MONTANA DAWN by Caroline Fyffe

Faith is pregnant and on the run with her stepson, Colton. After her abusive husband dies she wants to get away or they will force her to marry his brother, Ward, who's even meaner. The wagon gets stuck and she goes into labor. Luke McCutcheon and his brothers are driving cattle back to their ranch. As he's scouting around he finds Faith's wagon and here's the noises she making. He enters the wagon to see what's going on and gets hit on the head. When he comes-to he tries to explain to Colton that he's one of the good-guys and wants to help his mom. He delivers Faith's baby and they tell her she can come to the ranch to gain strength. As they are heading back they run into Ward. Luke can see the fear in Faith's and Colton's eyes but she won't talk to him. Ward is mean and true to his threats. Faith and Colton have come to love being at the ranch but she knows what Ward is capable of. He has something hanging over her head and will use it if she doesn't go along with him.

Because I loved Where the Wind Blows I had to read this one too. I must confess that I didn't enjoy this tale quite as much. One reason I think was because of Faith. I really did like Faith as a person and you could certainly understand her ambivalence in trusting considering her life's situation. But her time at the ranch and with Luke and his brothers should have proved to her that she could trust him. They never gave her any reason not to. One thing I really did like was the McCutcheon family. They were such a tight-knit family and really cared for one another. There was one particular part that was so touching where Luke told his sister that we all get hankerings but she needed to wait for the right one and until they married first. I respect this author for keeping the story clean (other than a few 'words') and even giving some very good advice. I'll be watching for more by this author.