In this Western historical romance, Elizabeth Coltrane comes home to Texas, to the ranch she stands to one day inherit and the man who rejected her six years ago. Scarred from a mountain lion attack when she was a child, and bearing new emotional scars after the fiancé she found in New York cheated on her, she is in no mood to put up with domineering nonsense from Chase Cameron, her father's trusted foreman... and the man she's been in love with ever since he saved her from the mountain lion who almost killed her.
I really liked Elizabeth in this book. She's strong and feisty, damaged but fiercely determined. Chase was a very good match for her, willing to let her have her head as far as he dares but strong enough to rein her in when she gets reckless.
However, I found the storyline more than a little bit muddled. The plot to kill Elizabeth and the identity of the antagonist being hidden for so long just felt contrived and at times the story dragged, with Elizabeth and Chase just rehashing the same arguments repeatedly.
The story also hit on a pet hate of mine; a man who accuses a woman of sleeping with him to get something she wants. Especially when she's a virgin, this particularly trope just makes me want to snarl and shoot him in the head. At least Elizabeth got her revenge with a good slap, though Chase never did actually apologize.
This is a hard one to rate; it's a bit better than OK but I can't really say I liked it either. I'll give it 3 1/2 stars and round up to 4 for Amazon and Goodreads.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through ReadingAlley.