Alice Duncan, Cactus Flower

Cactus Flower

Alice Duncan

Five Star, September 2006,

ISBN 1594144567

In Rio Penasco, New Mexico Territory, blacksmith Nick Taggart was enjoying his tryst with Violet Watson when he heard the whoop and scream. He knew the whoop means Uncle Junius is chasing a woman and the scream is from the female he caught. He races outside to end the incident before Sheriff Wallace either tosses them out of town or locks up his relative, but instead the fragile female whacks Uncle Junius in the head with her valise. It turns out that Eulalie Gibb, a singer, has come to town to work at the opera house, known for its other activities.

Nick and Junius fled a family of stepsisters and their mom by coming to this wild western town. He has vowed never to marry, but soon finds himself reconsidering as the thorny ferocious female midget makes him desire her; something he cannot understand. However, her past arrives from New York City; delightfully, her beloved sister Patsy joins her, but so does dangerous murderous stalker Gilbert Blankenship. Nick vows to keep both siblings safe as he loves them; insanely he thinks he wants the acerbic one as his mate and the gentle kin one as a sister.

CACTUS FLOWER is an apt description of the heroine. The fast-paced storyline is action-packed, but contains both humor and danger. The lead couple are a superb pairing, as he cannot comprehend how he fell in love with a woman who goes out of her way to rip his skin off. Though Gilbert is perhaps too dark and evil of a sociopath, readers will enjoy Alice Duncan's excellent western romance.