BLOOD ROSE TRILOGY BOOK 2: OPEN COUNTRY
Kaki Warner
ISBN: 978-0-425-23430-3
June 1, 2010
Berkley Sensation
Historical Romance
Trade Paperback

After making a promise to protect her dying sister’s children, Molly McFarlane flees Georgia and heads west, hoping to outrun the children’s vicious stepfather. When her train derails, she finds herself out of money and out of options. But when she learns of an insurance settlement the railroad will pay to widows, she marries a badly injured man, knowing when he dies the children will be provided for.

Except, Hank Wilkins doesn’t die. He also doesn’t remember the train wreck or marrying Molly. But he takes her home to his ranch, determined to reacquaint himself with his wife. As Molly is drawn further into the Wilkins family and life with Hank, the secrets she keeps threatens to tear them apart.

I fell in love with Kaki Warner’s writing after reading the first Blood Rose book, PIECES OF SKY and couldn’t wait for more books about the Wilkins family. And as I read OPEN COUNTRY, I couldn’t help but think that Ms. Warner had succeeded in topping that first, wonderful, compelling book.

What I love most about Ms. Warner’s writing is that her stories carry a beautiful grit to them. She doesn’t sugar coat the harsh life of the west; there’s tragedy and happiness in equal measure. And because of that, her stories are full of real life emotion that sweeps you away from page one. They’re not just good fiction, they’re complex sagas that stay with you and bring you a greater understanding about loving and living.

The strength in OPEN COUNTRY is the courtship dance between Hank and Molly. There’s something so special about watching Hank woo his wife, and I loved every tender, funny, endearing, poignant moment of it.

With Hank, Molly discovers love and the true meaning of home, and as her deception begins to catch up with her, she fears the truth will rip her from everything she never even knew she wanted. Hank believes he’s finally found the one person who ‘gets’ him and will always be honest with him. Molly’s betrayal cuts deep. The way to forgiveness for both of them is raw and open, and wonderfully penned by Ms. Warner.

OPEN COUNTRY is everything I love in a good book. Kaki Warner is a unique and rare gem in historical romantic fiction. Both PIECES OF SKY and OPEN COUNTRY are on my treasured keeper shelf, and I can’t believe I have to wait until 2011 for CHASING THE SUN, the third book in her Blood Rose trilogy! This is one author that I can highly recommend!

Reviewed By:

Cindy picked up her first romance in high school and never looked back. The book was PERFECT by Judith McNaught. Since then, Cindy has expanded her small TBR pile into a TBR mountain. She is a sucker for reunion romances, secret babies, best friends turned lovers, and angsty unrequited love. But above all, she just loves a darn good story.

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