The war was over. The town of Esser Crossing ebbed closer to a slow death while Jodi Parker and Hunter Johnson fought desperately with one last chance to save it, and themselves. Two unlikely people came together against their own will and struggled to carve a new empire. Swollen rivers and Jayhawkers were the least of their troubles on a cattle drive to Kansas, when both carried secrets that could easily destroy them. He had to prove himself, she had to live with her own decisions. A cruel destiny threw them together. Only a true and lasting love could save them… Hunter came home before the war was over, everyone in town knew what that meant. Branded a coward, he lived in a shed behind the saloon. He'd have to prove himself if he took the job she offered, to every man in the outfit, but he was so determined... Jodi had been violated by the town bully. Could she live with herself if she went through with her plan? She seriously doubted it. Could she find someone, along the way, to help her? That too was a gamble, but she was so desperate... Driving cattle to Kansas in 1869 was no easy feat, but it was the only way to survive. He'd take her with him, under one condition... she'd have to marry him. And to Jodi that was like marrying the devil himself.

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This is the second novel that I've read by Rita Hestand. My first book by her was Hannah's Man and I have to say that she puts so much love and feeling into every chapter of both books, that you can't help but love her work. She allows you to feel the pain and fears of each character, as well as the abundance of their love. I'm not a fond reader of western romances but I will read every novel that Rita Hestand writes with no hesitation...source: Martha Cheves, author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat(no compensation for this review except a raw manuscript)