Review: Important Details About the Lives of the Main Characters Missing Throughout The Book
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 12, 2013
I bought this book last evening and read it thinking I wanted to read a sweet, clean romantic story about a handsome cowboy dude and his lovely gal.  In fact, I did like the characters of both Jake and Bess in this book.  Jake Walker has been on the run for ten years - since he was age 18 because he was tried and convicted of a murder in Lubbock, Texas, which he did not commit. On the way to his hanging, he had the opportunity to escape so he took advantage of this situation and ran. During the ten years since his escape, he has been on the run from US Marshalls, bounty hunters and various other law enforcement officials who want the $500.00 reward hanging over his head.  There are also wanted posters everywhere with a pretty accurate drawing of his handsome face.  He can never stay in one place for any length of time.  During his travels, he often works as the top hand for ranchers and is an excellent cowboy and all round person. Finally, he winds up at the Beckley ranch in Maryland where he meets the industrious, sweet, lovely Bess who has taken care of her Dad and twin brothers for many years since the death of her mother.My primary issue with this book is that so many "details" which would normally be filled in are just missing:#1 - Bess meets a detective, Mr. Steel, on the train to Texas where she is traveling to take care of business on behalf of her father.  She talks with him, has dinner with him.  Why was he even introduced?  Nothing was done with his character.  I thought Beth would at least hire him to find out about Jake and help him be declared innocent of the charges against him.#2 - *Spoiler*  When Jake takes his return trip to Lubbock to face the murder charges, along the way, he apparently has a lot of experiences including the time he stops to work for a lady who obviously is the owner of a cat house? But after some brief words about her and her gals, no other details about Jake's time there is given?#3 - **Now comes a major spoiler so don't read any further if you don't care for spoilers.**  By the time Jake returns to Beth - apparently more than a year has passed since he was cleared of the murder - not counting the months and months he spent traveling to Lubbock - again, a little vague on the timing.  During these many months, apparently Jake hasn't communicated with Beth via telegraph, letter - NADA!!?  Again - not enough details. When he sees Bess, she has a baby? Yes, the details about the baby are eventually explained, but my issue is: Jake takes a look at the baby and wonders if it could be his but then he realizes the baby is too young?  What did I miss here?  The book never indicated they were intimate - or did I buy the wrong version?This is one puzzled reader - it was as though after two-thirds of the book was written, the author thought, "Let's get this story finished - forget the details."