Opening Line: “His was not a face that women carried with them into their dreams”

Oh how I loved this one. I actually sought out a used copy of Texas Destiny because it had received such rave reviews and WOW am I ever glad I did. I knew going in I was going to like this because I’ve got such a soft spot when it comes to the tortured heroes but I never expected to be as moved as I was by this beautiful story. Just know any review I attempt here really won’t do this justice.

I fell in love with both the hero and heroine and literally couldn’t stop reading mostly because Lorraine Heath never took the easy route with their story. Just when I thought I had it all figured out she went the opposite way or moved things past where I thought she was going to. She also gives us multifaceted characters who only over the course of the book manage to reveal their whole selves.

Our couples back stories are both heartbreaking, talk about wounded souls finding each other. Unfortunately for them our heroine has already promised herself to another and the hero doesn’t feel anywhere near worthy of fighting for her love, especially up against his successful, good looking, older brother.

But the heart wants what the heart wants, and sometimes it isn’t a fancy house and lots of frills but a quiet life in a one room cabin with small dreams, a few horses and a man that makes your toes curl regardless of what he looks like.

Amelia Carson has just arrived on the Fort Worth train, she’s a mail order bride trying to leave the horrors of war-ravaged Georgia behind and start a new life for herself in Texas. She’s been corresponding with Dallas Leigh for a year now, agreeing to marry him and in exchange for travel expenses signing a promissory note. (Its 1876 so the deed is as good as done.) Now all she can hope is that Dallas is everything she imagined he’d be from his letters.

However it’s not Dallas who meets Amelia’s train (due to a broken leg he’s been unable to travel.) The tall cowboy keeping to the shadows is his younger brother Houston and she’s going to be stuck with the scarred and bad tempered man for the entire three week wagon journey back to Dallas’s ranch. Houston doesn’t talk much and almost always keeps his face turned away, but Amelia’s an optimistic character and it doesn’t take long before she’s able to break down Houston’s defences.

Missing an eye and badly disfigured this weary, ex-Civil War soldier has survived the war but its left him scarred inside and out and he now prefers the company of horses to people. Amelia has brought something back to life in him though and he can’t help wishing things were somehow different. As it stands his memories are going to have to last a lifetime because she belongs to his brother and he’s going to deliver her to him and watch them get married because Amelia deserves so much more then he could ever hope to give her.

Of course the return trip doesn’t go quite as smoothly as planned and Houston and Amelia are forced to rely on each other to survive, growing ever closer and falling in love. And this is where things got interesting because I expected the brother to be a mean horrible man (makes for an easy story right) but no, he’s a nice guy, who would make an excellent husband, remaining true and providing Amelia with a good life. This makes her decision very difficult especially when the one she really wants keeps pushing her away.

Part 1 of the Texas Trilogy.
271jb5+

Opening Line: "Nicholas leaned back in the wooden tub, closed his eyes, let the hot water soak the chill from his bones."

Well, that's it I'm no longer a Pamela Clare virgin. Although I may just become an addict now. And lucky me, I have SO much good reading to look forward to.

This was easily one of the best historical romances I've read. Now I know why everyone keeps recommending Pamela Clare. I just can't seem to bring myself back from the frontier of 1763, nor do I want to, and then there’s Nicholas... Sigh

There isn’t much I can say really that hasn’t been said already, Ride The Fire is an epic read, with characters that will stay with you long after you’ve finished. By the end I couldn’t believe how far they’d come and what they’d been through. And the detail paid to historical accuracy here is simply amazing. Down to the smallest of facts, including actual soldiers, battles, forts, and sieges. You’ll have no trouble being transported away and imagining yourself there. And how fun was the inclusion of “Ben” in the closing chapters?

In regards to the romance (big sigh) Bethie and Nicholas are just perfect; with a realistic, slow building love forming between two equally wounded souls. I love a tortured hero and Nicholas is about as good as it gets without being a bully (as most tend to come off before they fall in love) and I appreciated how his dark secrets weren’t given away all at once either. I was on pins waiting to hear exactly what had taken place after he was tortured and why he continued to live amongst the Wyandot. Surprisingly though it wasn’t his brutal torture but the scene where he drops to his knees in front of his mother and begs forgiveness that got to me. There were no TSTL moments on the heroine’s part here, no dumb misunderstandings to plod through or exaggerated conflict it was all just beautifully done.

I should also mention that while this is the third part of a trilogy I read it as a stand alone with no problems whatsoever. I have of course just ordered the first two books because I can’t seem to find anything else to read that even comes close to capturing the magic I found here. Cheers

Opening Line: "Moments stolen...never to be regained."

What a great ending to an absolutely fabulous trilogy. I actually hunted down these books used because of the rave reviews and am I ever glad I did. This series will definitely be getting a reread. Lorraine Heath can tell a story, flawlessly capturing the emotions of her characters and never giving them an easy route to love. I always enjoy how our couples fall in love slowly, almost like it’s a surprise to them while they struggle through numerous hardships. And her heroes… jeez. Big, tough, damaged cowboys, willing to do anything for their women and usually causing this reader to tear up once or twice in the process.

Here we get youngest Leigh Brother Austin’s story which is made all the sweeter because we’ve watched him grow up throughout the previous books. When we left him last (5 years ago) he had just gone to prison for a murder he didn’t commit, all in the name of protecting his sweetheart.

Upon his release from prison Austin is devastated to learn that Becky hasn’t waited for him, in fact she’s married his best friend. I really appreciated how lost he was during this time; life had moved on during his incarceration, children had been born and grown, he didn’t know anyone including himself and no longer felt like he had a place in the world. I was also moved by the loss of Austin’s music as he gives up his violin because he can no longer hear the songs in his head. Heartbreaking.

Setting off for the capital to find the real killer and clear his name Austin gets delayed when his horse goes lame. Finding his way to a rundown farm he comes across a shy, innocent (and often barefoot) young woman with a sweet smile who is living in seclusion and has secrets and nightmares of her own. Of course romance blooms and these two damaged souls seek comfort in each other. Never one to shirk his responsibilities Austin marries Loree when he learns she is with child (whoopsie) returning to the Leigh homestead to build a future together and presumably purchase a lot of sugar.

Austin and Loree are a fantastic couple who are virtual strangers when they marry and watching them grow and and ultimately love each other is just beautiful. Much like in book 1 ( Texas Destiny) it’s also a story of two wounded souls finding and healing each other however here we also have big a secret hanging over their ultimate HEA. I didn’t figure out this mystery until I was right on top of it and was surprised and pleased with the outcome.

In the background of Loree and Austin’s romance we also spend considerable time with the other brothers and their wives and while it was fun catching up with Dallas and Huston I did get a bit tired of all the children and babies being born and felt that the book kind of stalled out for a while with all the family stuff going on in the middle over Christmas. The series concludes with a fantastic epilogue taking us 10 years into the future which I loved -it wasn’t the future I’d expected but it was so satisfying.

As others have mentioned Rawley Cooper really shines in this story and I can only hope Heath has given him a story of his own as he definitely deserves a HEA. 5 star series 332jb4