Linda Warren loves happy endings. The Rita® nominated and award-winning author has written 26 books for Harlequin, including SuperRomance, American, and Everlasting Love. Drawing upon her years of growing up on a farm/ranch in Texas, she writes about sexy heroes, feisty heroines, and broken families with an emotional punch all set against the backdrop of Texas. She lives in College Station with her husband and spends her days doing what she loves—creating unforgettable love stories—with happy endings.
Linda Warren was born Linda Siegert in Brazos County, TX, on July 2, 1945. She passed away on November 8, 2023, in Bryant, TX. Warren is survived by her husband, several children, and grandchildren.
First off, I was not expecting the cult elements here! Like, WOW, what a starter! A beautiful young woman, Caroline, is kidnapped by members of a weird cult, to become the next "wife" of their crazy leader. Texas Ranger Eli Coltrane insists on being assigned to the case because someone he loved got hurt by that same cult leader, and thus, saving Caroline has high stakes for him.
And, of course, along the way, the two fall in love and each engages in their own form of healing.
Now, from start to finish, I was engaged with the story, and thought that it was really well done, especially for a Harlequin Romance! Both Caroline and Eli were likable characters, and although Eli was very reticent with opening up and just...letting her in, there was fair justification behind that and both characters had enough charm to thoroughly get you on their side! There was a bit of back-and-forth in terms of actively acknowledging how they felt, but this was fairly understandable give the traumatic experience that brought them together and how quickly they fell for one another afterwards.
All in all however, a lovely quick little read, from rescue to romance!
Good read. Heroine is a senator's daughter (state or US, I'm not sure) who is kidnapped by a cult leader somewhere near Waco (shades of David Koresh!) (I lived near Waco at the time of the Mount Carmel standoff.) Hero is the Texas Ranger who goes in undercover to find her.
Hmm. The cult leader changes the hero's name from Eli to Elijah because they use Biblical names. Except Eli IS Biblical. Eli was the high priest who raised the prophet Samuel after his mother dedicated him to the temple when he was a boy. Oh well.