Charity and Luke meet as children and then again years later. She's the privileged daughter of a wealthy rancher and he's a bounty hunter.
This was one of those books that starts out very promising and gradually goes downhill to an epically bad ending. The character arcs never progressed but actually declined as the story goes on. I've read some of the author's contemporary western romances and thought they were pretty good, but this one was not for me. ( )

Coming home was never easy but with a name like Shardlow, know for his murdering father and his thieving half-brother, Luke never expected anyone to be happy to see him again. Finding Charity Barnham, the daughter of a powerful rancher up a tree made him remember what he had been through as a young boy. A moment with Charity could not change his plans, he had to track and take down his older half-brother no matter who he had to fool to do it. She had heard the stories but she was not prepared to find out the type of man Luke really was, the stories just didn’t seem to match the man she was getting to know and surprisingly was beginning to fall for regardless of what her fathers wishes were.

1889, Washington Territory - Pride, is the normal reason for any distance between loves in these historical novels, and this one is no different. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. There was something about the writing that occasionally had me shaking my head - as to say ‘why was it worded like that’. Liked how strong and determined Charity was and how in the end Luke made better decisions. I felt the ending should have been a little different, didn’t seem entirely finished to me even though it was the typical ’happily ever after’ scenario. First Linda Lael Miller I have read, I will probably read another if I come across one that sounds good, but I won’t rush out to get one. ( )

Luke Shardlow grew up being the son of the town drunk and whose only claim to fame was his rescue of the pretty little poppet, Charity Barnham, from an icy river she had waded in to looking for magical frogs. Although the then 8 year old Charity offered 11 year old Luke a kiss, it wasn't something he was interested in and instead Charity granted him one wish. However, Luke never saw her again and when his father murdered his mother when he was 15 he knew he could no longer live in the small town of Jubilee.

At 22 years old Charity could be considered a spinster by some, but that did not mean she would capitulate to a marriage arranged by her father to his neighbor's son. And when she accidentally runs into the now adult Luke Shardlow Charity realizes that her ever elusive fairy tale prince is actually a gunslinger and a rogue. However, Luke's true purpose in returning to Jubilee is one he's not willing to reveal, one that could threaten Charity's very life.

Overall I thought this was a pretty good historical romance which I believe was set in Texas, but I can't truly say for sure that it was. It just seemed like it. As is more usual than not with romances the side players didn't get as much character building as the main ones, although Dr. Molly really struck me because she reminded me a lot of Dr. Quinn from the television show. I really enjoyed that. Although the book was pretty predictable, it easily held my interest and it was rather enjoyable. The only thing that brought the whole story down for me was the ending. It totally didn't play true to the personalities of the heroine and hero that had been so set in stone throughout the book. I won't say much else about it because I do think it is a good book for people who enjoy historicals with an action/adventure edge and do not want to ruin it. ( )