Rate: 5 stars
Betrayal had ruined Banner Coleman's wedding day and on her wedding night she was a jilted bride. Now old seeds of greed and desire are harvesting a scandal --- and Banner's affair with an old family friend could shatter a friendship and a family.
The Texas countryside was wide and wild, the barn was warm and musty, and the passion between Banner Coleman and her parents' best friend, Jake Langston, was going to be the start of trouble. Betrayal had ruined Banner's wedding day, and now on her wedding night she was a jilted bride. Jake was the toughest cowhand in Texas, yet Banner had broken down his resistance, setting loose emotions neither of them expected. Now Jake and Banner were caught up in a scandal that could tear apart a friendship and a family. But theirs wasn't the only sin in this rough town outside of lusty Fort Worth. Greed and desire stretched back to a wagon train journey twenty years before, and this cattle land would explode once more with a man's hunger and a woman's enduring love.
...I don't even know if I enjoyed this book. I don't know how to put this but this book had me feelin' hot then cold, cold then hot, and hot and cold. No doubt it had me completely captivated the entire time, but I couldn't come to terms with the tragic ending. When I say it's tragic, I don't mean unhappy because the book does have a traditional 'happily ever after' but with Ross's death it just feels like the perfect picture is incomplete. I found it difficult to understand why Sandra Brown would feel the need to write such a tragic death for him when he and Lydia worked so hard for their happiness. If I had read Sunset Embrace before this one I wouldn't be sitting here writing a review for a one-star book. No, I would be writing a review for a one of two-star book. The only thing that made it all bearable for me was because I hadn't read Ross's story. I know Lydia and him had twenty years of happiness, but it's never enough is it?
I loved the Texan flavour to this book. I'm not a particular fan of Western Romance but this book does it so well. It's hard to explain it exactly but the setting truly enhances the story. As for the characters, I adored Banner and Jake. I know it was initially hard for me to accept that Jake was twice Banner's age and in love with her mother, but gradually age lost its importance and I came to enjoy their romance without feeling any discomfort. Banner and Jake's romance is one of those intensely and passionately stormy ones. It was a constant cycle of love, hurt, passion, yearning and more hurt. It was hard not to find myself drawn into the web of emotions and there were so many more facets to this story than just Banner and Jake's relationship. I think Sandra Brown reached much deeper than the stereotypical historical romance with this one. And this is the first time I've ever given 5 stars to a heartbreaker.
He nodded. "Well, good night," Please, Banner, don't look at me like that. I want to hold you, but I can't.
"Good night." Jake, why are you punishing me for a sin that belonged to both of us? Don't hate me for it.
"Lock up good now, hear?" I remember how sweet you were, Banner, and I want you again. But I can't, I can't...
"I will. Good night." You were so sweet to me that night, so tender and caring. Why are you being so mean to me now?