Seven years later, Rab Trudeau found himself leaving his home town in Louisiana, headed for California after killing his cousin in a duel. His cousin had been the challenger, although several people tried to talk him out of it. Using his wits, Rab became the major owner of several enterprises, all combined under the name of Sunset Enterprises. His partner David was his best friend and Rab envied him for his loving and growing family. Rab has been dating a society woman named Margaret, finding her to be a ready companion for their various society events. Although he never thought much about marrying, it seemed that his time spent with Margaret led everyone to assume they were getting married…even Margaret. So when she asked a friend to officiate at their – nonexistent - wedding in front of Rab, Rab never said a word. He figured the honorable thing was to marry her, even though he had never asked her. But then Rab had never been in love.

Gus has been very successful with his store. But when he realized the Comstock Lode could be richer than the California gold strike, he sold his store at a great profit and moved his family, including Susanna, to Virginia City, Nevada, where his business continued to prosper. Now at twenty-four, Susanna Ward was known as Susanna Kirkland. A reporter, she was working for the Virginia City Pioneer. Although the Kirklands had treated her well, even arranging for two years of college, it was made clear to her  that she was not really a member of the family. Mrs. Kirkland had been kind to her, but never loving. Alice, the Kirklands’ daughter was now married and working at the store. But their son Jesse, who was very close to Susanna, managed to get into one scrape after another and his father constantly paid to get him out of trouble.

In Virginia City, three dishonest owners of a competing mine, found that a vein of silver in their mine led to the mine next to their claim. It led to the mine owned by Sunset Enterprises. To manipulate the prices of the competitor’s stock, they bribed the owner of the local paper to malign Rab’s mine in his newspaper. When Rab became aware of it, he traveled there, acting as a detective. After arriving in Virginia City and seeing a woman in danger from a runaway team, Rab saved the woman from being trampled. Susanna had been attracted to this newcomer and watching him, she had not noticed the danger…until he saved her life.

As she tries to interview him for the paper and find out why he is in town, she finds herself in the middle of a mutual attraction. However, Mr. Kirkland, tired of his son constantly getting into trouble, figures that Susanna owes the family for taking her in. So he orders her to marry Jesse. Feeling obligated, Susanna agrees, although it breaks her heart because the more she sees Rab, the more she falls in love with him. With Rab already engaged, it seems that they both have choices to make. Will they honor their previous engagements, or will they choose love?

An exciting read, SUSANNA’S CHOICE, the debut book by talented author Sara Luck, is a passionate, adventure-filled historical romance that I found hard to put down. I enjoyed this book thoroughly! The three villains in this story are not willing to take no for an answer, even if they have to kill Rab to carry out their nefarious scheme. Neither Rab nor Susanna have ever been in love before and depend on the advice of others to help them figure out if these strange feelings they are suddenly feeling for each other could be love. They know one thing for sure; they do not have these feelings for the people they are supposed to be marrying. The town depends on the income from the mines, so not everyone is happy that Rab is nosing around. Using vivid descriptions, colorful characters, clever dialogue, sensual moments, silver mining, life or death situations and true love, Ms. Luck brings this delightful story to life, transporting readers to another time and giving them a taste of early Americana. I look forward to reading Ms. Luck’s next novel, CLAIMING THE HEART, due out in April. For now, do not miss SUSANNA’S CHOICE!

 

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