Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Texas Trilogy #3.5

Texas Legacy

Rate this book
For as long as he can remember, Rawley Cooper has loved Faith Leigh. But the cruelty of his childhood haunts him and he knows he’s undeserving of Faith. When she comes to him on the night of her nineteenth birthday, they both give into temptation. But the searing kiss reaffirms what he’s always known: he can’t have a lifetime of her in his arms. To protect his heart, he packs his things and heads west.
Faith has always adored the boy her parents took in and raised. But she’s not certain she can ever forgive him for riding out of her life just when she needed him the most. When an urgent telegram forces him to return six years later, Rawley discovers Faith is now a woman to be reckoned with.
As old feelings are stirred back to life and new passions take hold, they both must confront secrets from their past or risk losing a legacy of love.

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2019

105 people are currently reading
769 people want to read

About the author

Lorraine Heath

91 books4,383 followers
Also writes Young Adult under Rachel Hawthorne, Jade Parker, and with her son as J.A. London.

Lorraine Heath has always had a soft spot for emotional love stories. No doubt because growing up, watching movies with her mom, she was taught that the best movies "won't half make you cry."​​​​​​​

She is the daughter of a British beauty (her mom won second place in a beauty contest sponsored by Max Factor® during which she received a kiss from Caesar Romero, (the Joker on the original Batman TV series) and a Texan who was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the air force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, but soon after moved to Texas. Her "dual" nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan, and she enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories.

When she received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Texas, she had no idea she had gained a foundation that would help her to create believable characters—characters that are often described as “real people.” She began her career writing training manuals and computer code for the IRS, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she became not only hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She's been writing about them ever since.

Her work has been recognized with numerous industry awards including RWA's RITA®. Her novels have appeared on bestseller lists, including ​​​​​​​USA TODAY and the New York Times.

The author of more than 60 novels, she writes historical and contemporary romance for adults and historical romance for teen readers.

Under the names Rachel Hawthorne and Jade Parker, she writes popular contemporary, historical, and paranormal r​​omance for teens readers. She also writes young adult novels with her son under the name J. A. London.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
211 (24%)
4 stars
316 (36%)
3 stars
246 (28%)
2 stars
76 (8%)
1 star
16 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
Profile Image for Antonella.
4,138 reviews628 followers
not-interested
December 10, 2021
I thought Rawley would be with Maggie
this siblings thing doesn't work for me..
Profile Image for Gloria.
1,144 reviews111 followers
January 11, 2026
2.5 stars, rounded up because it’s really not as bad as my disappointment would lead me to believe. Maybe.

Rawley Cooper was a character in the previous books I was emotionally invested in, and I was thrilled to find out he got his own next-gen book. It did not live up to my hopes.

When Rawley received a telegram from his ma simply stating, I need you home. Love, Ma, he tendered his resignation to the Wyoming ranch where he was serving as foreman, packed his bags, and caught the first train to Leighton, Texas. Home. He’d been gone six years, roaming the western states like a nomad, seeing what he could see, gathering new experiences, documenting his travels with postcards home. He’d left suddenly because his feelings for Faith, the blood daughter of his adoptive parents, were anything but brotherly, he’d dropped his guard long enough to kiss her soundly on her 19th birthday, and he knew he wasn’t—would never be—good enough for her.

Faith is waiting for him at the train station.

She’d imagined this meeting a thousand times, hadn’t slept a wink the night before, practicing just the right inflection, just the right words to greet him after all this time. They hovered on the tip of her tongue, but her fist beat them to the punch—literally—and she felt the jarring pain traveling up her arm before she’d even realized she’d given him a quick jab to the cheek, just below his eye, that had his head snapping back and his saddle hitting the wooden planks with a thud that caused them to shudder.

There was emotion now, rioting on his face, in his eyes. Fury. Shock. Disbelief. “What the hell, Faith?”

“That was for leaving without saying good-bye.”


This homecoming scene at the end of Chapter One promised passion, fireworks, hot tempers, and an epic battle.

What was actually delivered was tepid overthinking, dull restraint, abrupt confessions of love after years of feelings of unworthiness, minimal acknowledgement of why those feelings of unworthiness existed, a choppy narrative, and a minuscule amount of randomly inserted danger before a hasty resolution. Perhaps this should have been a novel instead of a novella, where jarring transitions would have had time to unfold more organically and Rawley could have explored how he felt about his childhood instead of mentally brushing the pain aside, and the reader could have learned more about Faith’s ordeal and its aftermath.

