Author: Linda Lael Miller
ISBN: 978-192179525-1
RRP: $29.99
The Creed Legacy is the last book in the series starring the Creed Cowboys; again I have come in at the final chapter and it really didn’t matter. This book works just as well as a stand alone volume.
Very much a western setting; all cowboys, horses, ranches, sun and dust. Miller has painted Lonesome Bend in a way that makes me feel the connection these characters have to their land. The setting is quite an important element of the story because this is a small town where everyone knows everyone else, and the families have been settled for generations.
The characters are where the magic really begins, and the chemistry!
As I was reading I kept coming back to something my mum always told me when I was at school. Whenever I came home and said some boy had been being mean to me my mum would tell me that teasing was the first sign of affection. That never really panned out for me but it’s something I have always remembered.
Brody Creed, prodigal son roaming the countryside has returned to the Creed ranch in Lonesome Bend. Ready to settle down and start a family he comes to mend fences with his family, both emotionally and physically on the ranch. He is happy to be home but that doesn’t change the fact that he carries some very damaging baggage and suffers pangs of loneliness, always still feeling a little on the outside.
Carolyn Simmons, resident of Lonesome Bend who has travelled a lot but is finally beginning to lay roots and ready to find someone to settle down with. Carolyn has quite a bit of damaging baggage of her own, baggage that makes it very hard to trust in someone. Luckily she has forged some very close friendships in Lonesome Bend. Still, she struggles with the loneliness of being on her own; of having no-one to go home to, no-one to picture a future with.
It doesn’t take long to realise that the electricity sparking between Brody and Carolyn has it’s beginnings long before page one of The Creed Legacy. It’s an electricity akin to a lightning strike, very unpredictable. The temperature between the two goes from arctic frost to knee melting heat in the space of two seconds. This makes for much amusement for the onlookers (and the reader).
In a lot of ways this is quite predictable and you can see from the beginning what the happy ending is going to be, it’s just down to filling in the gaps and discovering just how this gorgeous hunk of cowboy is going to convince her to open up and allow herself to feel what it is she feels. The journey is well worth the read, even knowing how it’s going to turn out.
These pages are imbued with such passion; for family, the land, the ranch and each other. Those who have found their niche and the love of their lives just want everyone to find what they have and be that happy. It makes for a very heartwarming read to see the togetherness, the way everyone looks out for each other – though not so much the small town gossip and everyone being inside everyone’s business.
The other side of that coin is the heartrending empathy you can’t help but feel for the agony apparent in some situations; there’s something so heartbreaking about a hunky grown man trying not to cry.
The Creed Legacy took me from quiet giggles to laugh out loud moments and then all the way to the brink of tears, which once upon a time was quite rare but is becoming much more common. It is certainly one I’m glad I read, and would watch the movie – who could resist the seriously hunky cowboys.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!