Once again a delightful entry into a new series by a favorite of mine. Jodi Thomas has the ability to reel me in every time with her enterprising, intelligent and caring cast of characters and RANSOM CANYON has some of the best yet. We are treated to some very interesting, albeit a little quirky, characters that have you laughing out loud at their shenanigans. RANSOM CANYON is supposed to introduce you to another town created by Jodi Thomas and have you just dying to return. I, for one, am looking forward to a long lovely relationship with this town.
Basically the town of Ransom Canyon was built by the Kirkland family whose ancestor settled what was once just a vast wasteland. But the first Kirkland had a vision and a dream and knew his future was as a landowner and rancher. RANSOM CANYON is Staten Kirkland's story. His father is a senator and has no use for the family ranch so it falls onto Staten to keep the Kirkland legacy going and succeeding. Staten's life has suffered great loss -- first with the passing of his beloved wife from illness and then the senseless accident that took the life of their son Randall. He just couldn't seem to get his life back on track. In fact, if it wasn't the responsibility of the family business, Staten would be lost. He was convinced his heart would never recuperate from the deaths of his family.
Staten, his wife Amalah, and her good friend Quinn had grown up together in this developing town. Quinn and Amalah were best friends and spent a lot of time together. The loss of Amalah and Randall hit Quinn as hard as it had Staten. Quinn's life had not been an easy one. Where great things were expected of her and her talent, much of her adult life had been about hiding from a great betrayal.
I guess it was only natural that these two would seek each other out for comfort. It was pure providence that Staten and Quinn expand their friendship into something more. But nothing of value comes easy, and in RANSOM CANYON the obstacles can be life changing as well as dangerous. Who said small town living is easy? Certainly not Jodi Thomas.
I had two books sitting on my desk. RANSOM CANYON and WINTER'S CAMP -- both by Jodi Thomas. So I just picked one and started reading. RANSOM CANYON is the first book of this new series. However, WINTER'S CAMP is the prequel. Candidly, it did not matter one bit that I read them seemingly out of order, but boy did I have a smile on my face when I read the first page of WINTER'S CAMP. No matter what order you read them, Jodi Thomas' new series in RANSOM CANYON is a great read.
From New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas
comes
the first book in a compelling, emotionally resonant
series
set in a remote west Texas townβwhere family can be made
by
blood or by choice
Rancher Staten
Kirkland,
the last descendant of Ransom Canyon's founding father,
is
rugged and practical to the last. No one knows that when
his
troubling memories threaten to overwhelm him, he runs to
lovely, reclusive Quinn O'Gradyβ¦or that she has her own
secret that no one living knows.
Young Lucas
Reyes has his eye on the prizeβcollege, and the chance to
become something more than a ranch hand's son. But one
night, one wrong decision, will set his life on a course
even he hadn't imagined.
Yancy Grey is
running
hard from his troubled past. He doesn't plan to stick
around
Ransom Canyon, just long enough to learn the town's
weaknesses and how to use them for personal gain. Only
Yancy, a common criminal since he was old enough to reach
a
car's pedals, isn't prepared for what he
encounters.
In this dramatic new series,
the
lives, loves and ambitions of four families will
converge,
set against a landscape that can be as unforgiving as it
is
beautiful, where passion, property and pride are worth
fightingβand even dyingβfor.
EXCERPT
Twenty miles away Quinn OβGrady curled into her blanket
on her front porch and watched the night sky, knowing
that Staten was still driving home. He always came to her
like a raging storm and left as calm as dawn.
Only tonight, sheβd surprised him with her request.
Tonight when heβd walked away at midnight, it felt
different. Somehow after five years, their relationship
felt newborn.
She grinned, loving that she had made the first move. She
had demanded a kiss, and he hadnβt hesitated. She knew he
came to her house out of need and loneliness, but for her
it had always been more. In her quiet way, she could not
remember a time she hadnβt loved him.
Yet from grade school on, Staten Kirkland had belonged to
her best friend, and Quinn had promised herself sheβd
never try to step between them. Even now, seven years
after Amalahβs death, a part of Staten still belonged to
his wife. Maybe not his heart, Quinn decided, but more
his willingness to be open to caring. He was a man
determined never to allow anyone close again. He didnβt
want love in his life; he only wanted to survive having
loved and lost Amalah.
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