Review: This was a good book, one of forgiveness and healing.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2012
The Stranger by Elizabeth LaneHarlequin Historical # 856 - July 2007It's 1881 in the New Mexico Territory. Caleb McCurdy has just been released from a five year stint in a Yuma prison. He'd taken the fall for his outlaw brothers who'd tried to rob the bank and left him holding the horses. He'd paid for his participation, but his soul is tormented by the deeds of his brothers at the Shafton Ranch. Caleb owed a debt to the widow Shafton for the killing of her husband, something he had tried to stop. Laura Shafton remembers that evil day five years before in her nightmares. She'd lost her husband but she had her son, Robbie; the unborn child she'd been carrying. She's wary of strangers, so when Caleb knocks on her door to offer work for food, she greets him with a shotgun. While Caleb is mending her gate, Robbie seems to disappear, only to be found hiding in a tree. On his way down the boy falls breaking his arm, and Caleb helps Laura set the break and splint it. This builds a certain amount of wary trust in Laura and she allows Caleb to stay in her tool shed and continue to work for food. Caleb fears that at any time Laura's going to recognize him as the 17 year old who had accompanied those evil men, but he's matured a lot since then and his body has grown strong. Laura too is no longer the teenage bride; she's now a strong independent woman. Their attraction is something that Caleb fights; for he knows that should Laura ever find out who his is she'll never forgive him.I really liked the plot for this story. The characters are very well developed and easy to like. Though both Laura and Caleb are in their early 20's in this book, they've both lived a life time in experiences. Caleb has always been a good man, but he'd been misguided by his need for family, and so he'd stuck with his brothers. Laura is incredibly strong and resilient, almost over the top so. She'll survive anything in order to protect and care for her son. Though I found myself skipping over paragraphs because the pace seemed slow, this was a good book, one of forgiveness and healing