At Twilight by Beth Henderson

AT TWILIGHT

Author: Beth Henderson ISBN: 0843953306 6/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: LEISURE
Time Period: Old West, 1868 Texas

At Twilight by Beth Henderson LOVE ON THE RUN

On the course of his trek across the green Texas countryside in the spring of 1868, J.W. Walford only stopped at the small, hidden ranch intending to purchase a horse with which to hasten his flight from the law. But when he stumbled across an unconscious woman near the ranch's well, he had no choice but to help the damsel in distress. He never suspected that behind her raven-haired beauty lay the characteristics of a frontier hellion.

When Louisa Burgess awoke to find a handsome stranger had come to her rescue, she thought it was just another of the many daydreams she'd indulged in since the death of her lying, cheating husband. But in the tattered remains of his Union Army uniform, this dark and brooding knight in shining armor was a waking fantasy. J.W. would be the answer to all her problems--her ticket away from the hardships of the debt left by her husband; away from the greedy eyes of banker Titus Gillette.

With Louisa's infant in tow, the pair set off toward an unknown future. Their pasts were full of heartache, and the road ahead promised further trials. But neither was intimidated, for under the grand expanse of the velvety Texas sky, J.W. and Louisa found solace in each other's arms, every evening...AT TWILIGHT.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I have been itching to get my hands on a good western! It's been such a long time since I read one that it made reading Beth Henderson's newest release, AT TWILIGHT, all the sweeter.

Lou is a widow being pursued by an unscrupulous banker for her land, but mostly for herself. She's been drugged and kept under control by the banker's threat to harm her baby and her husband's gambling debt. One day, she awakens from her opium haze to find her nurse (jailer) passed out from drink, and attempts her one chance to escape. Unfortunately for Lou, the after effects of the drug have her too weak to do anything but pass out in the yard.

Enter J.W., an ex-Union officer who is on the run from a posse ready to hang him. Like so many during that time, J.W. has some revenge to take care of for some of the atrocities committed on his family during the war. Gunning down the men that hurt his family one by one seems to be the only thing to live for. Naturally, when he finds Lou unconscious at the well in her yard, things change and the two develop a friendship and a way to help each other escape their demons.

This is a rough, gritty book that really transports the reader back to the turmoil of life after the Civil War. You can imagine the chaos of life during that time and all the misplaced people in between their old life and the new one thrust upon them. The descriptions are so vivid that you can feel the heat on your skin from the hot Texas sun, and smell the dusty air seemingly wafting up from the pages.

My only complaint here is the lack of, or haphazardly contrived, love story. It's more of an after-thought addition to an already intriguing story. (Yes, I realize this is supposed to be a romance book, but the one presented here simply isn't romantic in the least sense.) Reading the scenes involving J.W. and Lou's attraction to one another seems out of place and a bit uncomfortable. It's almost like they are only attracted to one another because they have to be. There is no real chemistry or heat generated by the two of them, and in my opinion they really didn't even need to get together at all. The story would be just as good without the fragile romance thrown in.

Shannon Johnson

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