Review: Love on the Range by Mary Connealy

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

Wyatt Hunt is temporarily bedridden and completely miserable. Somehow Molly Garner's limited skills have made her the most qualified in their circle to care for Wyatt. But by the time he's healed, she's fed up with him and the whole ungrateful family. For even worse than his grumpiness were the few unguarded moments when he pulled at her heartstrings, and she has long determined to never marry.

Molly gets a job as the housekeeper at Oliver Hawkins's ranch. But really she's with the Pinkertons, spying to find out if Hawkins has abused women and if he's guilty of murder.

Wyatt refuses to let her risk it alone, convincing Hawkins that he's abandoning his own ranch, angered by his two brothers' coming to claim a big chunk of it.

But when another Pinkerton agent gets shot, they realize Hawkins isn't the only danger. The Hunt brothers will have to band together to face all the troubles of life and love that suddenly surround them.

My Review

This is the third book of the Brothers in Arms series, and I would definitely recommend reading them in order. Each book has its own wrap up and conclusion, but the overarching mystery doesn't get solved until this final book. The couples featured in the previous books play important roles in this story as well, so I liked having a good sense of their personalities and what they've been through. 

 

Molly has been in the background a bit- taking care of the house, meals, and doctoring while the others are working the ranch and fighting their enemies. I loved how the author showed her frustration and pent-up anger over her situation and how she dealt with it. Molly comes into her own by attempting to leave the family for an outside job, which provided a real wake-up call to the brothers to realize her needs. Wyatt grows closer to her while recovering and doesn't want her to leave either. I appreciated that their romance was more slow to build than the others, giving them time and space to develop a relationship that is less impulsive and more purposeful. All the while, Cheyenne and Falcon are learning the identities of their mysterious enemies with the help of the Pinkerton agent and Molly and Wyatt's dangerous undercover investigation.

 

The pace of the book is somewhat jerky as the action races forward then slows when the siblings and spouses converse about their discoveries and next plans. Because there is usually a group of them talking things out and disagreeing over some parts, the conversations get a bit tedious, but it also does a great job of showcasing the different personalities and motivations. Kevin's wife Win from the first book carries the spiritual thread as she explored what it means to follow the Biblical admonition to honor your parents when one of them is not making good choices and hurting those he should be showing love to. It's a lesson all the siblings need as they reconcile themselves to the destruction left behind by the man who brought them all together in the end.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

The Brothers in Arms series