AUTHOR: JoAnn Durgin
DATE: 2018
STARS: *****
At 17, Jensen Callahan fled her small hometown of Justis, Texas, the night her daddy was murdered. From the wrong side of the tracks, and with lingering suspicions but no answers, Jensen found a safe haven with a kindly Christian widow in Houston. Thirteen years later, Jensen finally feels settled and content as a faithful TeamWork Missions volunteer and the office manager for Doyle-Clarke Catering. When Sloan McClain walks into the office to hire the caterers for the West Texas Independent Cattlemen’s Association annual dinner, her carefully guarded life is thrown into turmoil. One meeting is all it takes for Jensen to know the tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome cattle rancher--her first love and the boy she left behind in Justis--still holds her heart.
As his late father’s only child and heir, Sloan McClain now operates the family's thriving ranch and controls their vast oil interests and mineral rights. But for all his many blessings, Sloan's days are empty and incomplete without a wife to share his life and raise a family. He's never forgotten Jensen Callahan, the long-legged, golden-eyed blonde beauty he'd dated against his father's wishes. He'd loved her, and no woman since has compared. After Jensen disappeared, he'd vowed to find her and bring her home one day, but each time he’d gotten close, she'd managed to slip away again. Sloan refused to accept the heartbreaking possibility that she never wanted to be found, never wished to return.
All Sloan wants is a second chance with his first love, but he understands Jensen desperately needs closure about what happened to her father that fateful night in Justis. Together they begin to work toward finding answers as they renew their tentative and fragile relationship. But once they discover the truth, will it set them free or tear them apart forever?
Roundabout is the ninth book in JoAnn Durgin’s Lewis Legacy series, so while I enjoyed getting to know Jensen and Sloan, it was also a treat to revisit some of the “older” TeamWork members. Every one of the Lewis Legacy books promises revisits with old friends and meeting fascinating new ones. And Roundabout delivers.
Beautiful Jensen’s insecurities made her relatable, and as usual, Ms.Durgin created a complex, intriguing character. Speaking of characters, Jensen’s quirky and unreliable car is almost a character to itself. Sadie’s antics made me chuckle more than once.
Sloan is a swoon-worthy hero, unrelenting in his gentle pursuit of the girl he’s loved for years. There really is something about a cowboy—especially one who is grounded in his faith. Faith played a vital part in Sloan and Jensen’s renewed relationship, but it also created some heart-warming miracles for others in this story.
Roundabout is a well-rounded story, so much more than a romance, and it earns five stars. Recommended!