Logan Grey is a Range Detective, tracking some the worst criminals in Texas. He lives alone and has no intention of ever changing that. Because he seems to have a talent for sensing impending trouble, newspapers dubbed him “the luckiest man in Texas” but he knows better. When he was just a boy he was the sole survivor of a flash flood that killed his whole family and left him to be raised in an orphanage. That set what he sees as the pattern of his life---when there's trouble he escapes harm, but those around him often do not. Logan doesn't consider that lucky at all and refuses to even consider having a family of his own that he could lose to misfortune.
One day while he's waiting for a meeting at the local bank his sense for trouble tells him to get out, but before he can act on it he's caught in the middle of a robbery attempt. He's surprised and intrigued when a female hostage helps him thwart the robbers. He wants to get to know her better but by the time the situation is sorted out, she's gone.
Caroline Kilpatrick was happy to help prevent a bank robbery, but she's furious with Logan for not recognizing her from their childhood. Logan was her first love and her first kiss. Far more importantly, he was the man she married and slept with, not realizing that he had been hired by her father to participate in a fake wedding ceremony in order to gain access to Caroline's inheritance. Logan left town after their one night together and as a result he never knew that their marriage was in fact valid, that she was pregnant with his child and that two months later her father died, leaving Caroline alone and destitute.
For many years Caroline had no idea where Logan was, so she struggled to provide for their son Will on her own. By the time she learned his whereabouts she had made a life for herself and no longer wanted to have anything to do with Logan, so she never contacted him about Will. Eight years later things have changed. Ben, the man who has been more of a father to her than her actual father ever was, has gone missing. He went to Black Shadow Canyon looking for information about a murder and hasn't been heard from since. The canyon is a notorious hideout for outlaws so Caroline knows that she needs help and Logan is just the man for the job. However, she has no reason to believe that he'll voluntarily help her search for Ben, so she devises a plan. She tells him about Will and says that the boy has been taken to Black Shadow Canyon.
Logan is stunned to find out that he's a father and has no idea what to do about Caroline, but he's determined not to let his son down. Caroline refuses to be left behind, so the two of them set out on the difficult journey to the canyon. They quickly find that the emotions between them, and their tentative efforts to reconnect, are almost as difficult to manage as bad weather and outlaws. The real question is what Logan will do when he realizes that Caroline lied to him. Will he forgive her and make a home with her and his son, or will he return to his solitary life?
It was difficult for me to like either Logan or Caroline. Logan's willingness to go along with the lie told by Caroline's father was bad. It was worse for him to sleep with her believing that their marriage was a sham and knowing that he would be leaving the next day. The only excuse he had was that he was young and, as an orphan with no prospects he was desperate for the money to make a start in life. Caroline didn't even have that excuse for the lie she told Logan. She knew where he was for eight years and never contacted him to tell him about Will until she needed to use the information to trick Logan into helping her. That would have been justifiable if Will had actually been the one in danger, but Ben was a grown man who made his own choice to go on a dangerous trip. I understand that Caroline loved Ben and thought of him as family, but I don't think that made it acceptable for her to manipulate Logan into helping him, especially since she was well aware that Logan didn't have warm feelings for Ben. Logan definitely had his faults, but I found Caroline much more frustrating and annoying.
In addition to my problems with both the main characters I also felt that the circumstances that resulted in them being married were sort of ridiculous and some of the dialog rang false. In the end I wasn't able to get past those things, which made it impossible for me to enjoy what might otherwise have been an interesting plot.
Grade: C-
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