Linda Lael Miller's The Man from Stone Creek is a western based romance. At first it seems as if it is a "typical" western romance - the strange guy rides into town to help out with the bad guys, meets a gal and gets the bad guys and the gal. Well - some of that does happen, but what Miller does so well is give her characters life.
Sam O' Ballivan seems a bit too brawny to be the new schoolmaster. But in him, Miller creates a wonderful character that you would like to meet. He has a bad habit of picking up and caring for strays - dogs, horses, and people. And he is a Ranger who is looking for bad guys - but he needs to see the lay of the land to know who and where the bad guys are. Meanwhile he is teaching, and getting a little too interested in Maddie the local postmistress and store clerk. Maddie has had her share of ups and downs in life with her younger brother and she is just trying to keep a roof over their head.
As these two interact and get to know each other and their pasts, the reader comes to appreciate both characters. Miller has a great way of giving characters great backgrounds and she succeeds again in this book.
Although it seemed that the whole world was coming apart in the book's climax - it's just one thing after another - you forgive Miller because you want these two to be together - what ever it takes. A fun read.
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