Linda Warren (1) (1945–)

Good second chance story. Back when she was eighteen, Angie was in love with her best friend's older brother. But he treated her like another sister, until the night of a party got out of hand. Punch was spiked and Angie got rather tipsy. Afraid to go home because of her mother's strictness, Hardy put her to bed at their house. The next morning, a grateful kiss from Angie turned into something more. By the time Angie discovered she was pregnant, Hardy was engaged to another woman, so she show more kept her secret. She married a friend to give Erin a name, but it didn't work out and she came home to Horseshoe and the support of her family.

For ten years the secret has weighed on her. When Hardy moved back to Horseshoe she knew she had to tell him, but circumstances kept it from happening. Until the day Erin ran out in the street, right in front of Hardy's truck. Suddenly there's no keeping the secret any longer. Hardy is stunned, angry at being kept in the dark for so long, and determined to get to know his daughter.

I thought this was a pretty realistic look at how people react to things that happen in their lives. Because of her mother's rigid religious beliefs, Angie had been afraid to confess her pregnancy to her family. The desperate marriage and its end are not uncommon. Erin has become Angie's life, and she will do anything to protect her. She's mostly able to put Hardy out of her mind, until he moves back to Horseshoe. Hardy had been attracted to Angie way back, but the age difference was significant at the time. Plus, he had had his life and career mapped out since he was a kid, and Angie had no place in his plans. So he buried the memory and moved on with his life. When he came back to Horseshoe he did what he could to avoid coming in contact with her. He was horrified by the accident and was determined to do whatever necessary to make things right.

As scared as she was, I was happy to see Angie finally tell Hardy the truth. She is nervous about it, afraid of his reaction, and worried about the effect it will have on Erin. Hardy's anger is understandable, but I also admired his determination to be involved. I loved the fact that they actually talked about it like rational human beings. I was a bit mad at him at first, as he tried to lay all the blame on her, but he redeemed himself when he finally admitted that some of the blame was his own.

What followed was a terrific story of two people brought together by a child. I enjoyed seeing Hardy get involved in their day to day life, dealing with the good and the bad. Spending that much time with Angie has the old feelings coming back. Angie also discovers that her love for Hardy had never really gone away, and was now growing even stronger. She worries that their growing closeness could damage his political aspirations, and tries to keep him at arm's length because of it. Hardy has his own battles to fight, against his father's expectations, and against his girlfriend's determination to sweep it all under the rug. A threat against Angie brings everything into sharp focus for him, and I loved seeing how he dealt with it, though I would have liked stronger consequences for the instigator. I liked seeing Hardy's vulnerability at the end, as he goes after what he really wants. I loved the epilogue and seeing how things are going a year down the line.

I loved their daughter Erin. She was quite character in her own right. Her reaction to the news was not unexpected, and I thought that Angie and Hardy handled it well. Her happiness at having a father was sweet, and I loved Hardy's reaction the first time she called him daddy. She also has a pretty strong will, and I loved the way she took sharing the news into her own hands.

The assorted family members also had their places. The strongest ones were Angie's mother and Hardy's father. I didn't like her mother for most of the book. She was far too rigid and judgmental, and her reaction to the news was just plain mean. There was a neat scene where she was called out by her mother-in-law, and she did redeem herself pretty well at the end. Hardy's father is one of those men who seems to enjoy running his children's lives. His constant harping on Hardy and what he had to do was annoying. Once Hardy found out about Erin, I liked seeing him push back. I wanted to smack his father over his visit to Angie and loved seeing her stand up to him. Fortunately, he came around pretty quickly. show less

Although this is supposed to be a romance, it rarely felt like one.

Disappointingly few scenes focused on developing the relationship between Belle/Josie and Caleb. The majority of their interactions focus on solving the mystery of who tried to kill her rather than really digging in to their personal connection. It also didn’t help that there’s another man involved and that relationship wasn’t any more defined/established than Josie and Caleb’s so when it came to her choosing, I kind show more of didn’t care who she ended up with, which is really, really not how you’re supposed to feel towards a couple in a romance.

While I was intrigued by the premise of the mystery (Josie has amnesia because someone shot her in the head), my interest waned when the mystery became mired in family drama and pretty much every member of that family came off as a stereotype, especially Caddo.

If you lean more towards the suspense part of romantic suspense, this book may work better for you than it ultimately did for me. show less

Very emotional book. Lacey gave up her carefree single life in Austin to care for her six year old half sister Emma. Their father died six months ago and both of them are still feeling the effects of their grief. Every day Lacey wonders if she's doing the right things for Emma. When Emma comes home from school in tears, Lacey finds out that an older boy has told her that there is no Santa Claus. Emma is devastated and now wants nothing to do with Christmas. Lacey is desperate to find a way show more to fix the holiday for her sister.

