Mark Connor is trying to gently convey bad news to his enthusiastic friend and client novelist, Michelle. She has done everything he told her to do in her latest novel, a western romance. She put a cowboy on the cover, included a marriage of convenience, and made sure there is a baby in the story. Alas, it's not working! Her character doesn't have the faintest idea what it's like to be a Colorado cowboy, as her love scene while riding a horse clearly shows. What's Michelle to do?
One last offer is made. If Michelle doesn't take it, her novelist days are over with this editor. She has to agree to spend two weeks at Columbine dude ranch camp, take riding lessons, and get to know the lives of those at the camp and surrounding area. Handed a brochure about rodeos, barrel racing, horses, cowboys and cowgirls, Michelle groans as Mark tells her to think western and come home with a drawl. His wink is the beginning of an unbelievable adventure.
Little does she know that Tag Martin has received a somewhat similar ultimatum. His grandmother has insisted he marry or lose his inheritance, the Double Eagle Ranch. After arriving in Colorado, Michelle is thrown from a car that careens off the road into the top of a tree. After losing her memory in this hair-raising scene of avoiding an avalanche of rocks, she meets Tag, who thinks she is his intended bride, Betsy Mae. Confusion reigns in both their minds but remains unspoken as each look into each other's eyes does things that each pushes away immediately.
So begins a funny but more deeply moving relationship in which Michelle, now known as Lee Stetson, finds she is about to be married in a few short hours. She will certainly now truly get to learn what it would be like to be a western cowgirl, what it would be like to love a rugged chapped western cowboy, and the entanglements that follow when several other characters try to decide whether this is real or a scam, wanting to protect their respected, loved friend, Tag.
From rounding up stray horses to sharing the sight of the birth of a young colt, Michelle experiences western life as portrayed in its grandeur and toughness in a most endearing way by this talented writer. The reader is hoping the charade will turn out happily but isn't quite sure. What is very clear is that this land warms the heart of its residents and its new temporary (?) visitor. Urban life drifts far away from this mountainous and wild terrain. Bodies are toughened while hearts open to vast possibilities in the making out of this often misunderstood but comical relationship. Wanting to reject each other, Tag and Michelle gradually realize what counts, no matter what anyone else thinks.
Love at first sight endures in this magical adventure that will leave the reader entranced between alternate gasps of pain and sweet connection.
The language is especially poignant when describing the appearance and inner embrace of both the land and its struggling, determined ranchers. One can feel the magic that has drawn so many adventurers out west, where the roads and grassy ranges seem limitless and the heart is free to shed its false veneer.
Enjoy every page of this wonderful, funny, and endearing novel, which is sheer delight coming from this writer's talent.