What can you do when you must always be a lady, proper and demure when what you really want is to be as wild as the country around you. Amelia Howard is stuck in that dilemma as she is being forced to secure an engagement with one of the Culhane brothers. They moved to be closer to her brother, who is a Texas Ranger, and it's then that her father decides the best thing for them all is to become part of the Culhane Dynasty.

Unfortunately, it is the silver-eyed King Culhane that she has always worshiped, and not the mild-mannered younger brother, Alan. And King despises her for being what he thinks she is. A relationship in his past had tainted his belief in women like her to the point that he always believes the worst. He has no way of knowing that an accident had changed her father into a tyrant who could explode at any time and to keep him calm she plays the obedient daughter. This puts Amelia in a bind because though she contemplates a match with Alan, King tries to thwart it at every turn.

AMELIA is author Diana Palmer at her historical western best. Amelia is only trying to survive in a very tough situation, but it seems at every turn something or someone wants things to be different. Life for a woman in the early 1900s was not easy but she had a couple of situations that were causing her more trouble than they might have been worth. First her father, due to a head injury, would at times fly off the handle and be abusive so she developed the good girl persona to keep him calm. Then there is King (and don't get me started on the nickname because I had a dog that was nicer than this guy) who is a jerk. He is angry at the world and of course, takes it out on her. Yes, there is a reason for his anger against women, but that is still no excuse. Especially after he found out she is a spirited, lovely young woman who deserves better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Diana Palmer and her writing ability is superb. Her characters come alive, have big personalities and seem so real. Maybe that is why her readers can be angry at one chauvinistic jerk and still be happy that the woman in question finds love with him. Ms. Palmer often adds a subplot to some of her books and in this one, Amelia's brother, the Texas Ranger, had fallen in love with a notorious bandit's (who plays quite a part in King's anger) daughter, and how that plays out is very intriguing. I'll give you a hint, King shows a softer side, but for more on that, you'll have to read AMELIA.