Fire Brand

by Susan Kyle, Diana Palmer

He'll risk his whole heart to save her from the past

Gaby Cane was always a bit afraid of her attraction to Bowie McCayde. Even when she was fifteen and Bowie's family took her in, she had sensed his simmering resentment. Now ten years later, she's an aspiring journalist who can hold her own with any man professionally, the dark shadows of years gone by far behind her. Then Bowie strides back into her life--only this time, he needs her, and the pull of loyalty to his family is too strong to ignore.

When Bowie asked Gaby to help save his family's Arizona ranch, he never expected the girl he once knew to return transformed into a stunning, successful woman. As they work together, Bowie is shocked to find that her innocence and beauty stir a hunger he can't deny. But the rogue rancher can sense something holding her back, and he's determined to uncover the terrible secret Gaby is fighting to keep hidden...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Harlequin, Western Romance, Westerns, Fiction

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1989

About the author

Susan Kyle writes under the pseudonyms Diana Blayne, Katy Currie and Diana Palmer.

Susan Spaeth Kyle was born in 1946 in Randolph County, Georgia. She attended school in Atlanta and graduated in 1964 from Chamblee High School in Chamblee, Georgia.

In 1991, at the age of 44, she went back to college and graduated summa cum laude. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, with minors in anthropology and Spanish, from Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. She has two years work on her master’s degree. She belongs to the honor society, Alpha Chi.

She has been married since 1972 to James Kyle. They have a son, Blayne Edward and two grandchildren.

Her hobbies are blues piano, classical guitar, researching the Tudor period of Great Britain. She enjoys reading science journals and anything pertaining to the field of theoretical physics. She is also an astronomy buff, and she owns a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. But her main hobby and obsession is online gaming. She plays World of Warcraft daily on the pc. She also plays Oblivion: Elder Scrolls 4 and Halo: 3 on Xbox Live on her Xbox 360. She and husband James are both players, along with her sister, Dannis, and niece, Maggie, and at least one of her readers.

Susan lives in Habersham County, Georgia, with husband James and a houseful of assorted animals.

Reviews

[Jac K · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been on my kindle for a while, and I’m hoping I didn’t drop $7 bucks on it because it was a snoozefest. This author isn’t for everyone, but I imprinted on DP when I was too young to be reading her books, so they’re a comfort of sorts. But Fire Brand missed the mark for me.

Gaby ran away from an abusive situation when she was 15 and was unofficially adopted by the McCaydes. Bowie was older and resented her for stealing his parents’ affections. Years have passed and Bowie asks Gaby to return and help him get the lowdown on his mom’s new boyfriend.

My issues…
⛔ The plot was slow moving and took the majority of the book to get going.
⛔ I felt zero chemistry between the mcs.
⛔ Boring characters—especially Gaby who was so slow on the uptake.
⛔ The mystery was obvious.
⛔ Too much filler on soil erosion, desert conditions, big agri, etc.
⛔ No drama
⛔ Too long

Bottom Line- NG for me.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of slow with too much filler about politics and environmental issues that were going on. I skimmed a portion of the first half because the romance was underdeveloped but second half of the book was so much better!

[Cheesecake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gaby and Bowie. A political western with a bit of romance. I must admit I almost DNFed a couple times in the middle. I didn't feel like the story really got moving til 2/3s in. That's when the MCs actually developed some chemistry. Really, Gaby was kind of a wet noodle throughout the middle and DP used her to soapbox about the evils of soil erosion and the sensitivity of desert ecology. It got pretty repetitive and tiresome. Plus it made Gaby seem rather obtuse because she was on the opposite side.
Gaby was taken in by Bowie's parents when she was a 15 year old runaway. They know nothing of her background because she is afraid to say. Bowie was resentful because his parents cared for her more. And he really was resentful. There's no hidden love from her teenage years on either side.
She's now mid 20's and a successful reporter. Bowie talks her into returning home for vacation to help check out his mother's suspicious new beau. I thought there was better intrigue involving the mysterious Mr. Courtland than there was with the big agri-business trying to force Bowie into selling them part of his land. That was very transparent and tiresome. Used mostly as a plot device to cause friction between Gaby and Bowie. At some point Bowie and Gaby start to see each other in a different light but Gaby has some PTSD that she can't talk to anyone about because it could cause trouble. That was all very transparent too and exactly what you think happened, happened. Again, Gaby comes across as pretty obtuse, especially for a reporter.
Over all this was a pretty dull read for this author, but very low angst. Some interesting characters, but none of them terrible likable. The romance was nice in the last third of the story but then Gaby has a TSTL moment that kinda ruined the ending for me.