Or perhaps it just would have been protracted more-of-the-same, since the author doesn’t seem to have worked up much enthusiasm for this story.

As I said, wasted potential and a crushing disappointment. I was a little bored and a lot upset.
Profile Image for Pepa.
1,045 reviews287 followers
September 25, 2020
Reseña completa: https://masromance.blogspot.com/2020/...

♥Me ha encantado, una historia muy bonita y un broche final para la serie
Para ser un relato tan corto, la historia es congruente, intensa, tierna, y una dulzura.
Me ha durado un suspiro, y eso que en inglés voy bastante lenta.... pero en un par de días me la he ventilado
Una delicia, la verdad, saber de estos dos. Ella creo que representa muy bien lo que serán la gran mayoría de las protagonistas de esta autora y él, no deja de ser un amor.
Quizás la pega que le pongo es que me ha faltado saber más de él, que de su pasado sabemos todos, pero de sus sentimientos
pero en una extensión tan corta no da para más, una pena!
Profile Image for Just A Girl With Spirit.
1,404 reviews13.3k followers
July 1, 2024
This was probably my favorite of the series. The dam broke within me and tears fell. I always knew Rawley would be the one to break me. So many healing elements to this story. That rain scene between Rawley & Faith was EVERYTHING! The heartbreak and the healing. This whole family is special. I want to own these books. Houston, Dallas, Austin & Rawley own my heart forever ♾️

“He realized the legacy he’d been given had nothing at all to do with land or cattle or the possibility of oil but had everything to do with love, with loving this woman.”
Profile Image for Irina.
544 reviews59 followers
January 9, 2026
He walked off as though he hadn't just rearranged her heart and soul while upending everything she'd believed she understood about Rawley Cooper. She didn't know him at all.

Texas Legacy is the final installment of the Texas series, a novella featuring Rawley Cooper, the boy Dallas and Cordelia took in in the second book of the series, Texas Glory. It was published nearly twenty years after the third book in the "trilogy", Texas Splendor, because readers didn't stop begging for it. Initially, Heath did not seem to have planned to write this book, which could explain the outcome.

I get why readers want to see Rawley find happiness after everything he has been through. I also get why many readers weren't happy with Heath's choice of a woman for him: his "sister", Faith. It's a sensitive issue, to say the least, and I think Heath is fully aware of that. She has Rawley and Faith repeatedly emphasize that they may have been raised by the same people in the same house, but that doesn't make him her brother. Well… they are not biologically related, I give them that. But growing up together, calling the same woman "Ma" and both parents call Rawley "son" comes pretty close, huh?

However, even if you can overlook this issue, it's still not a very good or exciting story. Cozy, maybe, because it showcases the beloved Leigh family and offers glimpses into the love stories of the three brothers. The relationship between Rawley and Faith, though, is rather boring and predictable. Rawley left Dallas's ranch six years ago after making a mistake, and now he's back. He and Faith slowly rekindle their very special relationship, which is even more special and complicated now due to the events in the past. Unfortunately, the problems were much too easy to overcome, and besides, I just didn't feel their chemistry.

As for Rawley … I found him frustrating. Yes, he had a horrible childhood until Dallas and Cordelia gave him a home and a family when he was about eight years old. However, now he's about thirty-five (he doesn't know his day or even year of birth) and has grown from a boy into a man, but he still suffers from his childhood trauma, feels guilty, not good enough, and believes he's not worthy of being a (full) part of the family. Clearly, there hasn't been much of a development or healing, and also nothing new or deep has been added to his history or character. His past is just rehashed. If I were Dallas and Cordelia, who have regarded and treated him as their own child for almost thirty years, I would sure be devastated. That he's magically healed after uncovering Faith's story, makes it even more annoying.

If you've read the original trilogy in the 1990s and then this book twenty years later, you might feel differently about it. I read this novella immediately after book three, and I found this add-on lacking, disappointing, and superfluous. It might have been better as a full-length novel, though.

