Little Century

by Anna Keesey

I almost didn't read this book because I was worried it was a thinly veiled romance. And it was a romance, in some ways, but well-written enough that I continued reading.

The story sounds like a Harlequin romance: a young city girl in the turn of the century is orphaned. She turns to her only remaining family, a distant cousin who owns a remote ranch in the high desert of Oregon. He is a single hard-headed rancher (can you guess where this is going?).

However predictable the romance, the book was enjoyable. I picked it up, of course, because it was set in my neck of the woods but I think I would have like it even if it wasn't. Keesey has pleasant writing style, neither too sterile or too florid.