Cowboy at the Crossroads (Harlequin Superromance, 1075)

Rating:
Summary: Delicate family relationships -- Highly recommended
Review: A year ago Cordell Prescott's wife committed suicide, leaving behind a traumatized family. Five-year-old Nicki has yet to begin recovering from the loss of her mother, and after an endless cycle of doctors and psychologists, her father Cord feels desperate. So he asks his brother's friend Becca Talbert for help.

Becca understands family trauma, having survived her own share of it. With a month off before beginning her medical practice, she welcomes the opportunity to work with Nicki, using a tough love approach that brings almost immediate results. The attraction between herself and Cord is just as immediate. But bearing undue responsibility for his wife's suicide, Cord does not believe he deserves a woman like Becca.

Author Linda Warren pens a touching romance in COWBOY AT THE CROSSROADS. Warren has a gift for portraying delicate family relationships and the effect of guilt. But I must confess that Cord's bullheadedness did grow tiresome. There are times when he belabors issues to such an extreme, their age difference for example, that I just wanted to shake him. Nicki's refreshing personality and the unique cast of secondary characters, however, more than compensate for the impatience I felt with Cord. An altogether satisfying read, COWBOY AT THE CROSSROADS comes highly recommended.