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Fire Brand" is the story of Gaby and Bowie.

Another classic DP trope with
-A scarred puritan h adopted into the H's family who works as a reporter
-A conservative puritan brooding rancher H who has his own resentments
-A chemistry that has sizzled too long and finally boils over when his widowed mother decides to remarry
-A couple of shady men
-A bundle of secrets
-A crate of ideologies which only exist in a DP world..otherwise back in 1800s

It was a well written book which ran a couple of hundred pages too long.
But, yes, it has the classic virgin heroine/mature hero trope with May December element as well as attraction that has built up too long.
There are brooding glances, hymen insecurities, professional conflicts and loads of exaggerated lovemaking scenes by people who still live by the principles of morality.
If you have read and been of fan of old school novels which give you the same feel good feeling and/or are your comfort reads, you will like this one.

For me, it would have been perfect if it was a couple pages short. The will they wont they push and pull kept me hooked, and though the characters were confusing at times, I did like the overall book.

Disclaimer: One of the biggest and biased DP fans here. I think I've finished most of her books, when yet again I find a rare book previously been published under her pen name and here I am back on her bandwagon.

SWE/Unsafe h was adopted into the hero's family as a kid and since then he has had other relationships

3/5

[T from Istria 💛💚 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow and boring plot on local politics and environmental issues, took awhile before it picked up, then it was interesting for a bit and then very predictable.

Gary was an annoying perfect puritan virgin with PTSD from something that happened when she was very young (yes, you guessed it). The hero Bowey is an arrogant rich rancher and big smoker with no personality.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for the first half.

It was okay, but kind of slow with too much filler about her being the reporter and the whole environmental issues that were going on. There was not a lot of relationship building between Bowie and Gaby. The emotion wasn't there nor the intensity. I skimmed a portion of the first half because I wasn't that interested in what was going on.

4 stars for the second half of the book.

That was when the story got so much better because the focus then was on the romantic relationship of Bowie and Gaby and not outside forces. There was a lot more intensity. It was emotional. It had moments of tension both emotional and otherwise. It was raw. It had the angst the I loved. There were tender scenes, and some hot sensual foreplay as well love scenes along the way that were more about their intense, emotional connection and wasn't just about lust. They were very meaningful scenes that I loved seeing. I loved their interaction with one another too. They were a cute couple. And more to the point it had that Diana Palmer flavor that I love and want from her books. In fact it was what I expect from her books. The second half of the book definitely saved it for me otherwise I wouldn't have been that impressed.

[Mary Kirkland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gaby was taken in by Bowie's family when she ran away from her life because something bad happened. Bowie kind of resented her because his mother showed her all the love that he never really got. Now Gaby is a journalist and Bowie needs her help to save his ranch and his mother.

At first these two did not get a long at all. Gaby has some huge walls put up because of something that happened to her in the past and she's not comfortable around men who get too close or show they're interested in her. Bowie needs her to come home with him and make sure his mother isn't making a huge mistake with the new guy in her life. Bowie thinks the new guy is a gold digger and just after her money or maybe the ranch and Bowie needs help to change his mother's mind about the new guy.

While Bowie and Gaby are there they get closer and Bowie tells her he's interested in her but even though she's attracted to him she freezes up when he gets too close. He realizes that she's never had a real relationship and that there's more to her fear than just being new to it all. It takes a long time for her to trust him but he was good at seduction for the most part. Watching these two get closer was fun but he did mess up a few times because he was out of his mind in lust *eyeroll* and had a hard time stopping himself a couple of times. That was the only thing that got on my nerves and took away from the story a little. I mean, he knew she was afraid for some reason and yet he's gonna let himself get all hot and bothered so much that he pushes her farther than she's ready for and he has a hard time stopping when she says that's enough. C'mon, have a little self control.

Gaby's past catches up with her and she thinks that her life is over but things are a little more complicated than we first thought and it's a little sad to find out everything that happened.