2.5
Profile Image for sraxe.
394 reviews486 followers
April 18, 2020
I'd wanted Rawley's story for the longest time and I'm glad Heath gave him one, but I was disappointed in certain aspects of the story. I wanted to DNF at the beginning because the whole siblings thing (he was taken in by her parents before she was born, but they were raised together pretty much as siblings) and their age gap just didn't sit right with me throughout the whole thing. I could never get over it, especially when there'd be reflections of their childhood and I'd be again reminded of these two things.

I think it was more so the age gap that bothered me than the sibling thing (though, if I'm being perfectly honest, that would've still been a point of for me). There were times when they'd reflect on their childhood, or he'd recall moments from their childhood, and it just felt...weird.

He remembered her lamenting the absence of a bosom when she was about fourteen. She certainly had no reason to complain about that now since her chest was far removed from resembling a plank of wood. She was all curves.

He's never been sure about his age as his biological father never kept track, but he estimates he's about 10-12 years older than her. So here's a man who's 24-26 recalling how a 14 year old he watched grow up is now curvy and a woman, instead of flat as she had been. Now, don't get me wrong, he's not lusting after her here but it just felt...icky?

She asks him near the end when it is that he realized he was in love with her:

“When did you realize you loved me?” she asked.

“I always loved you. But you were seventeen, going on eighteen when I realized what I felt for you was starting to shift into territory it shouldn’t.”

All the power to him for not acting on it when she was seventeen, and that he left when she was 19, but still. He was like 27 maybe...pushing 30 or so? It was just something I mentally couldn't get past because whenever they'd recall their pasts, I'd subconsciously just be adding that 10-12 years to each interaction and get turned off by it.

They both say at one point that neither of them had thought of the other as a sibling, but it's hard to just get past, ya know? He saw her as she was born and was raised with her all throughout until she was 19. Even if they say they never considered themselves to be siblings, it doesn't take away the sibling experience of being raised together and sharing all those sibling intimacies, right? She recalls he taught her how to swim when she was seven (and he was 17-19 by then), and how she used to tag along with him as a toddler etc. Just...I couldn't get past it.

I'm glad Rawley got his HEA, I just didn't enjoy who he got it with. I would've much preferred it with Maggie or something. I don't remember as much of her from the original series because it's been a few years, but at least they weren't raised as siblings and didn't have as large of an age gap.

Regardless, it wasn't as objectionable as I'm probably making it sound. Give it a go if you read the series. It's pretty short, a novella rather than a novel, so you'll probably get through it quickly.
Profile Image for Donna (Currently Busy).
438 reviews11 followers
January 9, 2026
This novella is the fourth book by Lorraine Heath as a follow-up to her Texas Trilogy series. It begins in August 1909 – eleven years following the epilogue of Texas Splendor. MMC Rawley Cooper is somewhere in his early to mid-thirties. He’s received a message from Cordelia Leigh, his adoptive mother asking him to return home. After being away from Leighton for six years, he senses an urgency to her note and heads back to Texas.

FMC Faith Leigh is now about 25 years old and meets Rawley at the train station. Instead of welcoming him with an embrace, she punches him in the face.

“What the hell, Faith?”

“That was for leaving without saying good-bye.”

For many years, Rawley has loved Faith and she has loved Rawley. But on her 19th birthday, she comes to his cabin in an inebriated state. He tells her she should go home, but she doesn’t. Losing at resisting her, he kisses her like there’s no tomorrow and it’s an experience unlike anything she’s known before. Knowing how drunk she is, he tucks her in and leaves the following morning. He believes the best thing for both is to put miles between them. And now he’s back.

If readers have read the first three books, then they know that Rawley Cooper was adopted by Dee and Dallas Leigh. In book two, he was an abused little boy of about nine years old. He’s always felt unworthy because of what he went through as a child and what happened to Dee when she was pregnant with her and Dallas’ first child. While Dallas continues to call him “son,” Rawley acknowledges Dallas only as “Mr. D.”

After learning about Dallas Leigh’s health scare, what surprises Rawley the most when he finally makes it back to the ranch is meeting little Callie, Faith’s five-year-old daughter. And that’s one of the things that kept this reader turning the pages. Who is Callie’s father? What really happened in the six years Rawley was away? The truth comes out later and it’s well worth waiting for the explanation to emerge.

It’s an exciting story. If readers can get past the part where Faith grew up adoring her adopted brother, then it’s well worth reading.
Profile Image for ♥Sharon♥.
985 reviews139 followers
August 8, 2019



I won't say much about this one other than.....

