Gentle Giving Book

A New York Times extended list bestselling author, Dorothy Garlock has won acclaim and awards for her unique ability to convey both the romance and reality of frontier America. Here she presents one of her most beloved stories, a tale of two outcasts who must learn to take a leap of faith--and take a chance on love. She had narrowly escaped the lynch mob that unjustly hanged her foster father. Now lonely Willa Hammer has nothing left--except her dog Buddy, her faith in herself, and the protection of a strange, secretive family. She joins their wagon train, headed west . . . never realizing that she is traveling to the wilds of the Big Horn Mountains, where a run-down, intrigue-ridden ranch and the arms of an untamed, hardened cowboy await her. Haunted by his past, Smith Bowman has the power to infuriate Willa and hurt her. But a love greater than the Big Horn can be theirs if they can surrender to the gentle giving of their hearts.

Publishers Weekly

When Willa Hammer's guardian is lynched and her home burned, she finds herself heading west with teenage Charlie and Jo Bell Frank, whose down-and-out father has been killed for cheating at cards. The three are heading for the ranch of Oliver Westwood, Charlie and Jo Bell's uncle. They don't know that Oliver has died until they meet up with Smith Bowman, a former protege of Oliver's who predicts that Maud, Oliver's mean-spirited widow, won't let the young people cross her threshold. Arriving at the ranch, Willa finds Maud sprawled on the kitchen floor with a broken leg. They settle in: Charlie to become a cowboy, Jo Bell (who is beautiful, ill-tempered and foul-mouthed) to be a nuisance until she finally runs off with a man, and Willa to perform endless chores and fall in love with Smith. Smith meanwhile tortures himself and the reader with feelings of guilt over Oliver's death. Not even this frontier romance's flood of crude language can obscure the fact that Garlock's ( Glorious Dawn ) boring characters are trapped in a paper-thin plot. (Jan.)