Out of Control

A stubborn young woman is so obsessed with her hobby that she can't see the threat that stalks her every move.

The controlling ranch owner tries to rescue her and manipulate everything and everyone to his way of thinking.

Only God could bring together such difficult people in a dangerous land.

Mary Connealy has revealed
a wonderful new romance of the old west in Out of Control as the first book of THE KINCAID BRIDES SERIES. 

With humor woven through poignant circumstances, she creates life-sized characters complete with faith and fatal flaws. And these two have both in buckets.

Rafe Kincaid has run his father's ranch all his life. Now the ranch is his, but only because his two brothers have bailed on it. His family needs to be together again, but running the place comes so naturally. He can't have it both ways and has to make decisions between how he has grown accustomed to living and how much he cares about his family presence.

Julia Gilliland has spent most of her life alone, moving from place to place at the insistence of her father. Her new step-mother and baby sister have changed her life, giving her purpose and companionship. But their new shack is horribly inadequate for raising a child and a second is due at any time. Julia is a paradox. She's faced with serious situations and deals well with crises, yet when her own life lies in danger, she totally forgets about it in order to look at a rock. I just don't get that and it almost rings out of character for such a capable woman. It just proves her obsession. Either that, or maybe she is bipolar?

The secondary characters are just as interesting as the primaries. Rafe's brother, Ethan, comes home at the worst possible moment - or maybe it's the best since he gets to spend time tending to a little girl who wraps his spine around her little finger, and her mother who desperately needs his care and protection. Could be interesting.

And the mother, Julia's step-mother, is a consistent character as well. She has strength of character in that she keeps silent about her opinions. She exudes patience and long-suffering while enduring the orders of her over-protective, bossy step-daughter. She provides calm in the story, is level-headed. While uneducated, and ill-prepared for the harsh life her husband had planned for her to endure alone, she focuses on making the best of each situation, even showing backbone from time to time.

The antics of the characters and their banter had me belly-laughing, but the suspense kept me up waaaaay too late! This is a fun read and I can't wait for book #2 due out in February of 2012.

What book or TV show or movie recently made you belly laugh?