When I started this trilogy a few weeks back I was very excited because all the books were out and I wanted to read them back to back. Houston's book was great, Dallas's book was fantastic (my favorite) and I adored Austin's book.

My heart leaped when I realized there was a .5 that came out this past January and it was Rawley and Faith's story. For me it was perfect. Rawley deserved a story of his own. It wasn't over the top and in depth as the others and that's what made it perfect.

When you read this trilogy (you better not miss out on it) you will understand why. You will without doubt fall in love with these two and all the others!


Profile Image for Mariana.
725 reviews83 followers
April 23, 2019
I read the trilogy before this bonus novella and was definitely looking forward to Rawley Cooper's story. At first, I found it a little odd that Dallas' boy's love was his...sister. I though it would at least be his cousin "Brat." Of course, Faith Leigh is not actually a blood relation to Rawley at all. They just grew up in the same household and both called Cordelia Leigh "Ma".

Then, I was frustrated that Rawley left town to avoid Faith for years. However, Heath does a great job of bringing it all together. Rawley and Faith had to each grow up and experience life separately. When they are brought back together as mature adults, they fit perfectly. For anyone who read and enjoyed the previous stories, I highly recommend reading this novella. It was a perfect ending to the emotional and tear-wrenching series.
Profile Image for Lover of Romance.
3,723 reviews1,128 followers
December 9, 2018
This review was originally posted on Addicted To RomanceI received this book for free from Avon in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Texas Legacy is a story that I have been waiting for YEARS for. Now for those not familiar with Rawley or Faith and that means you are missing out on one of the best trilogies I have ever read in romance. This trilogy was written back in the late 90's but some of the best love stories. I only never knew if Lorraine Heath would write this book but when I saw this on Edelweiss I was SUPER excited especially since its a story I have been waiting on for over ten years for. That is a LONG time to wait on a story. Let me tell you. hehe

Faith is the blood daughter of Dallas and Cordeligh Leigh (who is the couple in Texas Glory) Rawley is a boy they brought into their family who was being abused and sold by his father to men. Cordelia formed a strong attachment to Rawley and they brought him into their home and raised him. Faith and Rawley were childhood friends, always playing together but then as they grew older that friendship turned into something deeper than just puppy love. But Rawley didn't feel worthy of Faith, that he was too dirty for her and so he left the only home he had ever known and left her without saying goodbye. But when his father Dallas, has a heart condition and his mother pleads with him to come home he returns home and to Faith. Faith has never completely forgiven Rawley for leaving without even a goodbye. She has loved him for years, but now they Rawley is back for good, the feelings they have for each other. But both Faith and Rawley have old wounds that need to be healed before they accept what they can have together.

Texas Legacy was such a beautifully written story and even though I was *crossing my fingers* for it to be a full novel, I am still happy that Lorraine Heath actually wrote this book because it filled my core with such happy feels. We do get some fun interactions with the Leigh Family and seeing them with their children mostly grown and how playful they are with each other. We see Dallas and Leigh still so in love and happy although fearful of the future due to Dallas' heart condition. But the focus of the story is Rawley and Faith. Faith understands Rawley's past once she learns more than he realizes that she can because Faith underwent a form of abuse by someone she trusted and she became a single mother. We do get a flashback of Rawley and Faith on the evening before Rawley left the ranch and why he left and you can see how much Rawley and Faith were into each other, they just weren't completely open to it. But when they see each other again six years later we see that they are both more mature and independent and sure of themselves. I really enjoyed seeing them reconnect and learn each other again and become open to the love that has always been between them.

I found Texas Legacy to be a fun heart filled romance to give you the tingles and the good feels. Its a story of redemption, healing and letting love in!!!A TEXAS JEWEL!!







 photo Addicted To Romance Reviews 2_zpsplp8m0tb.png
Profile Image for SuperWendy.
1,099 reviews266 followers
February 11, 2019
Meh. This could have been a lot better had it been a full-length novel as opposed to a novella (and I say this as someone who LIKES novellas). And not only is this a novella, but the author writes a handful of chapters as flashbacks - which...really? You know what would have been great? A full length novel with several chapters detailing before Rawley took off, a couple of chapters covering right after he leaves, and then the second half of the book detailing when he comes home and he and Faith reunite. It also may have made the climactic finish a bit more plausible (really, the villain has been gone for SIX YEARS and he just happens to blow back into town after Rawley returns? REALLY?!?!).

