Review of Tate The Texas McKettricks

Tate – The Texas McKettricks
Linda Lael Miller
ISBN 13 9780373774364
Harlequin
368 pages

The Queen of the Western Romance brings us another branch of her endearing family The McKettricks in a trilogy of the three brothers from Texas big country. The first book and oldest brother is Tate the confirmed head of the family and ranch, trying to make it all work with 6yr old twin girls a ranch the size of some small countries and an ex-wife with the middle name of trouble. Enter small town girl, coffee shop owner and oldest of three sisters Libby Remington. Besides dealing with the return of an absent mother and the declining economy’s effect on her business the last thing she needs is to deal with ex-beau Tate McKettrick, the one man who broke her heart and the only man that might get away with it again. What’s in the cards for these two and more important is love enough.
Ms Miller can spin a yarn like nobody I’ve ever read and she can spin it with a Texas twang dialogue and sense of the great outdoors like you’re actually there smelling the sweet air or feeling the water splash on you from a river crossing on the back of a horse. Her storyline is nothing new and something she recreates a few times a year, but no matter how many of them she writes, they’re all unique, all just different enough that even though you recognize the author’s unrivaled style, these are definitely not clones. And her characters, let’s talk about these larger than life boys and girls she parades across the pages of her novels, they are as extraordinary as can be, her readers will actually live vicariously through them through out the duration of the read. Her hero Tate and heroine Libby are as different as two people could be and yet she convinces us through her storytelling that they’re the bee’s knees of the perfect couple. The love scenes will make you wish for a Minnesota winter or air-conditioning in February as they sizzle on the page and yet she treats each encounter with tender care.
So put on your Stetson, tie on your chaps and step into your cowboy boots and enjoy the first of the three brother’s McKettrick of Texas, Tate. This is as unforgettable a cowboy as you’ll find and a better read you won’t find.