I've not read the other two books in the O'Brien series so I came into this one with no history on the characters.

We start out with Ellie turning 21 and deciding that she wants to find a beau and get married. To that end, she starts a list of the eligible men in town, some of whom she pairs up with women based on what she knows. In the end, the non-matched ones are not men she would consider for her husband. Later, we realize that Ellie is blaming herself for her parents' deaths even though she doesn't fully realize what caused it until later in the book.

Lawson returns to town after a stint in the Texas Rangers--a job he apparently took to try to prove that he wasn't like his parents, only to find that some of the Rangers agreed he was almost better suited to be an outlaw than a lawman. Lawson struggles with the fact that his parents deserted and abandoned him. It makes him feel as if he is unlovable or that all people who are supposed to love him will eventually desert him.

Both have to confront people from their pasts and forgive themselves in order to move on.

By page 68, both Lawson and Ellie have realized they love each other. It takes over 200 more pages for the two of them to admit it to each other and seal the deal. I did kind of feel like the story dragged on longer than it needed to. ( )