sex with him, acting like the frightened virgin knowing all along she has already given it up.  She doesn't tell him figuring that if she waits long then he will fall in love with her and it won't matter.  But before all of this, she sells her father's business to Kyle.  He risks his brother's financial future as well as his own to buy this business.  At the bank she finds out that her father was in debt and close to losing everything.  She knows what she is doing and she cashes the check anyway.  Her own interest above her friend's and his three brothers and their families.  Boy, this girl is a prize.  She knew it and cashed the check anyway.  The whole thing seems so one sided, hers.  He is the bad guy.  Works too hard, frowns too much, etc. yet he has the livelihood of his entire family, now hers, and all the men that work for them.  Yet she doesn't cut him any slack.  Now she has sex all summer with the cad but she acts like a total prude when she sees her husband nude.  Really?  That was doing it up a little brown to me.OK, so he finds out she is not a virgin.  Hurt, but again all his fault.  Then he tells her about the argument with her father and he feels responsible for his death, which we all know was not his fault.  But guess what?  We totally forget she gave it up to his best friend and everything so far has been his fault because he argued with her father.  Oh I failed to mention that the town cad was Kyle's best friend Richard.  So she allows the friendship to continue knowing she gave her "gift" to Richard and he is in her house acting like best buddies.  Oh is it going to hit the fan when he finds out it is Richard.  Also forgot to mention that Richard offered to help her out of her problems  if she would be his mistress.  He would get to continue to enjoy her favors and he would pay her expenses.  Oh this guy is golden.I quit reading this one.  I really like Kyle but he is jumping thru hoops to please this little tart and she is acting like he is the bad guy.  I just couldn't read any more.  I cannot stand her.  She has not one redeeming quality.LIPS THAT TOUCH MINE-This is Boyd's story. He is the youngest and the wildest of the brothers.  He owns his own saloon because he figured since he drank quite a bit he might as well own the saloon.  The leading lady in this one is Claire. She is a widow, a bum for a husband apparently dies from drowning and Claire is left to survive on her own.  She is disowned by her family for running off with Jack, a liar and an alcoholic who made Claire's life hell for 4 years.  Now she owns the boardinghouse across the street from Boyd's saloon.  She is one of the women determined to shut down all the bars and any establishment that sells liquor.  I quit reading this one.  I like my romances to have two characters that seem to like each other, a few problems to work thru, etc.  But the constant hate on the side of the women and the guy crawling and groveling at their feet as they get slapped down time after time and the men finding it attractive just is not my idea of a good romance.  So, I quit reading and am going to attempt to read..KISSING IN THE DARK- This is Duke's story.  He is the town Sheriff.  So far he has been the quietest of the brothers.  Not much as been said about him in any of the other stories.  Duke is the peacekeeper.  He seems to be a mix between John Wayne and Gary Cooper.  He is without a doubt my favorite of the brothers.  He is the third of 4 brothers.  Always living the straight and narrow and the letter of the law he meets Faith.  She moves to town with a younger brother, a 4 yr. old daughter, and her crazy aunts.  She has a dark secret past and she is running and hiding.  Of course, she attracts the attention of a lawman.In this book some reference is made to give a brief background to the other brothers.  There was a little bit more drama to Kyle and Boyd's story than I care for so I don't think I missed anything by skipping their story.  Duke was such a good guy.  Honest, loving, trustworthy, solid.  You just can't help but fall for him.  He has some hard events to overcome to get to his HEA but he manages.  Great story and I loved it.  I would recommend the set.  You absolutely become a part of this community while reading the stories of these 4 brothers.  Very entertaining.  Highly recommend.