Train from Marietta

December 12, 2005
In Garlock's latest sweet, satisfying Depression-era romance, rugged westerner Tate Castle meets fragilely beautiful Katherine Tyler, a New Orleans native, in a west Texas romp. Kate, who has earned a nursing degree in New York, is California-bound from the Big Easy, on her way to work for an uncle at a San Francisco hospital. Her father's business partner has other plans for her, in order to shake down her rich father. Kate is kidnapped as she steps off the westbound train in Texas for a breather and is held by two desperate outlaws and the mastermind's nephew. Tate, a horse rancher with a handicapped daughter, is hired by Kate's father to find her; her rescuer arrives at a major captivity crisis point. First believing she's too much of a city girl for him, Tate has to change his tune when Kate proves much tougher than she looks during their escape through the wilderness to the nearest town. Among other complications, his strong-willed daughter, who gets tangled up in their flight, doesn't seem likely to have the same change of heart, but all's well that ends well, even in dustiest Texas.

February 1, 2006
It's 1933, but the Wild West is as untamed as ever, as nurse Katherine Tyler learns when she's abducted and taken to a hideout in southern Texas. Katherine's wealthy father, who has been told not to contact the authorities, calls on a friend in the Texas Rangers, who in turn asks rancher Tate Castle to locate Katherine. Tate owes his friend a favor, but the last thing he wants is to do something that might leave his crippled daughter fatherless. Eventually, honor wins out over good sense, and Tate rescues the spunky Katherine; but his injuries are so bad that Katherine has to finish the rescue herself. The good guys have their issues, and the villains are three-dimensional, running the gambit from sociopath to reluctant accomplice in Garlock's intriguing tale. She has fashioned a nice piece of Americana and a fine western romance set in a time period rarely explored in this subgenre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)