A Tender Hope

Cabot concludes her Cimarron Creek Trilogy (after A Borrowed Dream) with a lovely tale that brings the series’ threads together. Looking to start new lives, midwife Thea Michener and her friend Aimee Jarre relocate to Cimarron Creek, Texas. Thea is trying to escape the painful memories of her murdered gunslinging husband and the birth of a stillborn child that sent her into a deep depression. Aimee suggests Cimarron Creek because she believes it’s the home of her birth mother, who she longs to find. But upon arrival, both find much more than they anticipated in the small Texas town. Ranger Jackson Guthrie looks up Thea after realizing she might be linked to the notorious Gang of Four, a gang her dead husband was rumored to run with. With the gang continuing to wreak havoc across Texas, Guthrie cozies up to Thea in order to get inside information. As Thea learns more about her dead husband’s past, she realizes she never truly knew him and relies on her faith to forge a new beginning. With Aimee reconnecting with her mother and Thea finding a natural chemistry with Guthrie, both women find a happy ending. Appearances by past protagonists Warner Gray, Travis and Lydia Whitfield, and Nate Kenton will please fans of the series, though this outing’s main cast is a bit slow to develop. Still, series fans will appreciate this pleasing finale. (Mar.)