The first book in the Texas Trilogy series.
Amelia Carson used to live on a plantation with her parents and her two older sisters. But by the time the US Civil War was over, all that was gone. Left alone and desperate, she listed herself in a mail-order bride publication, and after a short correspondence, is on her way to Texas to meet and marry one Dallas Leigh.
Unfortunately, Dallas will not be a the train station to receive his fiancée. Because he recently broke his leg after falling off an untamed horse. Instead his younger brother, Houston, will be picking up Amelia. It has been arranged that they will recognize each other by Amelia wearing a hat that Dallas sent her and he would be wearing a cloth she embroidered and sent to Dallas. Instead it will be Houston with Amelia's cloth.
Houston and Dallas both accompanied their father when he went to fight for the perpetuation of slavery in America. Houston was just a young teen at the time and he was seriously wounded and their father was killed in action. Houston lost an eye and his hearing on one side of his face and is badly scarred. He tends to dip his head and he wears an eye patch and keeps his hat lowered to conceal his scars. His is not the face Amelia is expecting to see when she arrives in Texas.
She is a bit puzzled when the man carrying her cloth does not match the description of the man she is expecting to marry. But the sight of Houston's damaged face does not shock or horrify her. The Civil War left many men with terrible wounds and damaged bodies, so it is nothing new for her to see. She takes Houston's explanation calmly and together they set out for Dallas' ranch, a trip of about three weeks.
Of course, we know that Amelia and Houston are going to fall in love on this long and arduous trek together, alone in the wild Texas countryside. But Amelia has promised to marry Dallas. And Houston is just a mess from his experiences in the war. Will Houston man-up enough to deal with his psychological damage and claim the woman he wants? Will Amelia stand by her promise to wed Dallas and sacrifice herself on the altar of duty?
This old-fashioned romance was really touching in many ways, a step above most modern romance novels. The two main characters have trauma that they must deal with, Amelia having the rape and murder of her two older sisters during the war and Houston losing his father in battle and himself being wounded. Really, the story is about two damaged, good-hearted people finding healing and love in each other's company.
This is not a bodice-ripper. The main characters don't tumble into bed the first chance they get. And the sex scene at the end is not explicit. Which is what I prefer in a romance story. I don't want or need the intimate details of the characters' erogenous zones. I don't know if this hold true, though, for the other two books in the series.
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