Oh, why did I finish this so quickly?! Why?!

I'm going to be vulgarly blunt, I fucking love Ellen O'Connell. Love her. Admittedly, these books might be just a teensy bit melodramatic, but these stories are some of the most engaging I've read in a very long time. I didn't think I'd like this one more than I liked her other two books. Ha! I think the only reason I might like Dancing on Coals more is because I absolutely adored Katherine Grant in that book. Don't get me wrong, Anne Wells is no shrinking violet, but she comes into her power. Katherine seemed to have been born with it, so my sympathy and connection with her were nearly instantaneous, while Anne took me a little while longer to warm up to. That being said, Anne is one tough chick. She manages to stand up for what she wants despite the obstacles, and when things take a violent and bloody turn, she ignores her own wounds and emotional trauma to tend to Cord and his farm. While her sudden tempers could be a bit off-putting at times, the majority of the time they were a cause of great amusement to me as I read about her going toe-to-toe with absolutely anyone who began talking out of their ass. Like the other two O'Connell heroines, I would be proud to call someone like Anne Wells my friend.

As for Cord Bennett....



Yowzers. If ever there were a literary man capable of making me swoon (and probably conveniently lose my knickers in the process), it's Cord Bennett. Dark, handsome, hard-working, determined, and flawed while also being capable of great tenderness. Cord hides his emotions behind a mask of indifference, but the reader is made aware relatively early that Cord is far from indifferent about anything. Jaded, maybe, not indifferent. His sudden heroic outbursts are capable of reducing me to a cheering, giggling mess (the few times he goes up against Anne's brother are priceless).

Now, something that might bother some readers are the peripheral characters. Some are just plain amazing (the Sheriff, for instance), but others (like Cord's brothers) are just plain infuriating. Pompous, assuming jackasses. The thing I found interesting, however, was that while they were deriding their brother for what they believed to be a cold, calculating, malicious heart, they were the ones imagining the worst of a situation without giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. I don't know if this was Ms. O'Connell's intent, but it certainly makes you think twice about those who protest violently against evil and those who are merely trying to live their lives in peace. Anne's father is a vile stain, so be prepared to hate him a lot.

Proper communication is a must for me, and I felt that there were times when Anne and Cord could have done a better job of it (both with each other and with others), but the way Ms. O'Connell crafted the dialogue, the stilted conversations are actually pretty realistic. There are times when someone should have just come out and said something, but given the character's hangups, their reluctance was understandable. It definitely isn't one of those stories where the characters aren't communicating merely because the author can't think of a better way to drag out the story.

Given that I've been skimming over this book again and again, and am afraid to pick up another book too soon lest it wipe Ms. O'Connell's stories from my mind too quickly, I've decided that this book touched me enough to warrant me giving it five stars despite any of the problems I might have with it. I don't give romances five stars too often.

Sadly, I've now run out of available Ellen O'Connell material. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my Kindle, curl up in a sock drawer, and sleep (secretly read) for days.