This isn't bad, but it could have been so much better.
Profile Image for Opalsbookjems.
142 reviews69 followers
October 19, 2020
4⭐️—Is she continuing this series because I need more!😭👏
Profile Image for Robin.
1,985 reviews98 followers
December 5, 2021
As an abused child, Rawley Cooper was taken to live with Dallas and Cordelia Leigh. Growing up at the ranch with a loving family was ideal. Their huge extended family accepted him as one of their own. As Rawley got older, his feelings for Dallas and Cordelia's daughter, Faith, started changing from friendship to more. Knowing he was not good enough for Faith, he left Texas. While working as a cowboy, Rawley receives an urgent telegram asking him to return to the ranch. Now he must face Faith and his feelings for her.

I read the Leigh Brothers Texas Trilogy twenty years ago and loved it. I always hoped that Lorraine Heath would write a story for Rawley. Well, he did get a novella, but I am disappointed. I was expecting so much more. Rawley comes home and we learn exactly what happened to make him leave in a couple of flashback chapters. Then, after talking to Faith about what happened to her while he was gone, he comes to the sudden realization that they belong together. The story was too short and just OK. I did enjoy revisiting all the family members and catching up with their lives. My rating: 3.5 Stars.
Profile Image for Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves.
1,462 reviews18 followers
December 16, 2022
Another foster siblings romance - old western style.
The H has some self-esteem issues (courtesy his origins plus a traumatic childhood) and the h is too young and blind to see his constant devotion.

Profile Image for Anna P (whatIreallyRead).
912 reviews567 followers
May 1, 2019
My review in a nutshell:



This was very nice and cute, I really enjoyed it. Texas Legacy was the perfect conclusion to the series, and it did justice to Rawley and Faith. I loved the main characters, how their relationship developed. And I also got another glimpse at the family members I loved in the previous books. The perfect comfort read.
November 14, 2019
Rated 4.5 Stars

I waited through the entire series for this book. I wanted more though! More than a novella. I'll take what I can get, gratefully though.

He knew her since she was a baby, was there when she was born! He was only a young boy. She followed him everywhere as a toddler, and all through her childhood. He let her, yet he wouldn't let anyone else get close. They were inseparable.

Then she became a teenager, developed the 'other' kind of feelings. He had them too, but didn't think he was good enough for her. So he left her, along with all his family, without even a goodbye. Shattered her young heart into pieces. This was the first time either of them had ever been away from the another. It was a sad time.

He came back though, when he got word that his father had taken sick. The two inseparable ones also had to see one another again. Old feelings began to surface and with them came conflict. The battle of remaining enemies and overwhelming passion was a constant in their lives.

Which one will win in the end?
Profile Image for Teresa (Reads_Romance).
293 reviews288 followers
April 4, 2019
**4.5 Stars**

What a gift to fans of this series! TEXAS LEGACY is the long-awaited concluding novella to Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy. The first book in the series, TEXAS DESTINY was initially published in 1997 (!?!?), but Ms. Heath slid readers back into her Texas world as you would slip into an old, worn-in pair of cowboy boots. This long novella follows Cordelia and Dallas’ daughter Faith and the boy, now a man, Rawley, who they took in years before.

If you're worried that this novella won’t stand alone, rest assured, it had been so long since I had read the Texas Trilogy this was basically a standalone for me. Ms. Heath crafts a gorgeous second chance love story with depth and heart. I especially loved the glimpses into the time period and the rapidly changing United States.

The relationship between Faith and Rawley made my heart ache in both good and bad ways. They both had long journeys and a lot of healing to do before they found each other again. I truly felt their connection as well as their deep understanding and respect for each other. It was always apparent that they had a true partnership.

The only part that was slow was the beginning. I was worried that Rawley was going to be another nice guy with no dimension. Of course, Ms. Heath proved me wrong, and I ended up adoring this novel. The best part? I saw the beginnings of a new series (fingers crossed) in one of the secondary characters!

Overall, I highly recommend reading anything by Lorraine Heath but especially her Texas Trilogy. It’s something special and I think I’m ready for a reread!

