CALICO CANYON by Mary Connealy is the second book in the Lassoed in Texas series. In it, we follow Grace Calhoun, a runaway adopted orphan, who is barely squeaking out a living as a schoolteacher in Mosqueros, Texas. She sends all her money home to her sister, Hannah, who is diligently caring for street kids in Chicago with the hopes of one day being reunited. With her adoptive father hot on her trail with a vendetta to settle, Grace is constantly looking over her shoulder praying she will be able to send Hannah the help she needs. Grace’s determination to make a go of it as a teacher is challenged by the five Reeves boys that she has affectionately named "The Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” When she has it out with Daniel Reeves, the boy’s father, she is fired by the school board and left to wonder how she will ever be able to help Hannah.
Grace’s fear for Hannah is short-lived when Parrish, her adoptive father, catches up with her in Masqueros and plans to mete out his vengeance. In a turn of events, Grace ends up in the back of Daniel Reeves wagon and is carried away to his ranch. Grace, Daniel, and the five boys are thrown together under the oddest of circumstances and have an entire winter to work out their differences. All the while, Parrish is in town plotting how he will one day make Grace pay for her disobedience.
I really enjoyed CALICO CANYON. Much of the premise of Grace and Daniel being thrown together is reminiscent of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, without the brothers. Though there are plots that take dramatic turns, I never found myself gasping in fear. The trials in the book are taken care of so quickly, you never really feel as if anyone is in real danger. I can only assume, since the story ended with Hannah determined to find Grace, that there will be a book three.♥
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