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A defiant dream
There were many things Tana didn't know. She didn't know why her father, whose ranch had been so prosperous, had failed. Whether it had been drought, disease or debts. Nor was she sure that she could turn things around.What she did know was that she felt completely at home on the Montana ranch and was going to give it a good try. And, against all common sense, she thought she could trust drifter Douglas Cody, who had appeared out of nowhere when she most needed help.By the time Tana realized she was wrong, it was too late to take back her heart...
190 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1989
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 24, 2013
The heroine returns to the ranch after spending six years in the city as a teacher, coming back makes her fall in love with the ranch she shares a bittersweet relationship with. She hates the ranch for her mother's death and now her father's but won't lose it, so even in the cold she takes off after the cattle. She is then joined by the hero. Once the hero's name is revealed we know who he is, the man after the ranch but it is obvious he is not a bad guy. The attraction, growing feelings between the two are obvious but so are the reasons for the hero holding back. I felt the heroine was a bit foolish where the bad guy, her ranch foreman was concerned, she was just too blinded by his good looks and that is what subtracted my rating plus the whole hiding the hero's identity.
May 11, 2017
Re A Defiant Dream - Melinda Cross brings us love on the range, after we devolve into a love triangle as two men square off over the h and she prepares to fight for her land.
The h returns to her father's ranch after six years of school teaching in Chicago. She left the ranch because she blames it for killing her mother. Now her father has passed too and the ranch mortgage payments haven't been made and there is a danger of foreclosure.
There is also a foreman that has a thing for the h and at one time they were dating and there was talk of them marrying, but the h rejected ranch life for the big city. Except now that she is back, she realizes she really loves the land and so when cattle are in danger due to bad weather, she decides to go after them and perhaps she will be able to save the ranch in the ensuing stock sale.
The h is aided by the H and she thinks he is just a cowhand. The H seems to be a hard worker and very conscientious and soon a love triangle with the H/h/Foreman develops. There is kisses shared with both men and the h is torn by her old feelings for her former sweetheart and her developing feelings for the H. The two men are very antagonistic to each other and the h is strangely reluctant to delve into the ranches accounts to figure out where her father went wrong in his mortgage payments. The H does look at the books tho and it is obvious he thinks the foreman is doing some nefarious deeds.
Then there is a suspicious fire and the foreman blames the H because he is the holder of the mortgage and has been hiding his identity from the h for the whole book. The h runs the H off and it looks like she and the foreman will be making a go of it as the h finds out that the ranch has already been foreclosed on and now belongs to the H. Then the H reappears and he has proof that the foreman had been taking the ranches profits and buying up parcels of land in his own name. The H has the man arrested for fraud and tells the h that she will get the land that the OM purchased.
The h is preparing to leave the ranch forever, as soon as she can get some type of housing on her new land and the H stops her. He explains that the ranch used to be his childhood home, but his parents died too and the H sold it to the h's parents. He wanted to buy the ranch back as he has made a fortune in business, but the h's dad was doing well with it until the foreman misdirected the mortgage payments and then the h's father died. Since both the H and h love the land and each other, they decide to marry and just add the h's new land to the spread as they are getting married and will be having lots of kids to keep the cattle running for a rare western HP HEA.
This one was okay, the h's gradual reawakening to her heritage was well done and the question of who the H actually was in this one was fairly well done too. Overall this was a decent read and good way to spend some time in HPlandia if you need a little jaunt.
The h returns to her father's ranch after six years of school teaching in Chicago. She left the ranch because she blames it for killing her mother. Now her father has passed too and the ranch mortgage payments haven't been made and there is a danger of foreclosure.
There is also a foreman that has a thing for the h and at one time they were dating and there was talk of them marrying, but the h rejected ranch life for the big city. Except now that she is back, she realizes she really loves the land and so when cattle are in danger due to bad weather, she decides to go after them and perhaps she will be able to save the ranch in the ensuing stock sale.
The h is aided by the H and she thinks he is just a cowhand. The H seems to be a hard worker and very conscientious and soon a love triangle with the H/h/Foreman develops. There is kisses shared with both men and the h is torn by her old feelings for her former sweetheart and her developing feelings for the H. The two men are very antagonistic to each other and the h is strangely reluctant to delve into the ranches accounts to figure out where her father went wrong in his mortgage payments. The H does look at the books tho and it is obvious he thinks the foreman is doing some nefarious deeds.
Then there is a suspicious fire and the foreman blames the H because he is the holder of the mortgage and has been hiding his identity from the h for the whole book. The h runs the H off and it looks like she and the foreman will be making a go of it as the h finds out that the ranch has already been foreclosed on and now belongs to the H. Then the H reappears and he has proof that the foreman had been taking the ranches profits and buying up parcels of land in his own name. The H has the man arrested for fraud and tells the h that she will get the land that the OM purchased.
The h is preparing to leave the ranch forever, as soon as she can get some type of housing on her new land and the H stops her. He explains that the ranch used to be his childhood home, but his parents died too and the H sold it to the h's parents. He wanted to buy the ranch back as he has made a fortune in business, but the h's dad was doing well with it until the foreman misdirected the mortgage payments and then the h's father died. Since both the H and h love the land and each other, they decide to marry and just add the h's new land to the spread as they are getting married and will be having lots of kids to keep the cattle running for a rare western HP HEA.
This one was okay, the h's gradual reawakening to her heritage was well done and the question of who the H actually was in this one was fairly well done too. Overall this was a decent read and good way to spend some time in HPlandia if you need a little jaunt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2016
The heroine wasn't worth heros love .She loved her ranch foreman's kisses and his attractive looks through the story.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews