Fire and Rain & Outlaw: An Anthology

I have loved anything written by Elizabeth Lowell since I was a freshman in high school almost a decade ago. And she has never failed to repay that interest. This book is a dual novel, with two books from a 4 book series of two sets of siblings who find their soulmates. The roads to love never run smooth, and Mrs. Lowell always has both her heroine and her hero (or the anti-hero) have trials and tribulations before they can submit to their passion, and even though her stories all have happily-ever-afters, they are not easy-and-ignorant ever-afters that remind you of a too-corny disney fairy tale.

"Fire and Rain", "Outlaw", "Granite Man", and "Warrior" (with "Reckless Love" as the historical prequel) come together to create an outstanding series of books by Elizabeth Lowell. These 5 books document the lives and loves of the Mackenzie/Blackthorne family (a family tree at the beginning of the books help to show the relationships). I first read these books out of order (unintentionally, of course). It was as I was reading book #3 that I recognized the names from book #1 and things started clicking into place. I then made it a point to get all the other books and now it has become a summer ritual to read them in order, starting with "Reckless Love" (see the first sentence of my review for the correct order of the contemporary novels). The characters in this series are just yummy! I cannot get enough of them! Lowell's signature plot twist always involves an explosive misunderstanding of some sort between the main characters and she masterfully creates 5 unique situations that have you wanting to smack someone for their emotional "blindness"! She always manages, however, to weave a poignant reconciliation that has, at times, brought tears to my eyes. I love the way she keeps reintroducing previous characters (even from the historical prequel) from earlier books, too. It's like getting a bonus epilogue in every story. Lowell is a master, and although this series has some books that are better than others ("Outlaw" is my favorite, while "Granite Man" is my least favorite), it's well worth your time and effort to add all 5 books to your library. It's unfortunate that Lowell stopped this series one book too early. Another brother, Utah, is mentioned in the last book, but no book has ever been written about him. In an online interview with Lowell, I read that she had some kind of falling out with the publisher that prevented her from being able to share his story. It's a pity, too - I would have loved to read it! Happy reading!

These Blackthorn men and the description of the are make me want to visit the West ( I had read these 2 books ages ago & lost them -nice to find them again)