A TOUCH OF FOREVER

An engineering surveyor with a stalker agrees to marry a widow
with four children, creating a new life for both in the American West.

Roen Shepard is an engineer originally from New York who has come
to Frost Falls, Colorado, to survey land for Northeast Rail. The move out West
conveniently puts 2,000 miles between him and his jilted lover, Victorine
Headley, the selfish, spoiled daughter of the owner of a competing railway. In
church, Roen spies Lily Salt, a local seamstress and widowed mother of four,
and is immediately intrigued by her small, serene smile and rust red hair.
Lily’s tragic past was a subplot in the previous book in the series (A Touch
of Flame, 2018): Her cruel and abusive husband perished in a fire under
mysterious circumstances. Lily carries a heavy emotional load of both
post-traumatic stress and guilt, but she is sensible, strong, and forthright
and agrees to a marriage of convenience with Roen to provide a father for her
children. For Roen, the marriage serves partly as a deterrent to Victorine, who
is on her way west to claim him, but he is attracted to Lily and more than
willing to see where the arrangement takes them. Unfortunately, Victorine and
the violent man she brings with her are depicted with all the subtlety of a
charging buffalo, and her pursuit ends with an unnecessary and suspiciously
convenient plot twist. Goodman, a veteran romance writer, is known for her
skill in depicting the booming American West at the turn of the 20th century,
and most readers will be happily immersed in daily life in Frost Falls,
although some will wish the days passed more quickly. Roen and Lily are both
mature, kind, honest, and witty, and while their romance offers little
excitement, it is sweet and believable.

Appealing characters and an unhurried plot make this a solid entry
in Goodman’s Cowboys of Colorado series.