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Summary
Summary
From the USA Today bestselling author of This Gun for Hire and one of today's "premier western romance writers,"* a captivating new Western historical romance . . .
WHAT HE DOESN'T KNOW . . .
After a horse drags him through the countryside, Israel McKenna awakes bruised and battered in a field in Pancake Valley, Colorado. He can recall where he came from and where he was going, but the memory of how he came to be on the Pancake homestead eludes him. He's certain he did something wrong to deserve such a harsh punishment--and so is the beautiful woman who reluctantly comes to his aid.
. . . COULD HURT HER.
Wilhelmina "Willa" Pancake must focus on running her family's ranch. With Israel's hazy memory, she is unsure if she can trust him, let alone handle the budding attraction between them. And as men fight to steal her land and the truth about Israel's past rides toward them, love is a risk she cannot easily take.
Author Notes
Jo Goodman has been posthumously awarded CBCA Vic's Leila St John Award by the Victorian branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia. The award is given annually for outstanding service to children's literature in Victoria. Jo Goodman was recognised in many areas including as former president of the CBCA Vitroia Branch. She was also a teacher who introduced the Read in Bed It's Terrific (RIBIT) scheme.
Jo Goodman died in 2014 at the age of 73.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Goodman continues her winning streak of tender late 19th-century Western romances with good-natured but no-nonsense heroines and lovably roguish heroes who respect them. Willa Pancake's spunky 10-year-old sister, Annalea, goes into the woods and finds injured Israel McKenna, the roguish brother of U.S. Marshal Quill McKenna (from This Gun for Hire). He seems to have been dragged by his horse, but doesn't remember it clearly. He convinces Willa to take him in at the Pancake family ranch to recover. Willa's eager to evade the marriage proposals of her onetime childhood sweetheart, Eli Barber, son of a family with which the Pancakes have a long-standing land feud. This leads Willa to propose to Israel, whose answer is encouraged by her father's shotgun. The search for clues to Israel's con-man past yields ample scenes of Willa and Israel carefully building mutual trust, while also offering the opportunity to add detail to the setting and to let secondary characters shine. Goodman's narrative satisfies with emotionally resonant characters, playful dialogue, and a clever but not overly complex plot. Agent: Pam Hopkins, Hopkins Literary Associates. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
When a mysterious battered stranger is found on her land, a young woman rancher struggles to protect her heartand a secretfrom him. Goodman (The Last Renegade, 2012, etc.) draws us into the life of Wilhelmina "Willa" Pancake, who's running her alcoholic father's ranch and raising her precocious sister, Annalea, in 19th-century Colorado. When Annalea discovers an unconscious man on their property, Willa is wary but offers him sanctuary till he recovers. Israel McKenna soon remembers who he is but not why he ended up nearly beaten to death in an unfamiliar town. He decides to stay at Pancake Valley Ranch even after he heals, hoping to uncover his lost memories but also to get a read on Willa. She's not so sure he's revealing all that he remembers. Goodman's novel, with a romance plot that hints at Richard Nash's classic play The Rainmaker, is also enlivened by the interplay between Israel and Annalea, a pigtailed charmer. The ensemble cast of Willa's father, Shadrach "Happy" Pancake, and dog, John Henry, provides both humor and poignancy to complement the developing intimacy between her and Israel. The cloud on the horizon is both their pasts, with hersa scheming rival rancher's son, her childhood lovefinally intersecting with his. Characters from Goodman's This Gun for Hire (2015) also make an appearance as the novel goes from a startling revelation to an unexpected yet fitting climax. Readers of Western historical romance will enjoy the novel's deft blending of suspense, humor, and family drama. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Discovered on Pancake Valley ranch land by precocious, "nearly ten" Annalea, self--proclaimed "bad man" Israel McKenna, horribly battered, barely conscious, and missing his memory, is taken in by tough-minded rancher Willa Pancake. But the generational feud between the Pancakes and their unsavory neighbors, plus the growing attraction between Willa and Israel, take things in an unforeseen direction. These wary lovers acknowledge their pasts and settle a few outstanding scores. -VERDICT Wonderfully flawed individuals, unexpected plot twists, refreshing humor, and the appearance of folks from This Gun for Hire, as well as references to Goodman's other earlier books, make this another of the author's must-read historicals. Fans will be pleased. Goodman lives in West Virginia. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.