Review: A Romance To Sigh For . . .
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2014
Lisa Mondello has written another "pull at your heartstrings" romance with HIS DAKOTA BRIDE, Book 5 of the Dakota Hearts series. The shorter length contains all the emotional impact of a full length novel in a fast paced plot of lost love and redemption.I think this might be my favorite book in the Dakota Heart series  . . . but I've said that after reading each title. Sigh.Wade McKinnon returns to his hometown of Rudolph, South Dakota to renew the love he once shared with Skylar Barnett. The only problem is Skylar thought he died in a Tsunami five years ago. Since she was pregnant with Wade's son, she moved to Rudolph to be around his family but kept the child's father a secret. She eventually meets and marries a good fellow by the name of Jay, who tries to make the marriage work until he realizes Skylar will never love him.Wade has been in hiding since his secret work for the government placed his family in jeopardy all those years ago, but as soon as he learns of Skylar's newly single status, he decides to "resurrect" himself. Skylar is not the only one hurt by his deliberate disappearance. The tight McKinnon family is wounded, as well, and everyone is having a hard time separating the joy of his return from the anger over his lies. Wade obviously has a lot of fences to mend.I see-sawed between the characters motives, undecided about who was right and who was wrong. I understood Skylar's pain and wanting to distance herself from Wade but I also validated Wade's decision to remain in hiding. In the end, I just wanted them to kiss and make up and boy howdy, did they ever! It was a sweet journey to get there because those two characters are chock full of raw angst. The layers are so perfectly written that I found myself experiencing the same internal tug of war as Skylar and Wade.Ms. Mondello weaves a brief synopsis of the coupling history from the first four books, and includes key characters in the story line. It's because of her subtle effort that I would not have been confused if HIS DAKOTA BRIDE had been the first title I read from the series.HIS DAKOTA BRIDE is short, sweet and full of romance - and demonstrates why Lisa Mondello a NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY Best Selling Author.