What happens when you wish upon a star?..

Paige Brookhart has suffered years of abuse at her husband Justin's hands. But when she sees that he really means to kill her she flees with her two daughters. Finding herself on a lonely road in Denver with car problems she's not sure what to do. Enter Lance Parrish, a rancher who has some deep hurts of his own. When he sees her black and blue marks he offers to help Paige but time has taught her the fear of men. She finally agrees to let Lance bring her and the girls back to his ranch. There she meets Maggie (Lance's housekeeper/second mother) and the other ranch hands. They are all very kind to her and she feels drawn to stay. But even after Lance offers her a job (so Maggie can take an extended vacation) she turns him down and asks to go to a woman's shelter. There she meets Carolanne who helps her through a lot of her feelings and emotions. After several weeks of not finding work she decides to give the ranch job a try. She starts to settle in and feel like she belongs. Her girls are finally beginning to bloom from the freedom they're experiencing. Lance and Paige are beginning to have feelings for one another. Can Lance get past his loss and return those feelings? Meanwhile Paige's husband is killing mad and will stop at nothing to find her and make her pay for her disobedience. Will he be able to fine her? Will Paige find the strength to fight the man who has inflicted so much terror in her life and the life of her girls? Will she learn what real love is?

This was good story. The characters were very well drawn. You felt Paige's fear and apprehension. Justin was the consummate evil villain. He was a scary guy. Lance was a great hero. Strong and tender. The ranch hands were great too. I loved the secondary character of Maggie. Her personality shined brightly off the pages. This was a new author to me but her writing reminded somewhat of Dee Henderson.