Set in 1875 in West Texas, this is the story of Charlotte (“Lottie”) Weyland, who has been on her own since she was fourteen, and Tyree Benton who joined the Texas Rangers seeking revenge.
The story begins with a scene where Lottie sets fire to her home where she lived with her grandfather and a barn in which there is a man before she flees on horseback to Greenbroke. In the small Texas town where now Lottie lives, Ty and some rangers come to town with a prisoner. Ty gets wounded in a shootout and Lottie rushes to help him.
So the romance begins.
As always, Warner writes well with clever dialog, vividly creating life in a small town in 19th century Texas. She obviously knows her subject well, perhaps because she is a Texan. We feel the heat of the hot summers and learn what it meant to take any small job just to survive.
This story is a bit different from Warner’s other books. The first half of the book is in Lottie’s point of view and we don’t see much of Ty, who is in and out of her life. Only in the second half do we get some of Ty’s inner thinking.
Lottie has used her talent for “figuring” to grow a bookkeeping business, serving the town’s businesses and growing a nest egg to buy a ranch. She also learns investing in land and mineral rights from the town’s banker. To have a ranch is Ty’s dream, but, proud man that he is, when Lottie offers to help, Ty refuses her money. While they are in love, they can’t seem to make their dreams come together. The, into the mix comes her past.
The end of the book has some exciting scenes and brings happiness for some of the endearing characters. A charming and sometimes exciting story from the Old West.
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