But if you're like me and have read enough Diana Palmer romances, you already know that this is her recipe... naive innocent, brooding rancher that has little self control and a little danger thrown in for fun.

I really liked Gaby and Bowie for the most part as well as the secondary characters of Bowie's mom and her new beau who is more than he seems. I really like Diana Palmer's books and will continue to read them even though this one wasn't my favorite.

[Chantal ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow just wow! This book reminds me why I love Diana Palmer aka Susan Kyle. Gaby has a terrible secret and a mysterious past and at 15 she finds a new home with Bowie and his parents. He resents her and they grow apart until the mom decides to get tangled with a new guy. They get together to try and save her. Also there is the whole sub plot of the newspaper which was surprising well written, Bravo ( see this is much better then gaming and violence). The passion is off the charts and their first time is hot! She is of course innocent and he is experienced but not too much older then her in the case at 12 years. When the past catches up with her and she can't keep it all in she tries to leave and he will not have that! He was honest and loving and the stuff of romance. Wow I want me a Bowie! So good. Glad I bought this one in paper copy as it's not available yet on digital. Worth every dollar I spent on this older book.

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published at Reading Reality

I think we need a genre term for books that were contemporary when they were originally published, but are not set in a defined historical era, and are republished without updating. Because Fire Brand definitely fits into that class.

Fire Brand was originally published in 1989, and presumably wasn’t written much before that date. While there are no references to specific events that would make things obvious, for example, the name of the then-current U.S. president, there are plenty of clues that tip the reader that this is no longer the world we know.

There are some obvious things. No one has a cell phone. Personal computers exist, but are relatively few and far between. No laptops.

But there are some real dead giveaways. The first one that got me was the way that Vietnam was referred to. In 1989, it was still a relatively young man’s war. Our hero is a Vietnam vet in his mid-30s. The U.S. pulled out in 1973, so this was just barely possible.

One of the more subtle cues is the ubiquity of people smoking, and the lack of reaction to it. Anti-smoking bans didn’t really get off the ground until the late 1980s, and the wide open spaces of the formerly Wild West were some of the last places to implement widespread smoking bans in the U.S.

The suspense element of the story comes from an attempt by a big agricultural firm to buy a lot of land in the somewhat depressed town of Lassiter. The opposition to the initiative comes from a very fledgling environmental movement. Environmental protection wasn’t nearly as well developed a science, nor was it as entrenched in the public consciousness, as it is today.

And the story is broken by a local, small-town, weekly newspaper that seems to still be thriving on classified advertising revenue. The late 1980s were probably the last Golden Age of newspapers in the U.S. The heroine’s world of newspaper reporting, newspaper publishing, and easily switching jobs from one paper to another has vanished.

So the background is a bit dated. What about the story?

The romance is fairly self-contained, so the external factors don’t matter as much. Gaby Cane was taken in by the wealthy McCayde family when she was a 15-year-old runaway. She is obviously hiding a secret, but 9 years later no one seems to be looking for that secret even though it changed her whole life.

Bowie McCayde has always resented Gaby’s intrusion into his family’s life. She instantly became the daughter his parents never had, and he was pushed a bit further out into the emotional cold. But he was already an adult when Gaby intruded into their lives, and a good chunk of that coldness had been frozen long before her arrival.

Fire Brand turns out to be two love stories. One is between Gaby and Bowie, and the other belongs to Bowie’s widowed mother Aggie and the man she brings home from her Caribbean cruise. A man whose motives Bowie questions. Bowie wants Gaby’s help in keeping his mother and her mystery man apart while he digs into the man’s background. What he makes is a mess.

Gaby and Bowie hesitantly draw closer, as Bowie finds more and more wedges to stick into his mother’s affairs. Or rather, affair. Of course he’s all wrong about his mother’s suitor, and all too frequently off-base when it comes to his relationship with Gaby.

He has to nearly destroy everything to figure out just how precious true love is, and how easy it is to break it.

Escape Rating B-: I enjoyed this, in spite of the dated background. This is a time that I remember, so it was easy to slide back into this groove.

However, there were other ways that this story was a throwback that made it bit more difficult to swallow. It reminded me of some of the Harlequins that I read back in the day, when I saw reading romance as a guilty and secretive pleasure rather than something to be up front about reading.

