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When stoic recluse Teagan McMurray began his correspondence with a Chicago bookseller all those years ago when he was sole protector of his brothers and sister and the Whispering Mountain Ranch, he never expected that it would bring him the man’s widow and her three young daughters two decades later. Hard bitten, suspicious of strangers and considered a bear of a man by most who have met him, including the widow’s children, he’s the last man people would expect to take in a family, even temporarily. But the bookseller had become a lonely man’s only friend and Teagen couldn’t ignore the man’s last request to look after his family.
Jessie Barton doesn’t hold with telling lies but to save her three children from starvation or worse, she’ll do whatever she has to do. Besides, she believes that the man who wrote the letters to her husband had to have a tender heart, however much he had been hardened by life. She can’t worry about the consequences should the truth come out.
But slowly, as Teagan’s defenses are tumbled by the new females in his life, Jessie comes to realize that she has been playing with fire. Her own feelings for Teagan have grown and the lies hanging over her head threaten not only her new found security but Teagan’s trust in her and the fledgling feelings blossoming between them.
Jodi Thomas has written a sweet romance that captures the desperation, vulnerability and dependency of women in the nineteenth century. As always, her characters are vivid and unique, with faults and frailties that make them all too real. The scenes with the children will bring a smile of recognition to any mother. A warm and tender story that explores the union of a man who has survived due to his physical strength with a woman who has survived due to her inner strength and the lessons they learn from each other.
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