Portraits

by Stef Ann Holm

The only woman photographer in Eternity, Colorado, or just about anywhere else, Leah Kirkland longs to be famous. Her dream of studying in a renowned Italian academy precludes traditional courting. But that doesn’t mean she’s averse to romance with a free spirit like herself. Men don’t intimidate her, though nothing prepares Leah for the purely physical attraction she feels for Wyatt Holloway, the stranger in town…

Wyatt Holloway had been an outlaw in his youth, and he’d done hard time to pay for it. Now he’s looking for gold he’d stashed in Eternity nearly two decades before. Instead he discovers a treasure he wants more than money—Leah Kirkland. Having known notoriety, Wyatt would be content to lead a quiet life on a ranch with Leah as his wife. But her big-city ideas contradict his plan, especially when she discovers that a bullet from his own gun may have murdered her mother long ago…

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Romance

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Stef Ann Holm was born in Southern California near Hollywood. With the fantasy worlds of Disneyland and Universal Studios at her doorstep, her imagination was stimulated at an early age. She attended Chatsworth High where Kevin Spacey, Mare Winningham and Val Kilmer entertained on the school's stage. As a semester elective, Stef Ann enrolled in drama and played a Fandango hostess in the chorus of Sweet Charity. It was the beginning and the end of her acting and singing career. She got a "C" in Drama and an "A" in Creative Writing.

She sold her first romance in 1987. While waiting for a load of laundry to complete at the laundromat, Stef Ann made up the name for her heroine, Camry, when she saw a Toyota Camry parked outside in the lot. Who knew that model would end up being so popular, making her in-depth research seem so shallow. Stef Ann has had twenty-three novels and one novella published. Her editor calls her contemporary romances, "Slices of life stories about real people."

Stef Ann lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, extended family and beloved Beagle.

Reviews

[Katrina Passick Lumsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was actually fairly impressed with this book. The writing was solid, the characters were likable, and the premise was interesting. The problem is that it's a rather slow, plodding read. Holm used a lot of pages to get very little done, and while I appreciate a good character study every now and then, this teetered between two worlds and never seemed to know what it wanted to be; character study or historic romance. Still, it was a nice romance.

[Judy Hannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant. I'm dabbing my eyes as I type.

[Jennifer Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that the story was good, but the premise was unrealistic. Plus I hate when strong independent woman get dependent and whishy-washy when they fall in love.