This old Loveswept by McReynolds (who now publishes under the name Tara Janzen) was a very short read with only 179 pages and I was able to finish it in one evening. First of all I thought the cover was very deceiving. I thought he looked like some kind of airline pilot (click to see a bigger image). But actually he was a ranch hand/cowboy turned Navy SEAL. That's a Navy uniform the hero, Colt, is wearing.

Colt Haines leaves Rock Creek, Wyoming, after taking Sarah Brooks' innocence and breaking all his promises to her. He heads to California where he joins the Navy and eventually becomes a SEAL. Ten years later he returns to Rock Creek to attend his mother's funeral. He hopes to avoid Sarah, but of course that's impossible. Sarah does not understand why he left town breaking her heart.

I really love the sensuality of McReynolds' writing and although Shameless was one of her earlier works, she was quite good at it even in this work published in 1992. But the other thing that struck me was that there was very little dialog. Maybe that goes along with the fact that Colt was keeping secrets and the less talking the better. But really it was extremely irritating. I thought his 'secret' was rather obvious considering he was carrying the scar across his face and neck. They have steamy sex and still he keeps his secrets and intends to leave town. At this point I was talking into the book (good thing Bob had already gone to bed). "Tell her already!" (Grade: B-) ( )