The Accidental Guardian

GIVEAWAY

CONNEALY, MARY
THE ACCIDENTAL GUARDIAN

She's the only witness to a wagon train attack. Keeping her safe, though, means his world is about to be turned upside down.

When Trace Riley finds the smoldering ruins of a small wagon train, he recognizes an attack by the same group who left him as sole survivor years ago. Living off the wilderness since then, he's finally carved out a home and started a herd -- while serving as a self-appointed guardian of the trail. He'd hoped the days of driving off dangerous men were over, but the latest attack shows otherwise.

Deborah Harkness saved her younger sister and two toddlers during the attack, and now finds herself at the mercy of her rescuer. Trace becomes an accidental guardian when he offers the only shelter for miles around and agrees to take them in until they can safely continue their journey. His simple bachelor existence never anticipated kids and women in the picture and their arrival is unsettling -- yet enticing.

Trace and Deborah find themselves drawing ever closer as they work together to bring justice to the trail and help the group survive the winter -- but every day closer to spring means a day closer to leaving the mountains forever.

My Review:

Sometimes nothing else will do but a Mary Connealy Western. Her subtle humour crops up in the most unexpected places and I love that! It can be in the midst of dangerous action or a quiet reflective moment or even a tender romantic one and suddenly I find myself laughing out loud. Makes reading a Connealy a real adventure...as if there isn't enough of that in her stories already!

From the heart-in-throat opening scene to the domestic chaos of the last chapter, The Accidental Guardian kept me turning pages faster than  the quick draw of a wild west villain! And there are some bad 'uns in this story. And when they find out Deb is a witness to their dastardly deeds...shudder.

Luckily she has Trace on her side. The self-appointed guardian of the trail suddenly finds himself in charge of women and children -- both foreign entities to him! Love Trace -- a bear of a mountain man who is decent and kind and totally out of his element when it comes to interacting with his unexpected charges. The romance that develops is tender and sweet -- and totally awkward. I'm grinning just thinking about Trace and Deb.

The author has managed to leave some story threads dangling -- not enough to cause severe cliff-hanging reader anxiety but enough to make me anxious for the next book in the series which is coming out in October (and has the most awesome cover!)

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Accidental Guardian, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday July 15 2018. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!