July 23, 2012
Goodman (Kissing Comfort) strikes a balance between tight plotting and solid character development in this romance set in 1888 Wyoming. Kellen Coltrane encounters a fatally wounded stranger, Nat Church, on a train, and agrees to convey his dying words to Pennyroyal in Bitter Springs, Wyo. At the Pennyroyal Hotel and Saloon, owner Raine Berry awaits the hired gun she’s employed to take on the Burdicks, a father and three sons who own half the town and have killed many people in the area. Kellen delivers Nat’s message and decides to stay until he discovers Nat’s murderer. When Kellen meets independent, redheaded Raine, sparks fly. Multidimensional villains and heroes add humor and drama to a complicated, fast-paced, and deliciously believable story of love, sex, and secrets. Agent: Pam Hopkins, Hopkins Literary Associates.
August 1, 2012
In her latest historical western romance, Goodman addresses ongoing conflicts surrounding water and land rights while serving up generous helpings of her signature humor, perceptive eye, and endearing characters. On a train crossing Wyoming in 1888, Kellen Coltrane tries to help a dying man who claims that he's Nat Church, the name of a popular dime-novel hero. Before he dies, the man asks Kellen to get off the train at Bitter Springs and contact Penny Royal. When Kellen does, he finds that the Pennyroyal is the town's hotel, and its proprietor is a woman who hired Church to stop the unproven and unprosecuted murders being committed by the Burdick family. Lorraine Berry, whose sister was raped by one of the Burdick sons and who later died in childbirth, is bitter about the Burdicks' ability to kill off men associated with the trial that convicted the son. As the killings continue, Kellen and Lorraine join forces, then fall in love under the watchful eyes of the frontier town's denizens. Fans of western romance will be thrilled with this delightful addition to Goodman's strong list.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)