"A fast and fun story!"

When Carleigh Chandler learns her mother did not die in childbirth, as her father had always told her, she leaves San Francisco on a stagecoach for Mexico, determined to meet her mother before it's too late. Carleigh's father, a judge, is desperate to prevent the meeting. He blackmails bounty hunter Trig Mathison and forces him to go after Carleigh.

Trig, an undercover customs agent, doesn't count on falling for the spoiled daughter of Judge Chandler, the man he's trying to put behind bars for smuggling opium. Carleigh finds herself drawn to Trig, even though she must escape him to find her mother. And the couple may not have a future together anyway once Carleigh learns the truth about her father and that Trig is determined to send him to prison.

I enjoyed Broken Blossoms very much. Carleigh is a fresh and believable heroine. The pace is quick and the setting realistic. Ms. Crooks has written a fun read.

Reviewed by Lory Martin
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted March 15, 2003

Summary

Trig Mathison knows the danger of opium's spell—his brother died from it. And though he vows vengeance, the undercover agent wonders if a forbidden yearning will destroy him as well. The beauty he pursues—one whose very blood marks her his enemy—arouses in Trig not a desire for justice, but a hunger for love. The flower of her innocence crushed by her father's lies, Carleigh Chandler is on the run. Chased by a handsome bounty hunter, she succumbs to temptation in his arms. But will their passion be strong enough to untangle the web of deceit that ensnares them?