I think...if I'd read these in order, I would have really been irritated with book #3. The two overlap quite a bit. time-wise.

So our H - scary gunslinger who thinks of himself as a peacemaker - has a favor called in, and finds himself acting as a US Marshall. And... he'd just spotted someone who fit the description of one of the wanted posters. ( I must interject that shortly before he came to be in this town, he was challenged by a kid in a yellow slicker. Hmmm... Did we get a glimpse of a v. young Angel?). So with a bit of deductive reasoning and a question or two, he heads off and finds himself with... well... And now he has a dilemma - does he turn her in or...?

Our h, accused of killing someone, and robbing a bank, did neither - she was making a withdrawal and the banker gave her someone else's money too by accident - we assume anyway. Is possible he did it deliberately. She's been on the run and hiding for 2 years. And now she's caught. He doesn't turn her in, for personal reasons, not that he admits that even to himself. Just says it's because she's a girl. Much adventure...ok, hunting down of criminals...later, a kidnapping by the sheriff in her home town, and his running them to ground, a hasty marriage (because otherwise the supposedly dead person has sued for guardianship of her and her brother until she's 21 or married), a bit of intimid-ahh-conversation with said not-dead-yet mayer later, and he gives in and goes to his home...to figure out what's going on. Because...our gunslinging H is the oldest son of a *banker* in Chicago, and he apparently bravely ran away away after shooting his brother for screwing his fiance' and being ordered by dear old dad to marry her anyway.

Thoughts about it. The h talks...a lot... For someone on the run, she doesn't hide her tracks very well. Then again, he would never have seen her in the first place if her friend hadn't let her sleep late. The H...is maybe a little too good at hiding his emotions, which leads to a lot of uncertainty on the h's part. The story, in and of itself, is good. It could almost be seen as entertaining, though I think her constant chatter grated a bit too much on me for much amusement, and the behavior of the sheriff and his deputy bothered me a lot - they treated her like a criminal and it wasn't until the H caught up to them that they came clean about the charges being dismissed and them collecting her for her guardian.

This is a very strange book.

The book starts as a young photographer rescues a troll, which in the realm of the book really exists.  And then things get strange.  The love story part of the novel in particular.

The love story is between various characters as they all try to get into Angel's pants because he is so . . . something.  Honesty, I don't get what is attractive about Angel.  And on that note, that aspect of a love story fails.

But that isn't the real purpose of the love story, which is more about a love for nature and country.  The selling point of the novel is the development of the troll and Angel's relationship to it.  It is those aspects of the novel, furthered by the research bits that pop up, that really make the novel work.

The troll, Pessi, in part, seems to symbolize nature, and though his story, we get glimpses of how humankind effects nature and changes it.  It is though the trolls that the novel allows Sinisalo to examine our relationship with nature.  

What I find to be most intriguing about a Johanna Lindsey story is not that it is a romance, but that her heroines are statement. Temptation's Darling is not the story of a victim. Vanessa is determined to live on her own terms, despite her sex and because of upbringing. I admire a woman who knows her mind and follows her heart. Vanessa still has much to learn about love, life and adventure. Monty could be the tutor of a lifetime, if pride doesn't get in the way. Temptation's Darling is a passionate tale of a courageous soul and an unpredictable love that will captivate the heart and inspire the soul.

When God Was a Rabbit is a very colorful story about family and growing up. I enjoyed it a lot and the magical realism details made it especially good.

Well, I liked and at the same time didn't like the story. It was interesting to follow Courtney's growth as a person but the hero of the story was despicable. I didn't like his way of thinking and the way he treated Courtney was awful. He was a mean bully.