Hill Gamble is a model lawman: cool and collected, with a confident swagger to boot. Too bad all that Texas charm hasn't gotten him anywhere in his personal life, especially since the only girl he ever loved has always been off-limits. But then Hill is assigned to investigate her father's mysterious death, and he's forced back to the town--and the woman--he left behind.
When Hill left Loveless, he broke Kody Lawton's already battered heart. And now that he's working on her father's case, avoiding him is impossible. She can handle Hill and her unwanted feelings--until he puts his life on the line to protect her. Suddenly, Kody realizes that Hill could be taken away from her...for good.

UNFORGIVEN

by Jay Crownover

Before I started UNFORGIVEN I was ready for a good ole cowboy romance. I’m still trying to figure out what it is about them. The hot, over-protective men with their drawl definitely don’t hurt. Add a sassy heroine and a suspenseful story and I’m all in.

I remember the end of Case and Aspen’s story well, when Hill showed up and the hot mess that is Kody Lawton slapped him for telling the Lawton’s that her dad had been killed. That was pretty drastic, right? I mean, he didn’t kill the old man? While we got a little background information about their complicated relationship we get to dive deeper into their history this time.

I’d started to associate Hill with everything bad that had ever happened in my life, so naturally, where my unchecked anger was concerned, Hill always seemed to end up being the main target.

I’m gonna be honest, half of the book I thought that Kody was a real piece of work but Jay Crownover made me still like her a little. Kody and Hill shared their love for Aaron, Hill’s brother. When he committed suicide both of them were left with their own share of guilt. But Kody also blamed Hill and the man let her rain her fury down on him without so much as an eye twitch. Because, you see, Hill has been in love with Kody since their teenage years.

It literally took nothing for Kody to bring me to my knees.

I loved Hill because he had so much goodness and a sweet gentleness about him but I really wish he would have stood up to Kody once in a while. He just let her verbally beat on him and I wasn’t down with that. When Kody and Hill got closer and finally talked about their past I started to love Kody too. She showed me why she was a Lawton – she took care of those she loved and didn’t hold back her feelings.

Did I love UNFORGIVEN? Eh, probably not as much as I’d wanted and expected to but I did love Kody and Hill’s relationship after they got past their issues. The second half of the story was mostly uneventful and dragged a little until I got to the dramatic epilogue which sets us up for the next story and that one can’t come soon enough! I hope it keeps the promise the breathtaking, heart-pounding last pages of UNFORGIVEN indicated.

“I know I have definitely never loved you as well as you loved me, but I know it’ll always be you who makes me unafraid of those feelings.”