Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Texas Renegade Returns - Charlene Sands (HD #2288 - Mar 2014)

Series: Texas Cattleman's Club: The Missing Mogul (Book 9)

Having recovered from amnesia, Alex del Toro has a new mission -- expose his kidnapper, and regain his fiancée's love. Though he moved to Royal, Texas, under false pretenses, there's nothing false about his feelings for the ravishing Cara Windsor -- who also happens to be his business rival's daughter.

Cara's instincts tell her to stay away from a man who lied to her, who tried to steal her family's company. Except she has a secret, too -- she's pregnant with his child.

Very good conclusion to the series.  Now that Alex has his memory back, he wants to know who was behind his kidnapping.  He also wants a chance to show Cara how much he really loves her.  Cara was devastated by his disappearance and then the revelation about who he really is.  She's really not sure if she can ever forgive him for what he did.

One of the things I liked best about Alex is that he took full responsibility for his actions.  Now that his memory has returned we are finding out more about what happened.  Alex had undergone the initial deception willingly, first as a way to gain his father's approval, but also to get out on his own and away from his father's overprotectiveness.  Once he had met and fallen in love with Cara he knew he had to tell her the truth, but he was kidnapped before he could.  He understands her anger but he is determined to win her back.  I loved seeing him use his memories of their time together to find ways to woo her again.  He also tried to respect her wishes when they were together and not push too hard.  Alex is not normally a patient man but he tried his best with Cara.  His happiness when he found out about the baby was just what Cara needed.  I loved seeing the things he did for her to show his love.

Cara is still having a hard time dealing with what happened with Alex.  Her feelings of betrayal when she found out who he was ran very deep.  Now that she's pregnant she doesn't know what to do.  She finally agrees to see him and is surprised when he takes her to see where he had planned to build their home.  She listens when he tells her about why he had come to Royal, what he had planned to do and what happened to him.  She was horrified by what he had gone through, but she still isn't ready to trust him again.  As she spends more time with him, through her friendship with his sister, her attitude starts to soften.  Having him be there to support her during a crisis makes her realize that her love for him is still there.  Just as she is ready to open herself up to him again, something happens to test that trust.  She has to decide what she is going to do.

Both Alex and Cara had fathers who were less than acceptable in their actions.  However, both had spent most of their lives trying to earn their fathers' approval.  Alex's arrival in Royal had been part of that attempt, but the time away from his father's control enabled him to mature and gain the confidence to stand up to him.  I loved what Alex did at the end to make his point to his father and show Cara that she was the most important thing in his life.  Cara had also spent her life trying to live up to her father's expectations.  She went against him when she fell in love with Alex, but wondered if he had been right when she found out the truth about Alex.  I loved seeing her confidence in her own abilities at the end.

I enjoyed the resolution of the mystery of the kidnapping.  The culprit wasn't a huge surprise, as I had my suspicions by the end of the previous book.  I did like finding out the details and the description of his arrest was satisfying.

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