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

Find/Follow me on Twitter Instagram and my blog !!
Profile Image for Zara.
235 reviews11 followers
June 9, 2019
I didn't like this as much as the others. I know it's only supposed to be a short story but still. Maybe it's because I don't understand how Rawley could fall in love/desire Faith. I'm not condemning their relationship, I know that they're not related but he's her other brother in every other way. He's known since she was a baby and has taken care of her. In the other book(s), he called Faith his little sister, so how can he, a decade later, suddenly change the way he looks at her? It'd make more sense if he'd fallen for Maggie AKA the "brat" (and that's what I'd initially assumed he'd be with).
Other than that, there was also the problem of their story being.... just boring. It was just so cliché and typical - guy leaves after girl makes a move and returns years later - that I didn't really enjoy the story.
Profile Image for Gabrielle Espinoza.
611 reviews57 followers
August 23, 2025
Lo ame al igual que la primera vez 🥹💖💖💖
Me sorprende que halla salido 20 años después de la trilogía 😩
📖 Nov ‘21
📖 July ‘23
📖 Aug ‘25

Rawley y Faith que felices serán por fin, el hijo y la hija de Dallas y Dee ❤️ era una pareja que nunca imagine, cuando Rawley era pequeño le hicieron mucho daño esto lo dejó marcado hasta que la familia Leigh lo acogió el nunca quiso aceptar su nombre ni a Dallas como su padre por que creía que no lo merecía el no tenia la culpa de nada ☹️y Faith la pequeña que el siempre cuido y también amo 🥺 me dolió mucho ver lo que pasó, pero lo importante es que terminaron juntos como estaba destinado ❤️✨ el siempre compartirá sus dulces con ella ❤️

Es tan triste terminar esta trilogía definitivamente me encanto la historia de los hermanos Leigh ❤️🤠
Profile Image for Alexandra.
184 reviews33 followers
January 17, 2019
*EDIT Dec 26:
ONLY 20 DAYS LEFT!!!!

I cannot wait until 2019! I've been waiting for Rawley's story for ever! I need this now!
Profile Image for Viri.
1,315 reviews457 followers
November 6, 2019
Fue bonito mientras duro. Me encantó reencontrarme con los personajes anteriores mucho más crecidos y 😻

Pero la historia es taaaaan chiquita que no permite gran profundidad. Aunque si me parece un libro genial para los fans de la serie.
Profile Image for Brooke — brooklynnnnereads.
1,319 reviews268 followers
December 8, 2024
2.5 stars

I can see how this novella came to fruition due to the introduction of Rawley and his past in a previous novel. I'm sure many readers asked Lorraine Heath about his future as he definitely deserved his own 'happily ever after' and I'm also sure that helped drive this novella to be published close to twenty years after the original trilogy.

If you were invested in this series, I can see how this could be a happy addition. For me though, similarly to how I feel about most add on novellas, it was...unnecessary. It was an okay read but there's only so much that can be developed and fit in less than 200 pages.

I can also see where there could be an issue with the romance that developed and how the characters relationship...originated. It's an odd but fairly typical pairing and trope in the dark/taboo romance sub-genre. As well, in relation to historical romance, I don't think that this pairing would be all that uncommon.

Honestly, I just read this novella as it was on my shelf and I wanted to see this series to the end. I would not have gone out of my way by any means to read this additional novella (or the rest of this series for that matter).
Profile Image for Christine (Cagnes).
249 reviews10 followers
February 15, 2019
Couldn't get past the fact that they were raised a siblings. Rawley was 10 or 12 when Faith was born, she only knew him as her brother & he would have thought of her as a baby sister.... yuck. 😕
Profile Image for Pam.
406 reviews62 followers
June 20, 2025
This is my last novella and second-to-last title in my full Lorraine Heath Historical Romance Backlist Read Through. I saved it for near the end because I was worried it wouldn't work for me since it's essentially a stepbrother romance. But luckily for me, Kindle Unlimited has increased my threshold for the taboo and I was just fine with this one.

Rawley Cooper is coming home to Texas after six years away. He's looking forward to seeing his adoptive parents but dreading seeing their daughter, Faith Leigh. As long as he can remember, Rawley has loved Faith but things changed as she got older and on her 19th birthday, they crossed the line with a kiss that set them both on fire. Rawley left without saying goodbye to Faith and now he's back. Faith doesn't understand what happened, why Rawley left. But when she sees him for the first time in years, she's conflicted between the anger she feels at his sudden departure and the joy she feels having him back. But she's not the 19-year-old girl he left. Things have changed and Rawley is going to need to get to know this new Faith before they can move forward.

