THE GATE TO EDEN

Author: Cathy McDavid ISBN: 0843956925 4/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: 1887

Maddie Campbell was not your ordinary thief. A beautiful young widow and mother, she likes to think her wealthy victims were merely “donating” to the many others of the mining community who have been left with nothing. Maddie was quite good at what she did…until a former lawman arrived in Eden to investigate the recent spate of crimes. He didn't need to say a word; his piercing gaze arrested her on the spot. Despite her efforts to throw him off track, he was determined to draw out all her secrets in the most exquisite ways—soft caresses, passionate kisses, and exploration of her most intimate places. But when confronted with the truth, would he choose love or the law?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Reading Cathy McDavid's book, THE GATE TO EDEN, has been an absolute joy for me. Ms. McDavid captures the heart of the West and its characters like nothing I have read in a very long time.

Maddie has been dealt a terrible hand of cards. Her husband has been killed in a mining accident that left over 150 men dead. Not long after that, her beautiful little girl contracted scarlet fever which left her slightly incapacitated. Maddie and her friends are forced to go and live with their children in a little ramshackle town that is dubbed Eden. Once there, Maddie and her newfound family—numbering in the 200's—find themselves broke and at the mercy of their husbands' cruel boss. Maddie is determined to find a way to take care of her "family" and bring a little of her own kind of justice to the men who ruined their lives.

Scott McSween is hired by Thaddeus Newlin to find the thieves that have been torturing him and his partners in the Edenville Consolidated Mining Company. Gorgeous, tough and with an agenda that is all his own, Scott rolls into town stopping hearts and staking his claim. Definitely flawed and with a sordid past, Scott still manages to exude sex appeal on every level. He will not stop until he gets to the bottom of the crime spree that has hit the mining company, but does he really want to know who is responsible for these crimes?

Cathy McDavid writes a tearjerker of a story that kept me completely enthralled from start to finish. The ending was bittersweet for me, as I wanted so badly for Maddie and Scott to find their happily-ever-after and yet I never wanted the story to end.

Kristal Gorman