Back in the day, all heroines were always virgins, no matter how many plot twists the author had to go through to make that plausible. It provided a way for the experienced hero to seduce our secretly passionate virgin into her first sexual encounter. It also allows the hero to make possessiveness and his loss of control during her loss of innocence seem romantic, no matter what the circumstances.

I’m also not sure that the trauma that created Gaby’s hiding of her sexuality was rendered realistically. Or it went a bit far. As a reader, I can accept that her trauma kept her from wanting to experience sex, but she seemed less knowledgeable about the way things work than feels possible for the era. The late 1980s were not the Victorian era.

However, while Gaby was sometimes naive, she was a genuinely likable person. She just needs to grow up a bit. On that other hand, Bowie is frequently a bit of an arsehole, and tends to treat both Gaby and his mother like they can’t possibly manage without his guidance. He’s very traditionally alpha, and is a hero of the type where love is supposed to redeem previous bad behavior.

The underlying story about the big development was interesting, as was the way that Gaby did good investigative journalism to figure out what was really going on. She looks for the facts of the case, and tries to keep her bias out of it. A tenet of journalistic ethics that seems to have gone by the wayside in the decades since this story was written.

All in all, a mixed bag of story. A good one for escaping back into the not-so-distant past.

[Rogetwhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may have rated it higher but I didn’t like Aggie. It’s rare that I lower the rating for a book based on the secondary characters but I really, really didn’t like Aggie.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gaby Cane has been working as a reporter for the Phoenix Advertiser for three years, when she gets an urgent request to go back home, the home of the kind people who took her in when her life fell apart when she was fifteen. And to Bowie McCayde. The McCaydes loved Gaby like the daughter they never had, and Bowie, their son, resented that very much. However, now he needs her help because the family ranch is in danger: there’s a new company in town looking to buy their land and water rights, and that will be over Bowie’s dead body, and both Bowie and Gaby have a say in what will happen to the family home. Gaby and Bowie have always been tense around each other because he always perceived Gaby as a bit of an intruder, but nine years later, there’s an attraction that wasn’t there before, if only Gaby could let go of the past and let herself feel again…

FIRE BRAND is a reissue from 1989, if memory serves, and I’m glad I knew this before going in, as I was entirely unfamiliar with romances from that time. I didn’t read start reading romance novels until around 2005, and I must say I was a bit taken aback by FIRE BRAND; it was a bit of a culture shock for me. I felt it sounded a bit quaint at times, but I guess readers familiar with 1980s romances will be quite comfortable with the tone. Knowing this, I’m afraid I might have taken a somewhat scholarly view to the book and read it with a bit of a socio-literary approach, so forgive me in advance if I may seem a tad uncultivated.

I really liked Gaby, even though I was a bit perplexed at her lack of all-around sexual knowledge: she is after all 24 and a journalist, however I understood her issues given her dramatic backstory. Bowie however left me utterly perplexed, not him probably but the depiction of the male romantic lead. I barely warmed up to him only towards the end. I’ll admit I found hard to grasp the idea of a man lamenting the physical pain he is experimenting while trying not to have sex, restraining his animalistic nature in order to be kind to the heroine. He was though, but it seemed very dated to me, and looking at how Gaby and Bowie acted towards each other, I felt the story could have happened in the 1880s rather than the latter part of the previous century, and it actually was written in the previous century! But I digress. On the other hand, Ms. Palmer is amazingly adept at describing the beauty of Arizona, and her love for the State is evident. The dispute around the fate of the Casa Río and the ecological issues are extremely well researched and documented, and the journalistic environment feels entirely accurate. Gaby and Bowie’s romance did not quite do it for me, I never felt involved, however – and here might be a bit of a spoiler, but I think it necessary to write about it – I absolutely adored a parallel story involving Bowie’s mother Aggie! It captivated me from the first moment to the last, and held my interest until the very end. And in spite of my misgivings about Bowie and Gaby, Aggie’s tale made FIRE BRAND well worth reading. And this book was an education for me as well!



I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give 3 ½ stars

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick Summary: Mixed bag

Review: Fire Brand by Diana Palmer was a rather "interesting" story. It was a mixed bag romance, in my opinion. It was uneven with its tone and heavy on its details much of the time. I liked the characters, but I did not love them. I appreciated the air of mystery surrounding Gaby, as well as Kingman, and I was happy to see two romances come about in the story. I did not, however, like how Bowie spoke to or treated Gaby at times, how immature Bowie's mother was and how she spoke to and treated both her son and the "daughter" she supposedly loved, or how naive and uneducated Gaby (a grown woman) was about relations. It was almost ridiculous.

