title: A Creed in Stone Creek
author: Linda Lael Miller
genre: contemporary romance/western
pages: 384
published: February 22, 2011
source: ARC from BookTrib
first line: Some instinct—or maybe just a stir of a breeze—awakened Steven Creed; he sat up in bed, took a fraction of a moment to orient himself to unfamiliar surroundings.
rated: 4 out of 5
When single attorney Steven Creed becomes the guardian of an orphaned five-year-old boy, he trades his big-city law firm for a ranch near his McKettrick kin in the close-knit community of Stone Creek, Arizona. Taking care of little Matt and fixing up his run-down ranch house with its old barn loosens something tightly wound inside him. But when Steven takes on the pro bono defense of a local teen, he meets his match in the opposing counsel—beautiful, by-the-book county prosecutor Melissa O’Ballivan. It’ll take one grieving little boy, a sweet adopted dog and a woman who never expected to win any man’s heart to make this Creed in Stone Creek know he’s truly found home.
A Creed in Stone Creek is the first book in the contemporary 'Creed Cowboys' trilogy.
Steven Creed becomes the guardian of five year old Matt, the orphaned son of his best friend. Steven moves out to Stone Creek to raise Matt. There he meets the beautiful county prosecutor Melissa O’Ballivan. Being such a small town Melissa notices Steven right away and finds out his story.
The story starts off slowly, with the characters in this small town being introduced.
Steven is the perfect hero. He's sexy, smart, sweet and his raising his best friends child as his own.
I liked Melissa also. She's independent with a mind of her own. No whiny damsel in distress here.
Their romance slowly blossoms and when they do get together it's sweet. The love scenes are well written. They were sexy without being vulgar.
"Let's get you out of that dress," he said next.
And he simply whisked the whole thing right off over her head, without any sort of wasted motion.
Melissa had been undressed by a few men before, of course, but never in such a deft and matter-of-fact way. The yearning, strong before, pressed on her like a weight now, making it hard for her to breathe.
"That was -direct," she gasped, as a flush moved from her hairline to her toes. Goose bumps rose in its wake.
"I'm nothing if not direct," Steven said.
p.203
With a great plot, plenty of romance and interesting characters, A Creed in Stone Creek is a keeper. I will be reading the next two installments in this series.
A Creed in Stone Creek is the perfect book to cuddle up with during a few lazy afternoons, which is just how I read it.
And I'd also like to mention, the cover on this one is droolworthy. Hellooooo cowboy!
Linda Lael Miller's cowboys have their own site:
Take A Cowboy Home.
It’s a great new site that Harlequin put together for Linda that features the book trailer, a behind-the-scenes video of the cover photo shoot, webisodes and a sexy photo gallery.
About the author:
The “First Lady of the West” returns with her highly anticipated new series set in Arizona ’s rugged ranch lands. Linda Lael Miller, bestselling author of more than 100 sought-after Western novels, brings readers A CREED IN STONE CREEK (HQN Books; March 2011; $7.99), the first in the contemporary “Creed Cowboys” trilogy.
Miller knows her characters so well because this self-confessed barn goddess who raises horses on her ranch in Spokane, Washington, grew up the daughter of a town marshal. Like some of her characters, she had a wanderlust that she needed to indulge before she could return home. She sold her first novel, FLETCHER’S WOMAN in 1983. Since then, Linda has successfully published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, and thrillers before coming home, in a literal sense, and concentrating on contemporary and historical novels with a Western flavor. The Romance Writers of America awarded her their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Special thanks to Tricia over @ BookTrib.
