Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The Rancher’s Surprise Son - Christine Wenger

The Rancher’s Surprise Son
Christine Wenger
Harlequin Special Edition, Aug 18 2015, $5.50
ISBN: 9780373659128

In Arizona, although she knows her affluent rancher parents would go into a rage over her visiting the neighboring Double M spread, Laura Duke asks thirteen year old Cindy Masters to watch her young toddler Johnny.  While the two females chat, Cindy’s brother Cody comes home after spending over three years in prison for killing his abusive stepfather Hank Lindy stunningly driven by Duke Ranch foreman Slim Gonzales.  Slim explains to Laura that following a visit from Cody’s mother Georgianna, her father arranged for the felon’s release.

As Slim drives Cody to see Laura’s dad, he tells his passenger that she married someone at college; but it didn’t last long though she had a child with this stranger.  Hurt that his beloved failed to wait for him and obviously lost faith in him, she turned to someone else.  Cody is further stunned when he recognizes the eyes of the almost four years old staring at him.

The fourth Gold Buckle Cowboys romance (see The Cowboy Code, How to Lasso a Cowboy, and Lassoed into Marriage) is an entertaining contemporary due to the wonderful West Side Story couple and a deep bench.  Although the final unnecessary denouement seems over the top of the Rincon Mountains, Christine Wenger authors a pleasant family drama.


Harriet Klausner

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