Lionhearted

Leo Hart is the last of the bachelor Hart brothers. Missing biscuits, and a bit lonely now that he's the sole brother still unmarried, he's still not looking for a bride. Janie Brewster (of the asparagus incident), daughter of a neighboring rancher, is certainly far too young for him. And he's not really liking the way she seems to be trying to go all man-ish lately.

Poor Janie. Mislead by a friend (who's also after Leo), she's been working hard to turn herself into the type of woman Leo likes. She's absolutely in love with him. She's even learned to make biscuits.

In typical Palmer fashion, Leo discovers he can't live without Janie, Janie gets her man, and everyone lives happily ever after. Sure, it's formulaic, cotton-candy (and more show more than a little sexist) romance, but once in a while a bit of sugar doesn't hurt. show less

This is a high rating for me with a DP book. There wasn't a lot of misunderstanding and willful ignoring of facts as in many of this author's books. The hero was being chased by the heroine and didn't appreciate it. She was too young for him, 14 years younger. Also he had been told some lies about her from her supposed best friend who wanted him for herself. So he lost his temper and said some nasty things about her where she accidentally overheard him.

So when she suddenly stopped chasing him and he felt bad about hurting her feelings , his own feelings began to change or at least become clearer. So then he tried to apologize and start up a relationship with her but she kept cutting him off at the knees. I liked his feeling for her and show more the goofy way her chased her. The love scenes were well done here and pretty hot for DP. There was some virginity worship and you weren't real sure of his level of experience. I think this would have worked better if he had been in his 20s instead of in his 30s. Still his characterization was pretty solid. Hers on the other hand was a bit wonky. She grew up on a ranch and couldn't ride? I just find that nearly unbelievable. She was a girly girl in fancy clothes but didn't really want to be that either. She was talked about as if she was always offering psychological advice to everyone because she was taking that in college but come to find out she really wanted to be an archeologist. But that was dropped too. She was all over the place. That was the biggest misstep in the book. Still gotta say for a DP book I thought the plot held together pretty well. show less