09/04/2017
After Army Capt. Nash Lamont falls while rescuing a kitten and suffers concussion-induced amnesia, he believes that Kasey McKay, his new neighbor from the ranch next door, is his wife. Because he has post-traumatic stress disorder, his doctors suggest maintaining the fiction will aid in his recovery, so Kasey agrees to stay with him until he can safely drive. She and her three adorable children move in, and nature slowly takes its course. Nash’s PTSD is aggravated by the guilt he feels for the death of a man under his command. Naturally, Kasey’s husband was his fallen comrade, something easily discerned before chapter two and a signal that, by genre convention, Nash will not reveal his secret until doing so causes maximum damage. Brown’s sequel to Toughest Cowboy in Texas may not be novel, but the narrative is genuinely sweet and filled with the joy of Christmas as a good man learns to live in the aftermath of war and a loving woman realizes she can move on from two long years of grief. Agent: Erin Niumata, Folio Literary. (Oct.)
This week’s Romance Roundup includes a lonesome rancher who takes in a widow and her three children for the holidays, a duke with a very sinister reputation, and a librarian who is seeking a bit of adventure.