"Goes on the Top of Your Romance TBB List for Summer of 2001"

Catherine Anderson, well-known for her unconventional heroines, has created her most unusual yet with Bethany Coulteróa paraplegic and the love interest of Ryan Kendrick, brother of Rafe Kendrick from BABY LOVE.

This book is totally character driven, is much spicier sexually than books I usually read, has virtually no plot other than the relationship between the hero and heroine--- and yet, I couldn't put the book down once I started.

Ryan, who had had his share of love interests throughout the years is in his early 30s and ready to settle down. Seeing his brother's happiness after marrying Maggie, Ryan would like some of that same happiness for himself. When he sees lovely Bethany Coulter sitting at a computer at the farm parts store owned by her father, he is immediately lovestruck. He already decides he wants to ask her out -- when he notices she is sitting in a wheelchair. Bethany had been paralyzed from the waist down in a barrel racing accident eight years previously.

Bethany at first tells Ryan a gentle no, but Ryan refuses to take no for an answer and finally wears down her resolve. They go on a first date to a tractor pull but first, finding out her interest in horses, takes her out to his ranch to see his newborn colt. She is immediately smitten -- with both the filly and Ryan. After their evening together, Ryan kisses Bethany goodnight and she responds -- too much so and is so embarrassed she is determined never to see Ryan again. But Ryan isn't one to give up easily. If they can't have a relationship, then he will win her over by telling her he just wants to be friends.

Ryan's reputation for being a 'love ëem and leave ëem' kind of guy, results in Bethany's brother Jake warning her to keep her distance from him. Her five brothers have all been very over-protective of Bethany since her accident. Bethany's brother, the macho Jake Coulter, tries to warn Ryan off Bethany but when he does, he sees how much Ryan really loves her and finally becomes an ally instead of his enemy.

Ryan at times seems too good to be true in his resolve to be Bethany's ëbest friend'. He is content to take her to the movies, and to dinner, never being less than a gentleman. He paves his driveway, buys her horse back for her, buys special equipment for her, and basically shows her she can be pretty darned independent. Soon Bethany finds herself falling in love with Ryan as well.

A near tragedy has Ryan coming to Bethany's rescue and that evening is a turning point in their relationship. But Bethany still holds back. She loves Ryan so much she thinks he deserves a whole person -- one who can enjoy sex, one who can give him babies -- she believes she can do neither. Still -- their relationship blossoms until a second tragedy makes Bethany believe that in protecting her, Ryan will constantly be placing his own life in danger -- and she pulls away.

Readers who enjoyed BABY LOVE will remember that the Kendrick family recently came into an insane amount of money through sale of some of their property to land developers. Despite that Ryan continues to work hard on his ranch raising horses and cattle.

One of the most unusual secondary characters in the story is a friendly bull named T-bone, who had been sickly as a young calf. Ryan had taken such a liking to him that he refused to have him castrated. When he makes friends with Cleo, Bethany's cat, the picture of this cat, sleeping on the back of this enormous bull, makes for an unusual scene to say the least.

Readers of BABY LOVE will enjoy being re-acquainted with the main characters from that book including Rafe, Maggie, her sister Heidi, her mother Helen, their son Jaime, and new baby daughter Amelia.

Anderson has written yet another page turner. Her unusual heroines (a deaf heroine, abused heroine, a heroine accused of murder) and storylines have become her hallmark. She risks a lot here in creating such an unusual heroine. But she does it with finesse and style, never making Bethany a character to be pitied but instead a strong woman with a life of her own, becoming more than she ever dreamt she could be. All combine for a book readers should be putting at the top of their reading list for the summer of 2001.

Reviewed by Maudeen Wachsmith
Posted June 29, 2001