The Book Wagon Review: Rowena's Hellion

Rowena’s Hellion by Velda Brotherton, Copyright 2014, Published by The Wild Rose Press

ROWENA DUNCAN LOVES LORD Blair Prescot, the man who saved her and her sister from a harrowing life at St Ann’s, a bleak English nunnery. Haunted by the demons of a war long past, though, Blair seems to hardly notice her. Worse, only whiskey relieves the pain from the ghostly memories of friends and love horribly lost to him. But alcohol creates its own fiend, driving him to fits of rage and wild, drunken rides in the dead of night. Somehow Rowena must find a way to break through the walls he has surrounded himself with to reveal the love that’s right in front of him while also navigating a new life in the rough and tumble post-Civil War American West.

In Rowena’s Hellion, Velda Brotherton paints vivid portraits of a strong, determined woman and the tortured war hero she loves. Afraid his alcoholism and PTSD would only cause her hurt and bodily injury, Blair pushes away the love he realizes he also has for her. And just as Rowena seems to be breaking down the walls he has erected, Brotherton stirs in so many outside troubles to create almost unbearable tension on the blossoming relationship, threatening to drive them far apart.

The author has created a wonderful story loaded with conflict and a taut plot with more twists than a narrow mountain switchback trail. One warning— the narrative draws readers into Rowena and Blair’s very personal lives with a few tastefully done scenes that are not meant for minors. Overall, this novel was well crafted and worth the read.

Rating: 4 Nuggets (out of 5)