Review: Trespass
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 15, 2011
I love that I never know what I'm going to get when I pick up a Meg Maguire/Cara McKenna novel. This author always seems to offers up something different. Although I haven't read her entire back-list, what I have read has taken me into a totally new direction every time. In Trespass Meg Maguire gives us a different kind of hero than I've come to expect. Since Russ was the character I thought most about while reading, and the reason I spent most of that time with my eyebrows drawn together this review will focus mostly on him.Sarah is on the run from the law after she commits a crime while protecting a friend. She's been injured and finds herself on the doorstep of Russ Gray, a local veterinarian and is relieved when he agrees to take her in to tend her wounds and offers her food and a place to rest. Knowing she can't stay long, and can't reveal who she really is, she gives Russ a fake name and accepts his hospitality.Although Sarah, or Nicole as Russ knows her, isn't willing to offer up much information about herself, Russ still opens his home to her and seems willing to accept Sarah at her word. He's lonely and decides to set aside his questions and make the most of the situation and enjoy Sarah's company. They agree Sarah will stay as long as she needs and she will help out around the ranch to earn her keep.  As they begin to get to know each other Sarah's conscious bothers her for deceiving this very nice man. One whom she believes could become so much more to her if the circumstances were different. She knows she will be moving on soon, but there is no denying the physical attraction between them and when Sarah makes a move on Russ, he responds enthusiastically both physically and emotionally.When Russ realizes Sarah has taken off in the middle of the night with some of his belongings he's angry and hurt. He goes after her...and this is where my confusion with Russ really begins. I wondered why on earth he would want to bring Sarah back into his home. He was so taken with her and emotionally vulnerable and then to realize her betrayal and knowing that she had some sort of secret. One would think good sense would kick in and he'd snap out of it and realize Sarah was big trouble. But he tracks her down and brings her back. After his initial burst of anger and hurt Russ settles and tells Sarah he won't hold her against her will and she decides to stay.The words that came to mind to describe Russ while reading were: needy, lonely, sad, and maybe even desperate. I just couldn't figure out why he was so willing to overlook the great big red flashing warning signs in favor of keeping Sarah, a woman he doesn't really know and who obviously is keeping a very big secret. But as his character developed, and I got past my expectations I started to see Russ in a different light.Russ was widowed at a young age and hasn't remarried or even dated much. He hasn't really moved on, but isn't wallowing in grief either. From the outside looking in, his behavior seems ridiculous at times but he doesn't see Sarah as a threat. Instead he see a young woman who excites him and makes him feel alive again and somehow that is enough for him to decide to offer her a bit of blind faith. As I said, Russ is not your run of the mill romance hero but I think his actions are a little more realistic than I wanted to admit at first. It's easy to look at his situation and point out his foolishness but in matters of the heart, people can be foolish. Sarah has brought passion and excitement to his life and Russ just isn't willing to give up on that easily.Sarah truly likes Russ and her feelings develop more fully as their story plays out. Through her impulsive behavior, she has brought her chaos into Russ's life, but she does regret hurting him. Sarah tends to act before she thinks which causes a snowball of trouble, but Russ is the calm to her chaos.  I realized that even though both of these characters had me scratching my head at times, I liked them both very much because they seemed emotionally real and genuine.Although I grumbled and questioned the actions of the hero and heroine often, Trespass rates pretty high for me. I just didn't want to put the book down because on some level I believed in the characters despite their flaws, and wanted to see them through to a happy future together.