Heat Factor: It’s not ‘hot’, but don’t let it deter you.
Character Chemistry: You hope she’ll fall for the hero but there’s so much else going on it’s not a sole focus.
Plot: Louise Archer gets jilted by her unseen suitor at the last possible moment by telegram and decides to hop on the train as planned anyway so she can convince him to change his mind. But when she lies to a US Marshal and ends up in a dismal little town in desperate need of saving, Louise can’t help but jump right in…
Overall: This is not a steamy, relationship-driven romance but it’s darn good and it sticks with you.
This book is probably not a straight romance, but I read it a month ago and I still think about it (so you should probably give it a go, if you like a good tangle).
Louise gets herself in a huge pickle when she lies to everyone she knows and hops on a train to go convince her fiance to un-jilt her and marry her anyway. They’ve never met–only by correspondence–but she knows they’re meant to be together and she’s not the type to give up. (I don’t think she has the ability to let anything lie, frankly.)
When she tells a fat lie to the US Marshal who helps her on the train, Louise ends up stuck in a dismal town with a disgusting restaurant in need of rescue. But when she discovers the entire town is being preyed on by a banker with no morals, she ends up leading the charge and playing the long game to save her newfound friends and neighbors. All along the way, our handsome US Marshal Everett McCloud is slowly untangling the mystery that is Louise.
Honestly, I could not for the life of me figure out who she was going to fall in love with. She equally flummoxes and antagonizes just about every man she comes into contact with and it’s absolutely delightful. I could not put this book down; in fact, I almost never stay up all night reading, but I did with this one. I started hoping that Everett would come back into town right alongside our heroine but it was quite clear she’d be fine even if she didn’t end up proposed to.
If you have a hankering for a well-told story with more twists and turns than steamy embraces, I highly recommend this one–it’s absolutely charming and you’ll love every second.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.
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