Review: Another Fabulous Novella from Ms. Holt
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 1, 2014
I've read several of Ms. Holt's novellas (this is my seventh, to be exact) and have found them all to be fabulously entertaining.  For me, Ms. Holt's books have consistently been 4 and 5 star reads.  She has a wonderful writing style and uses her extensive creative ability to create characters that the reader cares about.In this story, Jacob (Jake) finds Isabel as she is being beaten by a band of ruffians.  He rescues her and takes her to Thornewall, his brother's keep.  Isabel very quickly becomes attached to Jake.  She instinctively trusts him and feels safe with him, yet she has a secret that she is reluctant to share.  As for Jake, he is very much a tortured hero.  Jake is a wonderful, caring, devoted man, whose confidence in himself has been severely undermined by his late wife, a deceitful, vile woman.  In the years since her death, Jake has closed off his heart and is determined to never again marry.  He is very much attracted to Isabel; however, and cannot prevent himself from falling in love with her.For her part, Isabel recognizes Jake for the wonderful, caring man he is and very quickly loses her heart to him.  But there is the matter of the secret she withholds from Jake.  She is unsure how he will be react once she confides in him.  Before Jake and Isabel can achieve their HEA they must learn to trust one another completely, overcome past insecurities, and elude a man who will do anything to claim Isabel as his own.Jake's brother, Dominic, figures heavily in this story.  He too is a wonderful character.  Dominic provides tremendous support to the couple, and is very instrumental in them getting their HEA.  Dominic is the hero in the next Borderland novel entitled "Borderland Beauty."  I cannot wait to see Dominic get his HEA.  He so deserves it!This story covers a period of several weeks, possibly months.  There were times when I had difficulty determining how much time had elapsed between events...sometimes I thought we were still reading about the same day only to discover that a day or more had past.  Other than that minor issue, I thoroughly enjoyed this story.  It is sweet and romantic.  I loved it and highly recommend it.  Happy reading!  BTW this is not a clean romance, but then I've never read a clean romance by Ms. Holt.  LOL