Tall, Dark and Western
24yo widow answers the ad for a wife by a South Dakotan widowed rancher with a 4yo child. They had an instant attraction upon their first meeting and Hero proposes that they marry the next week. They get to know each other a bit more via phone calls but heroine doesn’t seem to bring up the subject of her 11-week-old son to him. Finding about her newborn son on their wedding day shocks and thoroughly upsets Hero. He rejects heroine’s suggestion of an annulment yet he avoids anything to do with her son for months on end. Heroine tries to accommodate his feelings after he tells her about his trauma re: his 1st wife dying from labor and their preemie son dying 3 days later in the hospital. She hopes that in time he’ll adjust to her son as he’s well adjusting to marriage with her. But her hopes are dashed when he reacts antagonistically to finding out she’s pregnant with their baby. Winston gets into the emotional depth of her characters. Reading Hero and heroine’s point-of-views helped me understand their pasts and why they’re acting the way they are in their r/s with each other. I felt Hero’s pain of losing his wife and son and his fear of it occurring again. He struggled with guilt of moving on from his 1st wife and enjoying his marriage to heroine. I felt heroine’s love and empathy for Hero’s struggles and her fear that Hero may never soften up to her son. Their sexual chemistry was dynamic and sex scenes were hot. I loved how Hero couldn’t get enough of her and vice versa. They were a sweet couple whose strengthening love for each other helped them surpass their past pain. Hero’s reaction to her pregnancy ultimately set the future of their r/s.
Recommended.
