Past Promises

A wonderful journey!

I absolutely loved this book! From the very first page I was transported to the wide open mesa of southwestern Colorado and delighted by the intelligence, guts and gumption of our spirited and somewhat snobby heroine, Jessica Stanbridge. Jess has spent her whole life at her father's side studying his notes, charts and journals and cataloging his vast collection of specimens in the basement of Harvard Museum. Now she's bound and determined to honor her father while making a name for herself in a scientific field that is dominated by men. When tall, dark and handsome cattle rancher Rory Burnett agrees to provide Jess, and her elderly companion Myra, with a guide and some much needed muscle he assigns young cowhand Whitey to watch over the women hoping to keep them out of trouble and off the Ute Indian reservation. I loved all of the characters including Myra, who serves as a mother figure to Jess and the crusty bachelor cowpokes who make up Rory's unconventional family but, of course, my favorites are hero and heroine Rory and Jess. From the very beginning it was love at first sight but their hearts were hidden behind his snark and her sass. He's a man of his word and she refuses to take orders which leads to sassy and argumentative verbal jousting that simmers with sexual tension and a passion that will consume them both in its fury. The author drew me into the story with her colorful descriptions of local flora and fauna that made it easy to visualize the splendor of the mesa and the high plateau of sandstone and clay that hold the precious artifacts Jess is searching for. Her descriptions of the tools, maps and techniques of early paleontology were absolutely fascinating to me. This book is a wonderful journey filled with discovery, passion and danger that threatens everything these characters hold dear. It kept me absolutely mesmerized from beginning to end. I read a complimentary copy of this book provided by NetGalley and all opinions expressed in my voluntary review are completely my own.