Healing Hearts Contemporary Romance- Western
The Wild Rose Press, Inc
March 23, 2020
258
Reeling from loss and heartbreak, Stella King is desperate to escape painful memories. The position of nanny on an isolated ranch in British Columbia's rugged Chilcotin Plateau seems the answer to her prayers.
Cattle rancher, Dawson Wheeler, has worked hard to overcome grief and build a predictable world for his young daughter. The last thing he needs is the all-too-attractive Stella disrupting the smooth running of his ranch, especially now that disturbing incidents are happening on his property.
Defending his land against those who want to gut it will be a challenge, but the biggest threat of all may be to his heart.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This was a beautiful story of two people whose lives were both touched by grief and who don’t seem able to let go and look to the future.
Stella King left her home, took a leave from her job, and went seeking a place where she could find peace. This led her to accept the nanny position for Dawson Wheeler in the isolated area of Chilotin Plateau in British Columbia. When she arrived after travelling for ten hours on a bumpy bus, she found herself alone waiting for the man who hired her to show up, hoping that she wouldn’t have to spend the night alone in a strange, secluded place.
Dawson Wheeler was running late to pick up his new nanny. His friend and chief cook and bottle washer, Alf, made him hire one. However, when he saw a gorgeous blond woman standing alone, he offered help since he was convinced that she could not be the grandmotherly nanny in the picture the agency sent him. How wrong he was because Stella was the nanny, and the picture was sent by mistake.
Getting to the Circle 5 ranch was not an easy endeavor, a long car ride, then a plane ride. When she finally arrived, she was shocked by just how isolated this ranch was. The greeting she received from Dawson’s five-year-old daughter, Deirdre (Dee), brought a smile to her face and a determination to stick it out in spite of the child’s grumpy father.
For the first time, Dawson is facing a woman to whom he is attracted. His greatest fear is that she will change the dynamic of the ranch that is full of men who, like him, would no doubt be affected by her looks. The last thing in the world he needs is to be attracted to Stella. Their relationship winds up revolving around her threatening to leave and his telling her to leave, all causing heartbreak for a little girl who has grown to love her nanny.
Besides his distraction caused by Stella, he is also facing vandalism to the ranch, and someone shooting his cattle. Worse than that is the fact that he has no mineral rights to his land and the discovery of traces of gold and copper has brought a huge mining company straight to his land. As if his attraction to Stella and all the problems the ranch is facing aren’t enough, one man winds up dead and another badly injured and near death. Of course, who would be the main suspect but Dawson, who has more than once chased the geologists working for the mining company off his land yelling, he would kill them.
I won’t go into any more detail as to what happens between Stella and Dawson and the poor little girl caught in the middle who wants nothing more than to have a mommy. There is suspense and the mystery of who is doing the killing and vandalism, and why. I totally recommend this story, it was wonderful.