Wary of love after her failed first marriage, widow Kate Blakely nonetheless falls for her new neighbor, Zachariah McGovern. 

Review

Catherine Anderson brings forth a heart-wrenching tale of love, trust and overcoming the most painful odds.

Kate Blakey is just trying to piece together her life. After suffering at the hands of her abusive husband for so many years, she is rejoicing in her new found freedom. Life is very difficult for her and her four year old daughter, Miranda after the death of her husband but she is determined to move forward and help her child heal. Just because Kate no longer have to suffer punishment from her deceased husband, she still have to fight off his disturbing brother, Ryan, who believes that Kate should be with him and if she refuses, he will take Miranda away. Not to mention, Kate has to deal with her new ruggedly handsome neighbor, Zach McGovern.

Zach wonders what causes Kate and her daughter to become so skittish around them. When little Miranda falls in an old well, Zach risks his life to go in and save her. Bitten by snakes, Kate can’t refuse to help the man who has risked it all for her daughter. She helps heal his body and bring him back to life. While Kate works on his body, Zach slowly starts to work on their hearts, showing them that there are some good loving men around.

This is a well-written story. Would I necessarily call it a traditional love story? No. My reasons being that there are too many horrific scenes (especially when Kate finally opens up about the abuse she and Miranda suffered from) and the images of what Miranda dealt with stayed with me long after. In all honesty, I end up rooted for the little girl to finally get some peace of mind and a happy ending.

The ending wrapped up too neatly and after all they went through it was a little unrealistic. Zach’s own side story is interesting but after the painful story it seemed a bit unnecessary to add more heartache to the story.

Reviewed by Samantha

READERS COMMENTS