Next door, Gabe is hiding from the world. Two years earlier his son died in an accident with his ATV. Gabe holds himself responsible, since he gave it to his son. All he can do is think about his son and how much he misses him, and care for the boy's dog Pepper. But Pepper is sick with cancer and in a lot of pain. Gabe is having trouble accepting what he needs to do because that would sever the last link with Zack. To make things even harder, the little girl next door keeps coming to his yard, no matter how hard he tries to keep her away.

In the latest confrontation, Lacey has had enough of Gabe's surly attitude toward her sister. She says some things to him, including that his son would be ashamed of his father's behavior. She feels badly about it later, and goes over to apologize, only to discover that what she said actually made an impression on him. From there begins a story of two people who are suffering from their losses, but find that together they can make a start on healing.

I loved seeing the way that Lacey was aware of Gabe's pain, but also that he needed help. She was determined to help him learn to live again. Because she too was suffering it made her more aware of his feelings. It was kind of fun watching her bully him into doing things like eating and taking a shower. But she was also able to be the support he needed when taking care of Pepper. Gabe was confused by Lacey. First he had trouble just remembering her name, but he also didn't understand why she was bothering with him. When she called him on his behavior and used his son, it made him angry, but then it made him think. He found that he had a great deal of trouble telling her no when she would find another way to drag him back to the living.

There was also an attraction that built between them, but neither thought that doing anything about it was a good idea. Lacey sees herself as having to concentrate on her sister too much to have a relationship with any man. Gabe has been so lost in his grief that he doesn't know who he really is anymore, and can't see asking Lacey to be with a man who is so broken. But their feelings can't be stopped, and each of them must decide what to do with them. I went through several tissues as they worked through their issues.

Emma was pretty darn adorable. What I liked best about her was that she seemed real. Like all kids that age she can go from happy to sad to mad in the blink of an eye. She's trying to cope with the loss of her father and having her sister suddenly becoming her parent rather than her buddy. That's hard enough, but when her friend's big brother tells her there's no Santa, she's heartbroken. The only thing that seems to help is petting the dog next door. Even though she's been told to stay away, she "forgets" often. I really felt for Lacey as she tried to bring happiness back to Emma, while attempting to maintain the discipline that was needed. I loved the way that Emma would succumb to Lacey's teasing and giggle and tell Lacey "You're weird." For such a little girl, she also had a sweet way of being with Gabe and helping him deal with his pain. I love the Christmas scene with the Santa sighting and the effect it had on her. show less

Wow, so much pain in this book, but with so much love to give at the end. Jena had finally gotten the courage to return to her hometown and try to find out what had happened to the baby stolen from her so long ago. The best person to help her is also the son on the man who had done the stealing and the brother of her baby's father. He doesn't believe her at first, but the details she has are too good to be made up. In order to get at the truth they are going to have to work together.

Jena had show more been terrified by Asa's threats against her and her family when she fled Willow Creek nine years ago. She's older and stronger now, and when she hears that Asa has been ill she knows she has to get the truth from him before he dies. I loved the guts that she showed facing down Carson and securing his assistance. Thanks to the trauma of what Asa had done to her, she tends to be quick to take offense at almost anything Carson has to say to her. Eventually they come to an agreement to leave the attitudes behind in order to get the answers they need. Jena is also fighting an attraction to Carson, knowing that nothing can come of a relationship with Asa's son. I really liked seeing the way that they worked together. When they could leave their issues behind they liked each other and made a very good team. Jena also got to know Carson's kids and enjoyed spending time with them. There were a couple of fun scenes with her and the kids, dealing with hair braids and fishing. There were also some really heartbreaking scenes as Jena confronted Asa face to face and saw just how evil he was. Jena also had to confront gossip in their small town dealing with her disappearance. She couldn't say the things she wanted to say because she was trying to protect the feelings of her sister and her mother. I liked her relationship with her sister and her patience with her mother was very moving. There were some revelations at the end dealing with her mother that I never saw coming. When all the information came out about her boyfriend's murder, the murder of her father and the whereabouts of her child she had a lot to deal with, including whether there was any chance of a future for her and Carson.

Carson is the constable for their town. It's a fairly easy job until Jena comes to town and confronts him about his father's part in the disappearance of her baby. When he takes the information she gives him and confronts his father he is stunned and horrified to find out that it's all true. What's worse is the fact that his father flat out refuses to tell what he did with the baby. He feels terrible that he had believed all the lies that his father told about Jena and tells her that he will do everything he can to discover the truth. I enjoyed seeing his protectiveness come out around her, and also the way she refused to be babied by him. He was also trying to fight his attraction to her and was losing the battle. Once Carson had agreed t help Jena he discovered that there were many irregularities from the investigation done into the two murders. When dealing with his father was a dead end, he and Jena started looking into trying to get at the truth about them. The more information they found the worse it looked for his father. Carson was having to deal with the idea that his father was going to be arrested and trying to figure out how to pursue justice and still protect his family. Carson is especially worried about how it will affect his children, who love their grandfather. The solving of the mystery creates a rift between Carson and Jena that ends up being mended by the actions of a child. I loved the ending but I was exhausted by the time I was done reading. show less