About the Characters and Their Stories...

Gaby: Fearless concerning her job, but fearful when it came to having relationships; running scared and haunted by her past; isolated and alone even though she found a substitute mother figure; extremely and ridiculously naive regarding relations with a man; virginal to vixen; tenacious in her search for truth; loyal and forgiving

Bowie: Sour and rigid at times; dysfunctional in terms of familial relations; driven when it comes to his work and his convictions; both kind and cruel to Gaby; protective of the two women in his life; a hot-headed reactionary person in the heat of the moment; condescending; lonely and searching

Aggie: Selfish and immature; conditional in her demonstration of love regarding her son and sometimes even with Gaby; spoiled and sulky; hungry to be loved after having such a dry marriage; flighty

Kingman: A man's man; secretive and elusive; uncompromising at times; believed in having great love for a woman; a family man

Special Notes...

I did not like that Bowie was a smoker. It did not match with his environmental awareness and eco-loving approach to life. How can one be so concerned about preserving the health and well-being of land and history and have such a nasty habit and a disregard for personal health? That didn't make sense to me.

I did not care for the way that Bowie treated his live in staff. I noticed that he treated the female staff member differently than he did the male staff member. There was a lack of respect that was demonstrated early on that did not sit well with me. (Even though someone can be in your employ, that does not give you the right to speak to them in an unkind way.)

Rating: 2/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: Adult
Status: M, C
Chemistry/Intensity: +/-
Conflict/Drama: +/-
Suspense/Intrigue: +
Family Dysfunction: +
HEA: Yes

Source: NetGalley (Review copy provided in exchange for an honest critique)

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC received via Netgalley to honest review.

==>portuguese and english<==

Heroína é acolhida pela família do herói e tratada como filha. O herói se ressente da presença dela e acaba se afastando da família.
A mãe do herói agora viúva se envolve com um pretendente que causa suspeitas no filho dela.
Herói elabora um plano junto com heroína para impedir que a mãe dele seja enganada pelo novo namorado.
Nossa heroína tem um passado trágico e traumático que vai ressurgir ao longo da história. Eu achei ela muito interessante porque ela é jornalista e destemida no trabalho dela.
Gostei muito do herói pois ele não é um dos ogros da autora.
A química entre os dois é explosiva e a história muito interessante.
A história prende a atenção porque queremos saber sobre o passado da heroína e qual a verdadeira identidade do namorado da mãe do herói e se nossa heroína vai enfrentar o medo dela de intimidade e dar uma chance ao amor do herói. Todo mistério mantém o leitor interessado.
Sempre vale a pena ler os livros da autora. Recomendo!

--------------------------------------

Heroin is welcomed by the family of the hero and treated as a daughter. The hero resents her presence and just moving away from family.
The mother of the hero now widow becomes involved with a suitor who cause suspicion on her son.
Hero devises a plan along with heroin to prevent his mother be fooled by new boyfriend.
Our heroine has a tragic past and traumatic that will resurface throughout history. I found our heroine very interesting because she is a journalist and fearless in her work.
I really enjoyed the hero because he is not one of the ogres of the author.
The chemistry between the two is explosive and very interesting story.
The story holds your attention because we want to know about the past of heroin and the real identity of the hero's mother's boyfriend, and if our heroine will face her fear of intimacy and give a chance to the love of the hero. All mystery keeps the reader interested.
Always worth reading the books of the author. Recommend!

[Nise' · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reissue of a classic story. Gabby was taken in by the McCayde family as a teenager. Bowie has always been a bit jealous of the attention his mother lavished on her, but when he asks for her help to save the family ranch she is more than willing to help. Gabby has always had a crush on Bowie and while working to uncover the truth about an agricultural company's plans she falls deeper in love with him. Bowie is a bit suspect of her motives as she could gain from this development. He is impressed with her investigative talent and stops fighting his attraction. There are a few references that date this novel to it's original publication date.

[Layne]

When you think that Diana wrote this book in 1989 almost 29 years ago, it's really quite interesting about large companies buying up land and then spoiling it. Very interesting.

[Christy McCurry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.

