When Lightning Strikes

The tale of a man who can't escape his past and a woman who can't escape her future. Tanner McKnight is a ruthless bounty hunter. Abigail Bliss is a churchgoing schoolmarm. A dissimilar pair filled with lust. A dissimilar pair who cannot possibly have a future together, or can they? Abigail and the reader think it is a possibility. Now the author must convince the hero, and this is where the book's complexity settles -- in the convincing.Abigail Bliss is traveling on an Oregon-bound wagon train. Hidden from her is the fact she is a very rich heiress; her father feels that withholding this vital piece of information is better. Tanner McKnight is the hard-core gentleman on her trail. His mission - to bring sweet Abigail home to Chicago. His downfall -- sweet Abigail falls in love with him.To Rexanne Becnel's credit, she pens a great historical novel. The information surrounding the traveling conditions in a wagon train is phenomenal. Likewise, the added bonus of the fictional mouse creatures is a wonderful attachment. It is definitely a source of humorous relief from the journey's struggle. However, it is the off and on love interest that puts a strain on the story. Does he love me? Does he want me? Do I love him? Do I want him? Holy moly. End it! The story just ran out of steam. If only the author had cut some indecisiveness from the four-hundred and six pages, this would have been a dynamite story.Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

Robert Bliss and his daughter Abby a school teacher travel by wagon with a large group headed for Oregon, fleeing from Abby's grandfather who wants her brought to him. Abby doesn't know that she even has a grandfather, father to her recently deceased mother Margaret, and her father doesn't tell her. All she knows is that they left their home in a hurry. Tanner, a bounty hunter is looking for Abby to take her to her very wealthy grandfather. Knowing only the father's name (who by the way has started using the last name Morgan instead of Bliss as he is certain his father-in-law would stop at nothing to get his granddaughter), he sets out among the traveling wagons looking for the elusive heir. When Tanner meets Abby, after keeping her from falling in mud, they find themselves deeply attracted to one another. Robert does not like this 'no good outlaw' especially since he wants his daughter to marry a dull preacher. Tanner, hoping to find the girl he seeks, hires on with this group as a hunter. This way he can narrow down which of these women is really the missing Bliss heir and at the same time flirt with the beautiful Abby. When he finally discovers she is the missing heir (much to his disappointment), he takes her. This is a great story about a man who doesn't feel he is good enough for this prim, proper and soon to be wealthy woman although he is quickly falling in love with her. Abby can't help the way he makes her feel and will stop at nothing to make this handsome and wonderfully protective man hers. the first Rexanne Becnel book I have had the pleasure of reading but difinitely not my last.

An easy read novel set on the Oregon trail, filled with intrigue, romance and a touch of women's liberation in the 19th century. Enjoyed this almost as much as Geralyn Dawson's books with a similar setting. You'll find yourself delving into all this authors books if this is your first novel by Becnel you have read.