Only With You

Rating:
Summary: A one sitting read
Review: Five years is a long time for a child. For Ian Thorn, it was a half decade in which he was raised by the Comanche as if he was one of the tribe. By 1861 when he finally returns to his family's Mississippi plantation, he seems more like a heathen than a southerner;at least in the mind of his family, former friends, and neighbors). Jennifer Delaney, who is the same age as Ian, is the only person who seems to understand the lad.

By 1872, Jenny is a teacher in the New Mexico territory. She is also trying to manage her uncle's ranch. She hires Thorn, who is a gifted horse handler, to run the place. Thorn also has a four year old son, who he believes needs a mother to help raise him. Thorn suggests a marriage of convenience between him and Jenny. She helps raise his son and he helps raise horses. Though this was an ideal business deal, neither one factored love into the equation.

ONLY WITH YOU is an interesting western romance due to the ability of award winning author Libby Sydes to paint an intriguing novel about the impact of childhood on the adult. Thorn is a very deep individual, who will steal readers' hearts as he struggles between the white world of his birth and adulthood, and the Indian environment that he lived in during his formative years. Jenny is a heroic female lead while the secondary players add a genuine feel to the story line. Fans of American romance will devour this sweet but deep novel.

Harriet Klausner