Hunter Jacobsen feels the dry heat in Montana as he searches for his too-sprightly grandfather. The old man has long been selling useless schemes and while the neighbours beware, there's a new face around town. Hunter should be working on the family ranch, but he doesn't intend Miss Murphy to be the victim of a con job.

ALASKAN SWEETHEARTS brings Scarlett Murphy down from Alaska, where her relative and old man Jacobsen used to have a mine together. The men fell out and when Hunter's parents died, his grandfather settled in Montana and took care of him and his brothers. Hunter's never met Scarlett before, and seems like her family and his have an uneasy past. But she says a house on his ranch land belongs to her folks, in lieu of a mine share, and she needs to live there. Divorced, broke, with a small son, red-haired Scarlett is out of options.

We learn that the cost of living in Nome is high with goods having to be flown or freighted in, and Scarlett has a job as a wilderness guide. She has hiked and dog-sledded, but Hunter underestimates her, presuming that she won't want to live off farmland. The real problem is that neither of them trusts the old reprobate responsible for their meeting, and later it turns out that they have been told a lot of stories which were more fiction than fact.

I was pleased that the action moves up to Nome, where Scarlett has a relative, and the wondering Hunter gets to see the town of cabins where rent is as high as New York. However as Scarlett knew that her son Joey was potentially in danger in Alaska, taking him on the trip did not make any sense to me. Unfortunately we are told about a dilemma of Scarlett's and an immediate clue to its resolution is presented. I wanted to skip to the end to see if I was right. I was, so no surprise. I liked the loyal family cats which live in Hunter's barn, accompany him to town and comfort kids.

This is an inspirational story which is big on personal responsibility and light on expecting miracles, as the characters grow and learn. The new generation has to get past problems caused by the old if any progress is to be made.

. ALASKAN SWEETHEARTS is a fun gentle romance.