Silhouette Desire #791 Wrangler and the Rich Girl

"The Wrangler and The Rich Girl" by Joan Johnston is the 4th in her Hawk's Way Series(there are many more to follow). Oldest brother Garth finally finds love in this sizzling romance. In previous novellas, Jessie("Honey and the Hired Hand"), Tate, youngest and only girl of the clan("The Rancher and The Runaway Bride"), and Faron("The Cowboy and The Princess") have had their own tempestuous relationships. Garth's story is the last of the core family, before the series moves on to more branches of this passionate family tree. Garth has been raising up his brothers and sister, since the death of his parents. They are a close knit and raucous bunch, and their wildness only adds to their passionate and steamy relationships. Garth is very different than his younger siblings. He was old enough at the time it happened, to witness the demise of his parent's marriage due to his mother's infidelity, resulting in the birth of Faron, youngest of the brothers. Any woman would love to fall into the arms(and bed) of this rugged and gorgeous wrangler. But Garth has a problem with trust and commitment.He cannot get passed what his mother did, and the women he sees and beds are just there for his pleasure. And they are the type who don't ask for more then that. Enter Candy Baylor. A girl he had known through his business dealings with her very wealthy father. She was young,and spoiled when they first met, and practically threw herself at this hunk of a man, only to be violently kisses, then tossed aside by Garth. Three years later, she is a woman, but only in age. Her desire now is to breed and train cutting horses, that specialize in separating cows from the herd for the ranchers. She's always gotten her way with her rich father, and now she won't have less then the number one guy in the field, Garth, teach her. Garth remembers(as does she), their little encounter, and plans to have his way with her now that she is a woman. But that's all he wants from this beautiful rich girl. As the lessons progress,he has his way often, something Candy enjoys for the first time in her life. But their feelings for each other are growing as well. They can hardly be in the same room without the sparks flying. Candy knows that Garth cannot express his feeling, in any other way then to make love to her quite demonstratively. The storyline parallells the lessons Garth is giving her on taming a stubborn, wild stallion to stud. Candy takes each step slowly, knowing that Garth has issues from his past, that prevent him from trusting a woman enough to marry her. In the meantime, their passion sizzles in nearly every chapter(sometimes even a couple of times per chapter), and if you are thinking that it's a story where the man just has his way whenever he wants...think about how Rhett Butler forcefully carried Scarlett up to the bedroom one night, and how she was happily singing the next morning! The story will have you turning the pages, as there is much more substance to this rom

Garth Whitelaw is the oldest of the Hawk's Way Whitelaws. Garth met Candy three years earlier when she came to the ranch with her father. Candy was only seventeen and head over heels in love with Garth. Garth was much older and pushed her away. Now here she is three years later, a little more grown up, tougher, and a lot more of a woman in Garths opinion. He agrees to ler her stay at Hawk's Way so that Garth can teach her everything he knows about the business. Garth makes it clear that he would like Candy in his bed, but nothing more. Garth has a bit of a rough edge that sometimes made me cring, but we also find out why. Garth is a hardened man after seeing what his parents did to each other. We find out a lot of interesting information on the Whitelaw parents that explains so much. I look back at Garths behavior in the previous books and now I understand his extreme behavior. I am not saying what Garth does is right, but understandable. Candy realizes she is still in love with Garth but she has to convince Garth that he is capable of love. Another great Hawk's Way story.