This was not the book I was expecting from Lorraine to cap the Texas Trilogy. I, like many others, thought we'd be getting Rawley and Maggie Leigh, Faith's cousin. The other characters in the series treated Rawley and Faith like siblings and Faith was raised from infancy with him in the house– he was adopted by the Leighs as a child before Faith was born– so I was concerned this was going to cross a line for me. Luckily, once we were in Rawley's head, we saw that he never considered himself to be Faith's sibling or Dallas's son so it wasn't an issue for me.

We know Rawley well from his appearance in Texas Glory– my favorite of Lorraine's cowboy books. He was horribly abused by his father, including CSA, until a terrible accident led him to the Leighs. But because of that accident, Cordelia Leigh miscarried her baby boy and Rawley still feels responsible for what happened. Because of that guilt, he's never allowed himself to call Dallas Leigh "Pa" or made himself wholly comfortable in the Leigh family. The separation he kept between himself and the rest of the family helped me to get on board with his feelings for Faith.

This book is told in two timelines. We have the present timeline and then a section that is the flashback to the day Faith turned 19 and their fateful kiss. So we see how carefree and happy Faith was, contrasted with the careful woman she is in the present timeline. While we don't exactly know what happened to Faith to cause that change we can plainly see that something happened and we are with Rawley when all is revealed.

I ended up really liking this novella. Maybe it's because I liked the story, maybe it's because Dallas Leigh was back. He is my #1 Lorraine Heath hero. He's 63 in this book and I would still happily climb him like a tree. I was so happy to spend more time with him that I don't know that any story would have bothered me...

Unlike many of Lorraine's other novellas, this one does not standalone. You need to have read the Texas Trilogy to read this one, but it does not overlap with any of her other series. 4 stars.
Profile Image for Maida.
Author 15 books463 followers
January 11, 2019
After twenty years, we finally have Rawley’s story and it’s worth the wait. Sweet and heartwarming, Texas Legacy is a wonderful reunion novella that’s a gift from Lorraine Heath to the fans of her Texas trilogy.

I always love the way Lorraine Heath writes novellas. They’re short but always complete. Backstory is told, sprinkled all over instead of dumped all at once. Characters grow from beginning to end. All the named secondary characters, including the dog, have roles to play without overwhelming the main pair.

Except maybe for Dallas, he’s a bit of a scene stealer. That man has such a massive presence. The scenes that will always remain with me are his interactions with Rawley. The raw and intense love between the two brings tears to my eyes.

Love is at the center of this book. Between Rawley and Faith. Between Rawley and his adoptive parents Dallas and Cordelia. Between Rawley and Cassie.

Strong, easy-to-root for characters; pacing that is just right; highly plausible storyline; evocative writing. All of those elements create an engaging read.

Thanks for giving in to the begging of Rawley’s fans, Lorraine. I hope this is not the end. Please write more about this family. There’s Maggie, her sisters, and Austin’s sons whose stories you could tell.

Thanks to HC/Avon for providing me with an advanced copy to read and review via Edelweiss.
Profile Image for guiltless pleasures.
600 reviews65 followers
June 30, 2023
So this is a 2.5, and I rounded down to two stars, because I have given much better books three stars before.

I’ve said it before: novellas are hard. And this one didn’t cut it for a number of reasons, not least because there was just too much story in too few pages. There would be a problem, and it would be solved almost instantly. In the previous trilogy, which I mostly loved, we heard Rawley’s awful story, and his healing needed to take longer than it got.

Other problems:

I love Lorraine Heath, but writing children is not her forte.

Rawley is not only at least a decade older than Faith; he was also raised as her BROTHER. ick. And at the end, he decides to finally take Dallas’s name, so he becomes Rawley Leigh - which means Faith (who decides to take his name when they marry) stays Faith Leigh. 🥴

I did not like rape as the thing they have in common and that bonded them together.

The sex scenes felt perfunctory — as did everything, for that matter. Again, she tried to squeeze a novel into a novella.

Side note that I love how Rawley isn’t “massive” like every other romance hero — he’s wiry, which feels appropriate to his profession.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.