Hello, and welcome back! I hope you’re all staying safe during the wild weather around the country in recent weeks. For some reason, all of it has bypassed our area, whether it’s thunderstorms or snowstorms, and I’ve actually seen yards full of blooming crocuses and budding daffodils already. It’s far too early for that here, though the snow geese have also made their annual northern migration in the past month already, too, which tells me our chances at seeing any wintry weather are pretty slim now, so I suppose I’ll just begin my countdown to spring and hope that next year’s winter is far better than this year’s, and that the summer isn’t as awful as I suspect it’s going to be.

This time out, I have the latest from Catherine Anderson, Lucky Penny (Signet, purchased). This one delves into her popular Coulter family from a historical perspective, with Brianna O’Keefe pretending her orphaned niece is her own child to keep her safe, and she goes to work for a rancher. She also tells a little lie: that she’s married to a miner named David Paxton. Then her employer forces her to write a letter to her husband. Marshal David Paxton gets a letter from someone who says she’s his wife and asking him to come for her and their child. He knows he’s not married, but it is possible he fathered a child he didn’t know about, so he goes to retrieve them. Brianna knows David isn’t Daphne’s father, but David believes it’s highly likely, and when he gets them home, they settle into “married” life, though Brianna is wary of the attractive lawman and his intentions. David grows to enjoy his life with Brianna and Daphne, but just when things look as though they’re going to work out, something comes out that hurts the fragile trust she was starting to have in David. Brianna does her best to be honest along the way, though David has a hard time believing her until much later. And then his proof is overheard by someone with an axe to grind, throwing a real kink in the works. I’ve loved Catherine Anderson’s books for years, with a few exceptions. This one falls into the “love it” column again, with the vulnerable and desperate, but still tough Brianna, and David with all his hopes and dreams, and even Daphne, who plays a very important role in their tale. One of the best things in Anderson’s books are the characters with their very real flaws and believable dilemmas, and the impossibility of them working out their differences, which makes it all the better when they finally get their happy ending. This one is fabulous, a definite keeper. I’m borrowing four and a half of Cupid’s five arrows for it.

Until next time, happy reading!

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