An Incredible Story, Wonderfully Told
This is the most emotion-laden story I've read in some time. The tension was so high at certain points that I could hardly stand to keep reading. It seemed important to stop and process the gritty situations the characters were experiencing.
The shoot-out between Jake Harkner and Bill Kennedy is beyond anything I've read in American Western novels so far. This is 500 pages of tension, fear, grief, grit and redemption. I read it in less than 24 hours because the story grabbed me and wouldn't let go.
The heroine is Miranda Hayes, a widow who has lost her father and is hoping to find her brother. She is devastated by her losses but has the courage to travel (alone, if need be) west from Kansas to Nevada. However, she encounters a very dangerous man, Jake Harkner, and their lives become entwined.
Miranda is a woman of rare strength of character. She begins to change Jake; to help him see another life path beyond the one he's been traveling along. In spite of all the adversities they face, she is a rock of confidence in Jake's innate goodness. This story takes place over 20+ years of their marriage.
This is the first book I've read by Roseanne Bittner. I just can't say enough about how this story affected me. It will be a long time before I can forget Miranda and Jake.
