McCabe comes back wounded from Central America to recuperate at his ward's home. Wynn, his ward, is engaged and does not want him there interfering with her engagement. He shows her she has feelings for him, but he is still determined to go back to reporting in Central America. Can she show him her way? Will he stay or will he go?

I enjoyed this story. Diana Palmer is still one of my favorite writers. I liked Wynn and McCabe. I liked that Wynn did not let him walk all over her. She makes up her own mind. He begins to understand what she goes through when he is out getting a story and goes incommunicado during those times. They are a good couple.

The story, while written 38 years ago, is both a history as well as current events. The actions between McCabe and Wynn are very much a product of the time it was written. Wynn would not stand for McCabe telling her what to do today. She'd just do it. However, one arc of the story is getting enough water for the town for the expansion and industry. We see today how important it is with drought and climate change. I never realized how relevant these stories can be in today's time as well as when they were written.

Grace has sworn off men. Quinn thinks she is interested in him. They clash from the beginning to the end but love shows the way.

I enjoyed this book. I figured out the misunderstanding and enjoyed watching them figure it out. I liked how Grace showed her independence from her family. What a bunch they were! I also liked the strength that Grace had. To make the changes she did and to forge a place for herself. I liked Quinn and his protectiveness when he realized what led to their misunderstanding. Some of the secondary characters were interesting--Edward and Folly. Grace did protect herself emotionally but I understood her reasons and could commiserate with her.

A good book for a quiet winter's evening

Under Kalinda Brady's cool silk surface was a smoldering heart waiting to be set afire. But she hadn't expected the sparks to fly with Rand Alastair, artist and fisherman, the stranger whose caresses left her yearning for more. Kalinda had come to Colorado determined to avenge a lost love. She had arranged the set up, and her ex-fiance had taken the bait. But she was shaken by Rand's powerful embrace, torn between her passion for revenge and hunger for this lover who conquered her heart, stole into her world and proceeded to make it his own.

Goodreads.com

Two years ago, Kalinda Brady's father died, leaving her CEO of his data processing firm. Engaged to be married, her fiancee dumps her when he finds out the company is heavily in debt and possibly in danger of being liquidated. Not long after the split, Kalinda gets word her ex-fella has run off and married another business woman with quite a bit more wealth than Kalinda's family ever had. Kalinda then spends the next two years working her tail off to get the company back in the black.

Now that the company is doing quite well again, Kalinda has a chance to carry out her revenge plot. She reaches out to her ex, luring him into agreeing to a romantic mountain getaway weekend. Only, romance is the furthest thing from what she's after. She knows this guy hates to be humilated so that's exactly what she sets out to do. But until that meetup time, she's got a couple extra days in the small resort town outside of Denver where they agreed to meet up. It's there that she meets Rand Alaistair --- potter, art gallery owner, fisherman, maybe local lothario?

He's certainly handsome enough to be a nice distraction but the last thing Kalinda is looking for is to be someone's weekend fling. But once Rand sets eyes on something he wants, his determination is unwavering. He gets Kalinda to agree to dinner with him one night, which --- no surprise --- turns rather hands on once the plates are cleared. The deal isn't entirely sealed though. Kalinda, though she might feel a "passionate curiosity" towards Rand, isn't interested in casual, easily dismissed hookups, so she distances herself for the rest of the evening. But Rand won't be deterred. He gets her to agree to a picnic the next day, where she tells him of her revenge plans against her ex. Rand quickly calls the idea stupid and dangerous and does everything in his power to stop her from following through. She eventually agrees with his logic, decides not to go through with the plan. But when she gets back to town, who's ready with news of a merger attempt on her company ... but her ex!

Just when she's at her wit's end, fearing she's about to lose her father's company and there's nothing she can do to stop it, good ol' Mr. Persistent, Rand, shows up at her door with a plan to save the day. Turns out he's no country bumpkin fisherman but actually a cutthroat businessman well versed in company takeovers, and he's pretty sure he knows exactly how to save the company and win Kalinda's heart for good.

This story isn't going to be the most popular read with much of today's female audience, I'd wager. Rand is pretty persistent, borderline too forceful in his attentions toward Kalinda. Even though she herself admits behaving in a "my mind says no, my body says YES" manner, she vocalizes no a lot, which Rand tends to push through til she says yes... which these days could spark quite the discussion on date rape / rape culture... but let me clarify here and now that Rand never takes it that far. When it seems like Kalinda is being coy, he continues to push. When she without hesitation firmly says no, he backs off and calmly gives her a ride home... which I think makes all the difference in whether one can like this character or not. 

There's still the dated, sometimes cringe-inducing dialogue / interaction between these two (this story was originally published in the 1980s) but honestly, I find that's part of the fun of reading these more vintage stories... being able to step back and laugh and praise the advancements we've made.