Beautiful! Catherine Anderson's books are amazing. She knows how to press emotional buttons and make you believe in the power of love. ( )

A brilliant example of my favorite formula. Traumatized heroine slowly wooed by protective hero. The book is all about her healing from horrible abuse. Lots of angst and sweetness. (4.5 stars) ( )

A brilliant example of my favorite formula. Traumatized heroine slowly wooed by protective hero. The book is all about her healing from horrible abuse. Lots of angst and sweetness. (4.5 stars) ( )

First in the prequels, I had never read this one. Ace Keegan returns as an adult to No Name, determined to avenge his step-father's murder at the hands of a gang. Only the gang leader's dead, and when confronting the son, he compromises the daughter's reputation. When tongues wag, he marries her & takes her back to his ranch. And the historical western saga continues from there in understanding Caitlin's childhood, and finding the real killer of the father. ( )

This turned out to be a tough book to review. It started out fast paced, then dragged a little before an action packed ending, but I think that's just the action junkie in me rebelling. Caitlin had a lot of issues to deal with and some of those were hashed out a little too often for my liking. For the majority of the book, the couple was walking on eggshells around each other. It made for a tense read. Other than that, I really liked the book. The interaction between the brothers did a lot to reduce the stress, especially Joseph's contributions to the story. He was a very likable secondary character.

When Ace first met Cait, he really messed up and set their relationship off on the wrong foot. Then he became extremely patient, almost to the point of being unbelievable, but I went with it because the romantic in me wants to believe that heros really do exist. There were a few times that I wanted to smack Caitlin, but we are constantly reminded of her past trauma, so I didn't have the heart to hold her actions against her or fault her for being so paranoid. In the end, she won me over. Loved the ending! I wasn't expecting anything like it and was really surprised. ( )