[Loraine Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book by Diana Palmer, is no secret I have always loved her books and his one was a really good read.

Gaby Cane, is fifteen when something horrible happens to her, and she is forced to flee into the night, and her Father had to flee the other way. This has shaped her into the 24 year old woman she is today. When she fled 9 years ago she hid out in the barn of an unknown family and was found by the son, Bowie McCayde. He brings her into the house and hands her over to his mother, who always wanted to have a girl. AS time goes by Bowie realizes that his mother shows more attention to Gaby than him, and even though he is an adult, it still hurts him. He was never really raised in love, everything was business with his father and so he was always trying to win his respect.

Ten years have gone by, and Gaby now works for the newspaper and is very good at her job. One night after a shooting Bowie shows up at her work, and she feels apprehensive but curious about what he wants. They have seen each other over the years, but he never sought her out before.

Bowie can't believe the beautiful but innocent beauty she has grown up to be, and he feels enamored of her, but she always does not like to be touched and he could never figure out why. After he asks her to take a vacation and help him at the ranch to find out if his mother is falling in love with a gold digger and he wants her to keep an eye on his mother, she thinks she will be there by herself. When she gets to the ranch he is already there.

Bowie starts having feelings for her, but he can sense her resistance and fear. On top of this a huge company is trying to sell some of his prime land to farm cotton on and he says no! Gaby, being the reporter she is looks into it and can see both sides. Will they both lose out on a chance at love for this reason, since it seems as if the are on opposite sides of the fence. Will Bowie's mother marry a gold digger? Will Gaby ever be able to give herself to a man without fear?

Read the surprising ending and watch this story into a book with angst, heartbreak, and love, and you will see why I love Diana Palmer's books so much!

I gave this book 5***** emotional stars!

[Kerry Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this novel recently, feeling in need of some brain candy. It’s a republication of a story initially released in 1989, which is the only reason it’s receiving 2 stars instead of less. I realize it’s a product of its time, and as such needs to be read in that context.

That said, how on earth publishers chose to reissue this novel, particularly in the time after #metoo absolutely baffles me. Gaby, the female heroine, ran away at age 15, a victim of attempted sexual assault. She happened to take shelter from a storm in a barn, where Bowie found her and took her to his mother. His mother adopted her and loved Gaby as her own, though Gaby never revealed how she came to be there, at least not until 10 years later, when she begins to see Bowie in a new light.

Bowie pays her compliments, flatters her and tells her he’ll teach her passion - at her pace, making allowances for her fears, and asks her to marry him. It comes out that this is essentially a manipulation, because she stands to inherit shares of his family ranch, and he wants ultimate control of the land and its future. As they experiment with pushing her boundaries, getting closer to intimacy, it’s hard for him to stop - Gaby always feels guilt for leaving him in pain or vulnerable when she pulls the plug. He tells her that when hot, a man can’t be held responsible for his actions and may not always be able to stop. At one point, he even asks if he can’t stop and pushes her passed her limits after she says no, if she will forgive him. She says of course. What in damn hell? Romances are supposed to be fairy tales, give us something to dream about and perhaps aspire to. This one leaves me feeling nauseated and angry. Times do change, and this story has not aged well - far beyond the cigarettes the author is concerned about in her introduction.

There are some environmental themes still relevant today, and discussions regarding environmental protection versus development, but beyond that - this book is going straight into my recycling bin. I can’t even stand the idea of donating it or putting it out into the world for others to read.

[Pam Kinsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't say how long I've been reading Diana Palmer books suffice to say its been a long long time. Her stories are always a great romance story with angst, conflict, and most of all love. This one is no different.

But I did notice a one big difference in this book. The hero wasn't as much of an ass as some of her others have been. And the heroine Gaby maybe innocent but she holds her own. Seems like we got both their points of view more in this one that we have in the past with Ms Palmer's books and I liked that. Her books are an auto buy for me and I love that I can share them with my aunt and SIL.

This book gets 4 stars from me and I was given this book via Netgalley in consideration of a review and that in no way influenced my opinion of this book. If you like sweet romances try hers

[Jo Watson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title has nothing to do with the story.

This book made me feel icky! It’s an almost step-sibling romance which is always ick and the woman is survivor of sexual assault and the way it was handled when she was basically raped by her love interest when he lost control was super ick! Then Palmer leaves a big dark secret till the very end that Gaby thought her dad had killed her attacker and the guilt from it had put him in a mental institution and it turned out that that wasn’t what had killed him after all was so unsatisfying.

