Review: I did not want to put this down.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2014
I have to tell you I don't typically read westerns. It isn't that I don't  like them, I just spend most of my extra time reading contemporary. But I do love a love story. If you're like me, I'd heartily advise you to break your pattern, and do it with An Unwilling Husband. Without further ado- here's my review (yeah, I know that rhymed).Uprooted from an existence she despises in Boston, Margaret Fleming launches in a new direction in the only place that's ever felt like home, her father's ranch in Rockdale, Texas. On her way to the new life waiting for her there, she shortens her name to Maggie and promises to make every moment with her father count. Unfortunately, due to a set of tragic circumstances, her time with her dad is cut short, and she finds herself hitched to Garrett Shaw, her unwilling husband.Maggie and Garrett knew each other as young adults, and Maggie has known for a long time she loves Garrett. But the man he is now is worlds away from the boy she fell in love with. And she only wants a place in a family. Garrett, in the meantime tries valiantly to resist getting too attached to Maggie. This is due, in part, to abandonment issues that stem from Maggie being torn from her home in Rockdale when they were younger. She didn't want to go and wasn't even allowed to say goodbye, something that rankles Garrett still.  Silly man.Tera has an exceptional talent for characterization, and the voices of her hero and heroine resonated clearly in my head as I read of the trials of life in the old West on a cattle ranch. Her villains (there are always villains, and the Jennings family, every single member of the family, gets involved in trying to ruin the new couple) were dastardly and believable. The passages that deal with the hard scrabble life this civilized lady from Boston chooses were both moving and frightening. Tera's true strength lies in using those situations to move the book forward and to build the romantic tension between Maggie and Garrett.The writing is strong and solid in this book, exactly like I'd imagine a man and woman who choose the difficult life of cattle ranching would need to be. Tera's unique voice in sharing this story brought a smile to my face many times while I read. I can only hope there will be a sequel or a spin-off to come. Because I know that once I finished the book, I did not want to put it down.