MAVERICK WILD

Author: Stacey Kayne ISBN: 9780373294800 1/2008 HISTORICAL Publisher: HQN
Reincarnation: Wyoming 1883

A promise from his past threatens what Chance values most...his freedom. Haunted by a promise he couldn’t keep and a past he can’t forget, Chance Morgan locked his heart away from the world—until part of his past travels across the states to find him. Plagued by horse thieves and marriage-minded females, the last thing Chance needs is a woman on his ranch. But Cora Mae is more than a distracting array of curls and curves, she holds the key to his heart and unleashes a desire he refuses to trust.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Stacey Kayne is quickly becoming one of my favorite historical western authors. I can't think of another western writer right now who makes me so eager to read their next offering as much as she does. Kayne's stories have good plots, great dialogue and solid characters, all blended seemlessly into a perfect mix of both humor and drama. Add in that extra dash of sexual tension and romance along with a hot hero and a heroine who's not-so-perfect, and the reader can't help but be gifted with a definite winner.

MAVERICK WILD begins in the childhood of Chance and Tucker Morgan (from MUSTANG WILD), with a promise they make to their stepsister as they run away from home—and their unbearable stepmother. When life happens (as it usually does) and they're unable to fulfill that promise—not without guilt feelings of their own—a now grown Cora goes looking for them. What she finds is not only the hope that she'll break free of her past and an event that haunts her, but that a deep connection she and Chance shared as young children still resonates between them. While an independent Cora attempts to rebuild her life, and she and Chance ponder what to do, or not to do, about that lingering childhood bond, ranch problems, new babies and a seductive widow with an ulterior motive help set this western a par above of the rest.

If there's any criticism I have at all of MAVERICK WILD, it's that the ending wasn't quite what I anticipated and fell a little flat for me. Nonetheless, with all the action, a believable plot and characters I really liked and enjoyed reading about, MAVERICK WILD is the perfect quencher for anyone thirsting for a long, tall drink of a romantic western. Go for it—you'll be glad you did.

Nancy Davis