The political aspects were pretty lame. Pretty sure Palmers research was contained to a handful of headlines considering the characters sounded like they were repeating headlines.

[Olnega · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every character in this book is unlikeable and behave very illogically but I suppose it’s typical for Diana Palmer. The only person I could relate to is Brody. Yes, he had no right to interfere with his mother’s relationships but taking into consideration the length of the engagement and secretive behaviour of her intended husband: I can’t blame him for intervening.
Apart from that, there is too much unnecessary information that didn’t add anything to the story, just pages and pages about Gaby’s work and environmental issues.
I am going though Diana Palmer books in order of publication and still haven’t found a single book I liked enough to reread in a future.

[Sandy Frediani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was - okay. I really did not like Bowie, although he improved somewhat toward the end. Gaby is kind of neutral. I neither liked nor disliked her. The trauma in her past is alluded to, but not explicitly explained, and it seems like she 'got over it' a bit too quickly. There's all this buildup - push/pull - and then when Bowie loses control, she's fine with it? At least in the beginning, the author seems to have a "fixation" on the color olive. We have olive colored skin, olive green eyes, which would be okay except that it seems like every other page there's repetitive detailed descriptions of the characters, including that 'olive.' In sum - it's okay.
Okay.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gaby & Bowie

The first half of the book felt like it dragged a bit talking about politics and environmental issues neglecting the build up of the relationship between the main characters. The story started to pick up on the second half of the book where the focus returns to Gaby and Bowie. The intense emotional connection between them was felt through the pages as well as the very tender moments and very steamy sex. The scene in the swimming pool was HOT. Great read despite the slow and boring talk of politics. Highly recommended

[Ada Iaboni · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, this (Susan Kyle) Diana Palmer book is probably one of her very early works and pretty bad!
I almost put it down several times, but gave it the benefit of the doubt.... and it was bad.
I won't tell you the story, but a young woman who is nearly raped has issues that this author glassed over with "the love of a good man" kind of thing.... the man was self assured and willing to help, but was also arrogant and selfish. Anyway, I can't tell you to read it, but if you do, I'd be interested to see your reviews.

[Cullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaby, Bowie, Aggie, and Ned a love story

Bowie finds 1/2 frozen 15 year old Gaby in the stable. He takes her into Aggie his mother. She takes Gaby in and raises her like the daughter she always wanted. About 10 years later Bowie takes her out to dinner and tells her that Aggie is bringing a boyfriend home from the cruise. He knows that Ned is after Aggie s money. They need to save her.
A wonderful story. With lovable characters. A touch of danger a bit of wit. What more could you want?

[Stan Finger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me cringe on so many levels. It was preachy and sluggish, there was absolutely no chemistry between the female reporter and the ranch owner's son (who comes off as a narcissistic predator, frankly), and the sex scenes seemed really inconsistent for someone with her life experience. Oh, the author tried to explain everything exhaustively, but it still doesn't resonate. The plot and storyline were utterly predictable.

I could list the many flaws, such as no reporter 2 years into the business is a "veteran journalist." But it would seem like overkill.

[Cindy Adair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Old West meets modern progress

Reporter Gaby has a nightmare in her past. She has told no one, not even her unofficial adoptive family what really happened. Now she is forced to work with her older “step brother” Bowie to try and protect her “mother” Aggie from a possible gold digging new boyfriend.

Of course, secrets come out, more secrets are discovered, true feelings are realized, and a happy ending are had by all. I enjoy the western romances by Diana Palmer, and this one did not disappoint. If you are looking for an easy, satisfying read, grab this book!

[Piya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author used the word "huskily" so much throughout this book...my reaction could only have been described as literary indigestion and the last 80 pages were excruciating...However, Bowie, is the kind of romance character every woman would want to play front and center in her cowboy dreams, so the two stars in my rating are strictly dedicated to him!

[Lana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main romance in this book had a plot line that I really don't like, and as a result I was actually hoping the main couple wouldn't end up together. However, it did have some secondary characters that I really liked and two underlying mysteries that I wanted to know the resolution to. So it kept me reading in spite of the main romance, that I did not enjoy.