1867 - All Noelle Bellencourt wanted was to get to the only family she had left in this world. Uncle Marcel had written of his great house, his great stake, his great life in Nevada, so when she loses her parents and her father final request is for her to deliver his precious magician props to his brother, there is nothing else to do but make the journey west from her home in New York to Crooked Creek. Tracking the last trail that a dean man had made, Luke Savage found Noelle alone with her possessions waiting for her guide to return with help. Now that he found her, he couldn’t just leave her even though he had important business in Crooked Creek and a time limit to get to it. As a gambler, he had known his risks but never expected to be cheated by his own partner, Blackjack. Now saddled with a stubborn women that would not leave her priceless crates behind or a lost calf that she had found, Luke had to find a way to get them all to Crooked Creek. Arriving just in time, they found that Blackjack / Uncle Marcel was dead. Or at least supposedly dead, Noelle and Luke had to find a way to work together in the Silver Hearts Saloon.

**** A classic Harlequin Historical Western Romance. It had some of the clichés that you would expect. The helpless female - well, not so much helpless as naive to the world, her uncle, and of course men. The rough and rowdy man - Luke did smoke and drink, but not to excess, he did swear a bit, but he also used words like ‘jeezzo’ (new one to me). There were guns - Ike, the piano player seemed to be the one that liked to use them to get peoples attention. There was even Indians - who were more concerned with the health of the chiefs son than causing any real problems for Noelle and Luke. So maybe not so much of the cliché as just a setting (Western). It was slow (not much action) and gentle (even Luke), an all around easy read. ( )