Prodigal GunThe minute I opened this book and read the first line, I stepped back into the old West. I knew I was in the hands of a masterful storyteller. No one knows more about Texas, past or present, than Kathleen Rice Adams and she uses her knowledge to add depth and heart to her story. I love men who have been hardened by life, who yearn for things they know they can never have. Mason Caine is a such a man. I ached for him because he was so wounded. He let his family think he was dead because inside he was. He had nothing to go home for. The woman he loved had married his brother. The book opens with him finally riding into Texas after 16 years, but he rides straight into a bullet and wakes up on the Hard Eights Ranch, the last place he ever intended to be. And he finds out his brother is dead and the woman he loves is a widow.

Jessie Caine can't believe the man she loved and thought was dead was in her house, still breathing (if barely) and still able to send her heart stampeding with a single glance. He's harder now but she knows how to soften him and awaken desires that he'd tried to bury. He's also a wanted man who lives by the gun and that scares her because she knows she can't hold him. The attraction between them heats the pages and the love scenes sizzle.

If you only read one western historical romance this year, it needs to be this one. I recommend it to anyone who wants a story that will grab you and not let you go until the last word. It's well-written, full of emotion with characters that leap off the page and into your heart. I can't wait to see what Kathleen Rice Adams writes next. I'll be first in line for it.

Linda Broday, NYT and USA Today bestselling author
http://lindabroday.com/