Running from a life she no longer wanted… unlikely hero, an ex-confederate soldier who seems more monster than man.
Hiding from a past he can’t seem to forget…
The war leaves Noah Lloyd scarred and bitter. When the girl he left behind broke his heart, he turned his back on the life he used to know, and sought refuge in a dusty little town that afforded him the solitude he wanted. Finding a woman and her kids hunkered down in an abandoned line shack in the middle of a blizzard is the last thing he needs. They’re ragged, half starved and vulnerable, but he’s determined to leave the trio in the care of the town marshal.
Can a future together erase all the pain…
But the innocence of a child at Christmas breaks through Noah’s hard exterior and Keri’s tender care allows him to see that life may be worth living. All he has to do is let go of his past and let this unlikely family love him.
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If you’re looking for a Christmas book that will make you cry, laugh and fall in love with the characters, this is the book for you. Noah is a tortured hero and Keri needs a hero. A heart-warming book that you will think about long after you close the book.
One of my favourite historical western books. I re-read two or three times a year. The Willow Creek series is a favourite of mine.
I love a broken hero, and this dude is reeeeally broken. For that matter, the heroine isn’t doing so great either at the beginning of the book. But together they survive, and then they do more than survive. As he starts falling in love, there’s some truly “Awww!” moments with him opening up. Definitely recommend, and not even necessarily at Christmastime.
I was overdue for a historical western romance. I wasn’t really looking for a Christmas theme when I bought this, but the cover (not the one shown) sold me. It’s too bad Goodreads isn’t up to date with it. It’s much improved.
Keri Hilam is a widow with two kids. Her son, Aaron, is ten. Her daughter, Sophie Ann, is five. Keri was on the run from her former brother-in-law, taking off in the middle of the night with her kids. She knew she had to get away from him, but she wasn’t counting on running into such hardships, the primary being starvation. She had two kids to take care of and desperate times called for desperate measures.
She finds an old hunting shack with the roof caving in to hole up during a snowstorm in Montana. It isn’t much, but it’s the best she could do. She and the kids have nothing other than the threadbare clothes on their back and a blanket that’s in the same condition. They manage to gather some twigs to start a fire, hoping it’ll be enough to keep them from freezing to death.
Noah sees smoke coming from the trees on his land and goes to check it out only to discover that this woman and these two kids are squatting in the building he’s never used and it doesn’t set well with him. He tells them to leave.
Keri is afraid of the big long haired, thick bearded brute. She doesn’t want any trouble and does as he says, not knowing where they’re going to ride out this storm. This is a life or death situation with an impending the cold and snow that’s already falling.
Noah has a conscience, something he thought he’d left behind after the Civil War, until he thinks of Keri and her children trying to survive this weather when they were all underfed and didn’t hve any proper gear. He’s been reclusive and not at all sociable for the past twelve years and having the three of them invade his life is not something he wants to deal with. He goes back for them and instead of letting them stay in the old, rundown cabin, he takes them to his own cabin. It started out as “only until the storm is over” and moved to “until you find your brother” who is allegedly in California.
Noah has some baggage that touched my heart. I envisioned him with this grotesque long, thick beard that covered most of the scar on his face and long hair that he hadn’t combed in months, possibly years. He’s got a powerful voice and speaks with a Southern accent. I think I might’ve been afraid of him, too. He’s an enigma with his person (he wears gloves all the time, even when he’s inside) and socially, as well. Most people regard him as a monster.
Keri got to know him and see him for who he was and didn’t care at all about the scar on his face. She knew he wasn’t a monster. She saw him as kind, caring, and giving. She fell in love with him, but trying to get him to see that he could love and be loved was a different matter. He was private. He hid. I think he was even a little bit shy. I knew there was more to him than met the eye and I knew he was hiding more than just the scar on his face.
Keri had to take the lead. She wasn’t all that sure about it when she did it, but she took a chance and it paid off. The tension between her and Noah screamed from the pages and the love scenes were so hot. The two of them worked so well together, it took my breath away a few times.
There’s some Old West action, a few antagonists that got what they deserved and added some zip to an otherwise steadily-paced love story, and a great romance with a happy ending.
I would’ve given this five stars, but there were some awkward sentences and a couple of instances of wrong word usage. It wasn’t unbearable and I enjoyed the story very much.
*This is part of a series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone novel