Married in Whitehorn by Susan Mallery

Duty-bound to protect pregnant amnesiac Angela Sheppard, Deputy Sheriff Shane McBride swore he'd never give his heart. Yet, soon he hungered to call the attractive widow his own. Was it possible a wedding-with baby!-was due for Whitehorn's brooding man in blue?

Short and fast moving. Angela came to Whitehorn to interview for a job as a teacher. She was attacked and beaten by some men who are looking for some money her late husband supposedly had. They had been separated for four years and she had no idea what they were talking about. When she woke up in the hospital she couldn't remember what had happened to her. Shane is the deputy sent to question Angela after the attack on her. There's something about her that touches a part of him that has been locked up for a long time. Rather than send her to a safe house for protection, he offers to let her stay at his house.

Angela and Shane connect very quickly. Shane is protective and definitely attracted, but has some problems believing that he deserves someone as terrific as Angela. I liked the way that she showed him that his ex-fiancee was wrong about him.

Things were left hanging about the men who attacked her and kidnapped the child. There was good news about the child at the end of the story, but no resolution.

Born in Whitehorn by Karen Hughes

Dr. Jeremy Winters discovered he was a daddy when he came to beautiful Leah Nighthawk's rescue and delivered their tiny twins. And though the hard-hearted doctor would never deny his babies a daddy this Christmas, would he give Leah the gift of his love?

This story picks up where the previous one left off. The kidnapped girl is safe, but has stopped talking. The kidnappers have not been caught and everyone is worried that they will try again. It is suspected that Sarah was mistaken for her friend Jenny as the object of the kidnapping, and Jenny has been staying with Leah for a few days to keep her safe.

Leah came back to Whitehorn and the reservation to take care of her mother. After her mother's death she was going to go back to Chicago, but her plans were waylaid by an unexpected pregnancy. She had given in to the attraction between her and Jeremy one night when her grief got the better of her. Because she felt she didn't know him, Leah hadn't told Jeremy she was pregnant. She didn't want him to feel trapped or obligated.

Jeremy was surprised to see her a few days before Christmas. He thought she had left Whitehorn months ago. Seeing that she was pregnant, he followed her to talk to her, and found her in the middle of labor. Stunned to find out that the babies were his, he was determined to help care for them.

I loved seeing the way that Jeremy got so invested in taking care of Leah and the babies. Having lost his pregnant wife in an accident several years earlier, he finds that the hole they left in his life is now being filled. It was sweet to see everything that he did to try to make life easier for Leah. Leah is a very stubborn and independent woman. She was raised by a single mother who did everything she could to give Leah the best life she could. Now that she finds herself a single mother herself, she is determined to show that she can do the same. While she is grateful for his help, she is afraid of becoming dependent on him. I got a bit frustrated with the way that she kept pushing him away.

The time they spent together reinforced their attraction. Jeremy proposes marriage to Leah, wanting to be able to care for her and the babies. He envisions a good life together, and can't believe it when Leah refuses him. Leah quickly came to realize that she was in love with Jeremy, but she doesn't want a marriage that isn't about love. Jeremy has to face his fear of losing again before he loses everything that he could have. I liked the ending and how they were able to come together.

There was a brief bit showing the kidnappers and what their plans are, but it was not resolved. I assume that the story line is continued in a later book. ( )

A Montana Maverick Christmas
This collection has 2 books about Whitehorn by 2 different romance authors.
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Married in Whitehorn by Susan Mallery
Angela had just come to this new town to apply for the teaching job which she got. On her way out to her car she was held up and they wanted Tom's money. She had no idea what they were talking about as she had split up with Tom over 4 years ago.
They beat her up and left with a child as ransom. When she awoke in the hospital Shane the deputy was there to question her and over time they figured things out.
He took her back to his house to protect her til the men were caught. Nancy the next door neighbor became a friend and they had time to talk about Shane and his past. Hot steamy sex and they also get to know one another-their past hard lives growing up without one parent or both.
They get very close to one another and she wonders if she can trust him to really love her and he wonders if he would be good for her, afraid to let go of his past. Sounds like a nice town but there's not a lot written about it.
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Born in Whitehorn by Karen Hughes
Sara is the girl who was kidnapped in the last book and she was able to run away. She has since stopped talking.
Leah had kept her on the reservation for a few weeks to throw the men off if they were still in the area. She was nearly ready to have her twins. She didn't tell anyone of the time she spend in bed with a man on the night her mother died=he was there to comfort her and then she told everybody she was leaving the area.
Instead she hid out at the res and learned she was expecting. Jeremy was there now and he learned the truth and he helped deliver the babies before the ambulance arrived.
He helps her with the infants and buys them most everything a child would need til the age of 6 when she doesn't want the things he's bought for them.
She hears he's been to see a lawyer and she jumps to conclusions that he will take them from her. She finds out differently... ( )

A Montana Mavericks Christmas - contains 2 stories:

Married in Whitehorn by Susan Mallery - 3/5

Newly pregnant Angela Sheppard is attacked by two men shortly after she arrives in Whitehorn for a teaching interview. An innocent 5-year-old child (Sara) witnesses the attack and is taken by the men for ransom. As a result of the beating, Angela is left unconscious and suffers from temporary amnesia. The men were trying to get information about the location of some money that supposedly was hidden by her now deceased husband. She is offered protection by Deputy Sheriff Shane McBride who has been assigned her case. She agrees to stay in his home rather than in a safehouse until the kidnappers are caught. Within a week, they are married. I SO hate that kind of rushed happy ending but the story itself was good, as per usual with Susan Mallery's writing.

Born in Whitehorn by Karen Rose Smith - 3.5/5

This story picks up right where Married in Whitehorn left off.

The little 5yo girl, Sara, somehow escapes from her captors but refuses or is unwilling to speak so they can't get a location or description to find them. There is some mention of the kidnappers' whereabouts and their plans to again go after Sara in order to guarantee her silence, but no further action or resolution by the end of the book, so there must be another installment that covers that part of the story.

Leah Nighthawk is living on the reservation outside of Whitehorn. She plans on heading out to D.C. or NYC to be a museum curator but was waylaid by a surprise pregnancy (of twins) after a one-night deal with Dr. Jeremy Winters shortly after her mother had passed away. She never told him about the pregnancy because she felt like he was just comforting her that night and she didn't want him to feel trapped. He finds out when he sees her stopped on the side of the road during a blizzard--in the last stages of labor. He helps her deliver their twins, then steps in to assist with the newborns, etc. After the usual parlay of old baggage that needs to be dealt with, they figure out that they are both what the other needs. ( )