Review: Good historical Western Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 29, 2013
I liked this book, it had an interesting storyline with lots of plot twists that kept the story moving along. The characters were also very  likeable and well developed people with complex personalities that made them worth knowing. The bad guy was truly evil but very slippery and hard to stop. The book was well written and well edited with only a few typos. This book had more depth than I expected.Grace shows up on Adam's ranch doorstep in the pouring rain asking for his adopted son and ranch hand Jake. Without knowing who she is or why she's looking for him, Adam won't just give out the information. When Grace comes inside to get dried off and explain that she's his sister and has been looking for him for years, she passes out with a high fever. Adam, his daughter, Victoria, and their housekeeper, Daisy, all help nurse Grace back to health but she's weak for a month and nearly died. Then her other brother, Matthew, shows up looking for her. Daisy needs to go help a sick family member, and Adam needs more help on the ranch, so Grace becomes the housekeeper and Matthew a ranch hand for Adam.They meet their long lost brother Jake who had been given up for adoption as a newborn when Grace was 15 and Matt was 7. Their mother died and their father was gone and Grace couldn't take a baby on a cattle run which was the only work she could find, cooking for cowboys on cattle drives. She'd only found out a few years ago that his adoptive parents were killed when he was only 8, and she started looking for him with her limited resources. Adam had found Jake digging through trash bins for food in Denver, after he had taken a cattle drive there. He had brought Jake and the boy with him, Ty, home with him, adopted them and taught them to be ranch hands. Jake had recently married Emily, the daughter of the saloon owner in town, and was now learning about the saloon business. He was not too receptive to these two siblings who had given him away.As Adam and Grace spend time together, they're undeniably attracted. Also, Matthew is very attracted to Victoria. But Grace has some secrets, things that so far, have kept her from ever settling down anywhere. And Matthew knows that he has nothing to bring to a marriage to a wealthy rancher's daughter, however much he might love her. What will it take to lay Grace's fears to rest and let her trust that someone, like Adam, can keep her safe? What can Victoria do to keep Matthew from leaving? Can Jake forgive Grace for giving him up? Whose lives will be in danger when Grace's past catches up to her?Heat factor moderate.