I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cardwell Ranch Trespasser
on April 1, 2013 and has 224 pages.
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Fifth in the Cardwell Ranch romantic suspense series revolving around Dana Cardwell in Big Sky, Montana.
I received this as a story ARC from the publisher.
My Take
It’s a confusion of dreams and expectations played by a master. It’s also a terrifying insight into the mind of a psychopath.
I don’t totally buy this. Sure, I can understand being so excited about finding a long-lost cousin, but I can’t see supposedly intelligent people being this clueless. Even in my excitement, I’d’ve Googled her to learn everything I could, just to know what her life has been like. I mean, hullo, at least check her Facebook page!
Ooh, just, ick. I wanna wash my hands when I read “Dee’s” thoughts and plans. Some of it is absolutely fascinating in a spy kind of way. The rest of it…how she feels about the kids, her sense of entitlement about Hud, the way she plans to corrupt. As if she were a demon from Hell instead of a human being.
Annndd, it’s yet another example of why parents should be licensed…ick… Mmm, Dawson asking Dee out was rather clumsy.
The whole thing is somewhat clumsy. As if Daniels has read a book on writing a romance and hasn’t quite got the bugs out.
What kind of friend is Dana anyway? She’s known Hilde for how long?? And, obviously, has no clue as to the kind of person she is…! WTF? Then there’s Hud. Another supposedly intelligent person who suddenly thinks Hilde is whacked. Um, hullo, forensics. Check Hilde’s story, examine those chunks of cement. There’s gotta be some skin on ’em! I’d think there’d be some abrasions on a person’s fingers from slinging ’em about. Duhh.
Ya know, I love quilting, rafting, and riding, but when it’s combined with such a mess, I’ll pass.
The Story
Hilde discovers how easy it is to change your mind when deadly danger threatens. Danger that does not hold her back when it comes to her friend’s life.
The one thing guaranteed to suspend thought and judgment in Dana Cardwell’s mind is family. Desperate to connect with kin, Dana could lose everything she has — her children, Hud.
The Characters
Hilde Jacobson owns Needles and Pins, a fabric store that offers quilting lessons; her best friend, Dana, has part ownership. Veronica “Ronnie” Tate is Hilde’s friend and her dependable employee.
Deputy Marshall Colt Dawson is laboring under the reputation he earned when he first arrived in the county, and Hilde will barely look at him, let alone say yes. His parents are professors at the University of Montana. Annie Wagner is the detached and sympathetic station dispatcher.
Dana Cardwell is Hilde’s best friend, and she’s married to Hud Savage, the marshal. Together, she and Hud have four children under six: Hank, Mary, and the twins, Angus and Brick. She recently reunited with her sister, Stacy, and her baby daughter, Ella; her brother Jordan and his wife, Deputy Marshal Liza Turner Cardwell; and, her movie-making brother Clay. Angus Cardwell is her father and there’s Uncle Harlan. Brick Savage is Hud’s dad and a retired marshal.
Dee Ann Justice is a long-lost cousin of Dana’s. Family. The daughter of her mother’s brother, Walter Justice, who married the wealthy and snobbish Marietta.
Camilla Northland and her brother, Richard Northland, a.k.a., Rick Cameron, are scam artists with no respect for life. You’d think Rick would have known his sister better. Thelma Peters is the aunt who raised them after their parents, Cynthia and Herbert, died. In that fire.
The Cover and Title
The cover will take you back in time with Colt Dawson in a thoughtful pose wearing blue jeans, a buckskin leather vest, and his cowboy hat.
The title is definitely accurate. It’s just that neither Dana nor Hud realize there is a Cardwell Ranch Trespasser.
