The Wildest Heart
Rosemary Rogers
Sourcebooks
November 2009
978-1-4022-2274-0
748 pages

The back cover summary:

Lady Rowena Dangerfield travels from the exotic palaces of India to the splendor or the Royal Court of London to the savage New Mexico frontier to lay claim to her inheritence and live freely as only she would dare. In the violent, untamed American Southwest, she finally meets a man as strong as she is: Lucas Cord, a dark dangerously handsome, half-Apache outlaw. Fighting scandal, treachery, and murder, Luke is determined to have Rowena for his own,, and as their all-consuming passion mounts, no one is going to stop him...

My evaluation:

Rosemary Rogers romance is so absorbing you will lose track of hours at a time. Rowena will turn your head as she takes on Todd Shannon when she insinuates herself on the SD Ranch. Her obdurate behavior is lovable, especially as she stands out in this time period of 1872-1876. She is the rightful heiress to half the ranch, but Todd has other plans. After all, he has been working this ranch all along. What Todd doesn’t realize is he will be dealing with a viper and a beautiful one at that. The setting taking place in the New Mexico desert provides picturesque images of expansive land and sky. The ever increasingly entangled plot has been carefully knitted together and cleverly revealed by the author.

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and with this book being 748 pages, that is a good thing. Honestly you will not want the story of Rowena and Luke to end. The story takes on so many twists, you will often become frustrated, eager for a resolution. The tension is not bad, it makes the story what it is. Romance, lust and love on every level fill this story but the passion of the two main characters will make you want to shake Rowena, and Luke and have you wondering until the very last page.

Rowena is an independent woman. When her grandfather passes away, she finds herself being handed the duties of her grandfather. She reads a diary that belonged to her father and figures out that she is supposed to smooth things over with her family's rivals. Rowena is hot tempered, especially when conversing with the opposite sex. Will she be able to do what she is destined to or will her pride stand in her way?

I loved the dialogue in this book! Rowena reminds me a lot of myself and I was able to picture everything that was happening to her as though it was happening to me. ( )

A sweeping, beautiful epic historical romance, "The Wildest Heart" by Rosemary Rogers kept me entranced throughout 739 pages. Yes, 739 pages. Beginning in 1872 with Rowena in India, onto 1873 when upon her grandfather's death she is sent to her mother's (whom she has never met) in London, and off to America upon her finding out her father is dying and has left her his ranch in New Mexico and a very wealthy woman. These pages take you through her life to 1878 without disappointing and no obnoxious down time. When I first saw this book, I was overwhelmed. A romance THIS long? How much can the author write about? Obviously plenty and without disappointing the reader. This is a TRUE romance in my book. Lady Rowena is beautiful, fierce, independent and strong. Her life was never easy, she is The Wildest Heart. I felt so much of a connection with Lady Rowena, dislike towards Todd Shannon, unsure about Lucas Cord and of course, I eventually fell in love with him, and all the players. I love when an author can build other characters without losing her key players. The late 1800s was a time of wild, raucous and outlaws, especially in the west. The author has woven the time period in beautifully.

Just beautiful. I say this book is worth each and every page you read. I wasn't disappointed and I am sure other readers won't be either. I will even say this, this is definitely going into my re-read pile for another round. Be prepared to be captivated through the entire book

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing this copy for my review. Acceptance of a review copy does not affect my ability to remain unbiased and provide a truthful, honest review. I am not paid for my reviews. ( )