4 1/2 stars. Excellent beginning to the stories of 4 brothers set in 1880's Arizona. Patriarch Angus McKettrick decides his sons need to settle down and tells them that the first to marry and produce a grandchild of either gender will get the lion's share of their ranch. Rafe, the oldest son, immediately sends for a mail order bride, determined to win their father's contest. Meanwhile, in Kansas City Emmeline is bored out of her mind. Raised by her aunt who runs a brothel, Emmeline has been kept out of the "business," but is still shunned by society. She has next to nothing to do with her life and longs for adventure. One evening, she foolishly dresses as a prostitute, drinks with a cowboy and wakes up believing she has been ruined. Her aunt is furious and Emmeline deciding she needs to leave town, applies and is accepted to be a mail order bride for Rafe.

As always, I enjoyed Miller's description of frontier life -- the hardships, challenges and rewards. She does a good job of giving interesting details without overwhelming you with must have been an often grueling existence. The characters are wonderful, drawn with both strengths and flaws. Rafe is not your standard romance hero but instead has his normal share of human flaws. While he can be tender, understanding and patient with Emmeline, especially in the bedroom, he is often gruff, quick-tempered, stubborn, high-handed and insensitive. I loved that Emmeline was every bit as hard headed, opinionated and at times unreasonable as Rafe, refusing to back down when he tried to browbeat her or even threaten her. When he hurt her feelings, she'd rather die than let him know and fought back the way he needed someone to do with him. I also loved how they showed their caring for each other in little, every day ways. They made a great, if tempestuous couple. She matched him for strength of will, courage and ability to cope with the demands of frontier living.

However, they did need to work out their relationship with some give and take. Even more, Emmeline wanted to be free of the secret of growing up in a brothel and the night she pretended to be a prostitute. But she is understandably frightened to test her growing but tenuous bond with Rafe with this kind of information and worries Rafe will reject her if he knows the truth. Other than one huge coincidental aspect of the plot (which knocked off half a star from my rating), I found Rafe and Emmeline's story to be fun, touching, and absorbing. Two very believable characters finding love and beginning to build a life together.