"A moving tale"

In San Antonio the Cadillac driver purposely runs Kirk Alder off the road killing him. Not long after that tragedy, his daughter Sarah commits suicide. Grieving wife and mother Brynn flees their home where the memories hurt to start over in Walburg, the heart of Texas Hill Country.

Feeling she failed her daughter, Brynn works one on one with troubled youth. Canyon Construction Chief Engineer Jake McKenzie asks for help with his disturbed twelve year old Andrea who he loves dearly. Her mother abandoned her last year and Jake trots all over the world. A bone-tired Brynn says no because she needs a breather having just worked with a child.

Jake ignores her refusal and brings Andrea to meet Brynn, who sees Sarah in the child's mannerisms. Though mentally exhausted Brynn agrees to help the preadolescent. As Brynn fears for her life knowing someone has stalked her since her spouse died, she falls in love with Jake and Andrea. He reciprocates, but both must overcome the failures of their respective first marriages.

Though the suspense subplot seems out of place (a vehicle accident and a suicide would have sufficed) and the emotional baggage of the lead couple is stratospheric, contemporary romance readers will enjoy this insightful second chance at love tale. Brynn is a wonderful protagonist struggling with the bean balls that life has hurled at her. Though Andrea is a solid pre-teen in trouble and Jake is a tyro learning to show his love, Brynn steals the show as she senses déjà vu with his child. This is a solid tale of three people in trouble.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 25, 2004