JACKSON

A Texas Ranger falls in love while on an undercover assignment.

Restoration Ranch has been in Aja Everett’s family for generations. Now, at 39, she's left her career as a prominent New York City lawyer to move to the Texas ranch full time, hoping to convert it to a retreat center. A series of escalating incidents including arson in the barn make it clear that someone is targeting Aja. The local sheriff won’t help because he disapproves of her participation in a program that creates jobs for ex-convicts. Her uncle, a powerful judge, asks the Texas Rangers to investigate. Jackson Dean and his team go undercover as ranch hands to investigate the crimes. Jackson has kept himself emotionally distant from women after his painful divorce, but he is drawn to Aja’s strong will and fierce independence. Aja is a calm, centered character. She knows her mind and agrees to a brief affair with Jackson even though she’s interested in more. LaQuette has an ear for dialogue, with lively banter between Aja and her friends and caring dialogue with her relatives; at other times, the narrative is weighed down by long paragraphs of interior monologuing. The mystery plot is rather quickly resolved and feels predictable. Jackson’s internal struggle to let himself love again is the major emotional thread in the novel.

This warm, placid romance will appeal to people who like to read about a man’s soul-searching.