Linda Howard

This is one of those historical romances from the '90s where the heroine is feisty, and the hero is an aggressive alpha male. It doesn't feel like a romance because Lucas, the hero, is determined to have the heroine, Dee, and it all happens pretty fast, even though Dee is determined not to succumb. Dee is independent though, and the story is pretty good as she farms her homestead and takes care of her valley, keeping marauders away with her shotgun. Lucas is one of those guys who always knows what's best, but he does save her in the end, and Dee is able to stand up to him too.
There's a secondary couple Olivia and Luis that is a bit sweeter and stands in marked contrast to the first couple's 'romance.' I enjoyed the story as it's a bit different from most other Western historicals.… (mer)

I really wanted to like this book, but I should have known from the blurb (which says a whole lot of nothing), that it wouldn’t be very good. It was extremely slow. Sooooo incredibly, frustratingly slow. Every scene was stretched out to the point of agony for the reader. And then the ending doesn’t wrap anything up at all! It’s like we’re being punished for sticking it out all the way through. The characters have little depth, and for an introduction to a series, this book was severely lacking. I feel bad for the other two authors in this trilogy, because although their books might be great, I’ll never read them.… (mer)