The Rancher's Heart (Five Star Expressions)
Admirand's second frontier romance (afterThe  Marshal's Destiny) features clever and well-crafted plot lines, but  the delivery lacks credibility and zip. Irish emigré James Ryan is a  Colorado rancher in the 1880s. Successful and respected, he's also using an  alias while hiding out from a Texas murder charge. After catching young Mick  O'Toole on his ranch with a gang of cattle rustlers, James takes the boy and  his sick mother in. Bridget O'Toole is sure she's a widow, having been deserted  by her husband 12 years earlier. James and Bridget, both proud and fiercely  independent, are soon in love, not knowing that her husband is still very much  alive and leading a gang of outlaws to the town. Conflict, lust, guilt,  uncertainty and the little games lovers play to disguise their feelings are all  here, but the sex is muted and clichéd, two massive gunfights raise  little dust, and the final showdown is predictable and offstage.(Feb.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.