"A beautiful story that shows love always wins in the end"

In this prequel to Lori Handeland's 'Luchetti Brothers' Series, readers meet their youngest sibling and only sister, Kim, who has secrets she can tell no one.

Kim Luchetti had fled her home at the young age of 18, swearing to never return, and indulging in all manners of things in an attempt to forget. Her heart had been broken as the result of a tragedy that only she and her boyfriend at the time, Brian Riley, knew about. When her father falls ill eight years later, she comes home to see him. Everyone wants to know why she left everything behind but she can't bring herself to reveal their secret.

Brian has always loved Kim, in spite of the hurt and anger he feels and her having abandoned him when he needed her most. When she appears in the driveway of his farm, he is disbelieving and in his shock, tumbles off the barn roof breaking both of his wrists. Kim's guilt over their heartbreak, and his current situation, makes her decide to do the right thing and stay to help him until he is healed.

Their love has never died, even after what happened so many years ago, and being in such close quarters brings all those memories to the surface. Can they finally talk about what happened and help each other heal? Or is that one heartrending event going to keep them apart forever?

This is a beautiful story about two young people who made some mistakes in their past that still affect them to this day. Kim and Brian were so in love in their younger days, that they never thought anything could ever hurt them. As is always found in the fearlessness of youth, they believed they were indestructible. However, their past affected them more than they realize.

Kim has become a woman who believes love is nothing but pain, and she attempted to drown that in alcohol and men. But the emptiness remains. Brian feels like a failure because he could not make her stay back then. Both are still so blinded by their hurt and loss that they can't see the truth before their eyes... that the love they share can see them through anything. This comes through in the writing, having caused this reviewer to become teary-eyed on more then one occasion.

The growth of the characters in this book is well done, with the readers being able to understand what drives them. The interaction between Kim and her family is realistic and true to the nature of large families. There is even a sweet secondary love story here, that of Kim's parents, as they learn once again why they love each other and they learn to handle the changes in their relationship. Tantalizing glimpses of the Luchetti Brothers are given throughout, preparing readers for the stories to come about each of them.

Having only read Ms. Handeland's paranormal romances in the past, this book gave the reviewer a better realization of the author's talent for penning emotional stories that grasp readers from beginning to end. This reviewer looks forward to reading the rest of the series that has started with THE FARMER'S WIFE.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, September 2004. All rights reserved.

Reviewed by Kelley Hartsell
Courtesy Love Romances
Posted November 22, 2004