Review: 3  stars.  Good story.  Kept my interest.  It was not run-of-the-mill like so many other romance stories.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2014
I’m happy the couple did not have a fight-breakup, which most romance authors do.  And there was no stupidity and none of my other pet peeves.A trope I do not like is someone being framed for a crime and then having a long drawn out helpless guy in jail or being on the run.  In this story a bad guy was planning a frame.  I was worried I wasn’t going to like it.  But when it played out, it wasn’t bad.  And it was short.  I thought ok, that was a reasonable way to move the plot.The main weakness was the sex scenes.  A couple of them seemed too long and drawn out - especially the one traveling to and during the hot springs scene.  My mind wandered.There was one rape and one attempted rape.  They might be ok for sensitive readers since they were not long or detailed.There is a touch of paranormal with the ghost of Gavin talking to a couple characters.  Gavin was Michael’s younger brother who was killed in a civil war battle.ANOTHER REVIEWER:Amazon reviewer Mountaineer said the following.  “I felt the author reveals too much. I predicted *almost* every single bad thing that happened. She needs to keep her cards a little closer to her chest, instead of revealing everything the villains are up to, as the third-person POV switched from hero to heroine to villains.”  I am guessing that Mountaineer likes mysteries and suspense, but not thrillers.  The difference is: in thrillers we are in the bad guy’s head and watch him as he plans.  In suspense we don’t know what’s coming.  I enjoy thrillers - knowing what’s being planned and then wondering HOW the good guy will succeed.  This book is done in the thriller style rather than the mystery suspense style.  Different strokes (genres) for different folks.THE SERIES:This is book 1 in the series.  You can read them as stand alones.  But if you’re interested, I’d suggest reading them in order since the characters interact with each other.  I liked all three.Book 1 - Terms of Surrender - Annie and MichaelBook 2 - Terms of Engagement - Robert is Annie’s brother - he meets TessBook 3 - Terms of Temptation - Kinley is the daughter of Annie and Michael - she meets BramAUDIOBOOK NARRATOR:Sadly I had problems with the narrator Keith Tracton.  He had some good voices, but others not good.  He sounded like an effeminate gay guy when speaking for women and children.  Other male narrators do women and children without sounding that way.  He should learn how to do it.  Second, his voice for Michael was artificial - too low, gravely, and whisper like.  I didn’t like it.  If a guy is going to read a romance novel, I want him to have a sexy voice for my hero, or at least a normal guy voice.  As for non-dialogue narration, he sounded robotic.  Frank Mueller was a great narrator who read with a sense of wonder in his voice.  I think Keith could learn from him.  On the positive side, he was not as bad as some narrators whom I won’t listen to no matter how good the story.  At least I was willing to listen to him.DATA:Narrative mode: 3rd person.  Unabridged audiobook length: 8 hrs and 42 mins.  Swearing language: mild.  Sexual language: mild.  Number of sex scenes: 9.  Setting: 1865 Virginia and 1866 Wyoming.  Book copyright: 2010.  Genre: western historical romance with a sliver of paranormal.