Velvet by Carolyn Brown

This is the second book in the "Promised Land" series ; the first being "Willow". Both are good but "Velvet " I enjoyed more. C.B. is a masterful storyteller. The characters are real and their feelings palpable. I love a story that can make you both laugh and cry and Carolyn accomplishes that.

In this book the hero is a former doctor who "hung up his bag " when he couldn't save his wife and twin brother from death. A tortured soul, he resides as a hermit outside the army fort he used to practice in.

Velvet (the heroine) is unceremoniously dumped at his cabin when she gets a fever on the wagon train. By the time he finds her -in his bed, no less - the train is long gone...I felt that the raw emotion experienced by the hero was true to life. And Velvet...well she's just a hoot. On one occasion she sends a pack of warring Indians away with "blessings " in the form of curses. I was killing myself laughing. Ok maybe it wasn't neccessarily realistic but it was hilarious. The Indians take her for a "devil woman " and gallop away.

As time goes on it becomes increasingly apparent that the two of them may just need eachother ...if they can only let go if their stubbornness and misplaced loyalties.

Overall it was a wonderful read with no violence or sex. There was one cuss word.
Bottom line : don't let the boring cover fool you its a great read!