Reluctant Lovers

Lovers #2

by Elizabeth Chadwick

Besieged by marriage proposals from the love-starved men of Breckenridge, Colorado, newcomer and widow Kat Fitzgerald decides to act as matchmaker between her admirers and the women arriving from her old hometown. Original.

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction

438 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

A pseudonym used by Nancy Herndon.

Reviews

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

For romance book with such a hot cover the writing is first class and the story is complex and well developed. There is romance, intrigue, spiritual questions, female role in the west and many great side characters. I loved our heroine, Kat. She was such a force of nature with her own kind of thinking but never came of as too sweet or too perfect. She had flaws and author was not afraid to show them. Conner was rock of a man, solid, thoughtful if a little reserved. The romance between them had sizzling chemistry that would often resolved in flying angry sparks between them.

I loved the story towards the end. Without spoiling anything, I think author made great decisions when it came to their happily ever after.
After reading author’s note at the end about being influenced by a feminist writer I had a deeper appreciation for the story she had created.
One drawback for me were too many side characters and side plots.

[Laura Saxon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. I liked the part where Kat arrived at her brother's house so she could take care of him while he was ill even though it was winter and he was surprised to see her and hadn't been expecting her until spring.

[Misfit]

I yield. As much as I love HRs set in Colorado mining towns, this one just isn't working for me. I can't even follow what's happening (if anything has actually happened), and I've lost all interest in continuing.

Note, this Elizabeth Chadwick is a different author than the EC from the UK who writes the medieval novels.