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Three interwoven stories set in River’s Edge, Minnesota, 1893-1894

An Honest Love: All Constance Ward had to do was deliver her niece and nephew, Effie and Evan to her Aunt Libby’s house and become friendly with Mrs. Pierce. This was her assignment as a female Pinkerton agent. If felt more like a vacation than work. She never thought the train would be robbed or that she would have to marry a complete stranger by gunpoint, in order to keep her niece and nephew safe.

Justin Knight was on his way home from a business trip when the train was stopped and inside his car walked Rasmus Pierce. Rasmus was the local boy who had outsmarted the law for five years. Rasmus was also the man who loved Marian, the same woman Justin was engaged to. When Rasmus tells Justin to marry Constance or watch the twins die before his eyes, Justin knows there is only one thing to do: marry Constance, whom he just met, in order to save the children. Justin also knows this will give Rasmus a clear path to marry Marian. Rasmus tells both Justin and Constance that if anyone learned the truth of how they were married, the children would be harmed.

Would Justin and Constance uphold their marriage vows even after Rasmus was captured? Or would they get an annulment after the danger had past?

Sweet Surrender: Alexander Bixby was on his way to Justin’s house to discuss some business matters with him. He really didn’t want to because he was in love Constance, Justin’s wife. She was the only woman he had ever loved. Could he handle seeing her happily married to another man? Then he meets Amanda Mason.

Amanda Mason lives next door to Justin and Constance. She is usually with the Trouble Twosome, Effie and Evan. She and Alexander literally bump into each other one day on the sidewalk. She is instantly attracted to him. She does not know how he feels, but she also is not sure what he does for a living.

Can Alexander get over Constance to be with Amanda? How will Amanda feel after she learns he is a Pinkerton Agent, and the prime suspect in the case he is working on is her father?

A Man for Libby: Libby Ward is Constance’s aunt. She knows what Constance is up to, she is trying to find a beau and potential husband for her. Libby feels a woman of her age, at fifty-five does not need a beau. She had a loving husband who died five years ago. She loved him, but he wasn’t her first love. Spencer Matthews was her first love, but because he didn’t share the same beliefs in God, she felt she could not marry him.
Spencer Matthews has come back to Rivers Edge to find out how Libby has been getting along. He still does not feel the same way as she does about God, but maybe he could lie his way through it this time. He has never stopped loving Libby.

Will Libby turn down Spencer a second time? Or will she overcome their differences and have a second chance with her first true love? Will Spencer be able to keep up with the lies? Or will he confess to Libby the truth?

I enjoyed all three stories. I like it when the characters are all interwoven into each of the stories. The secondary characters of the twins, Effie and Evan are priceless. No one could stay mad at them for any length of time. You will enjoy this anthology from Barbour.

Reviewed by Patsy Glans for The Road to Romance

February 9, 2006

Related Authors

• JoAnn A. Grote

Related Books

• Minnesota Mysteries (Trade Paper)