Title: Loving Luke
Author: Jenny Anderson
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 1-60154-627-0
Genre: Contemporary Suspense
Length: novel
Rating: 3 Diamonds
Heat Level: spicy
Reviewer: Dana Dean
Date: January 2009
Horse trainer Hannah Bluefield needs help. Money is tight and men willing to work on a ranch in the middle of nowhere are few and far between. So when Luke Stone comes up for parole, she jumps at the opportunity to help the man she has loved forever – before he married someone else, before his wife was killed, before Luke went to prison for murder. Hannah decides offering him a job will provide an opportunity to show Luke he isn’t alone while giving her access to his skills as a trainer. If he happens to notice her while he’s there, then perfect. She doesn’t realize that after ten years in the state’s harshest prison, the outgoing, charismatic man she remembers just may not exist anymore.
Jenny Anderson’s Loving Luke is a modern day western filled with bad guys, passion, and love. Jenny writes men that are certainly lovable. Luke, his bodyguard Zeph, and the local sheriff Monty made me want to hang out with them all. Ms. Anderson’s supporting characters such as Allie, Teresa, and Derek provide believable drama to the storyline. Were I to base this review on the hero and townspeople, I would have rated the novel much higher. Unfortunately, the heroine comes off as immature and almost stalker-like in her interactions with Luke. While Hannah’s use of horse training skills to gentle the rough and wounded hero had great potential, they missed the mark. In addition, inconsistencies in time, events, and place made it impossible to suspend disbelief for very long. Although I had great hopes for this novel, and it certainly has redeeming moments, in general the errors overshadowed the romance for this linear minded reader. However, if you want a simple tale of a good girl trying to rescue an old friend while saving her family farm then Loving Luke would provide a nice escape.
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