Year of the Category - January: The Horseman's Son by Delores Fossen

Blurb: From the moment he first saw his son, ranchman Dylan Greer knew the baby he'd adopted was his in every way that mattered. And no one--not even the beautiful, strong-willed cop who claimed she was the child's mother--was going to change that. Collena Drake swore a criminal ring had stolen her baby and that someone was crossing every line to keep the illegal adoption secret. Now, in order to protect one innocent child, Collena made him a tempting offer: get married and share custody. As a businessman, Dylan thought the plan brilliant. But as a man...resisting his "bride," especially as the danger mounted, would be damn near impossible.
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While I still read a lot of Harlequins, I tend not to buy a lot of Intrigues. One of the things that I love about the Intrigue line is also one of the things that I find makes it so unbelievable as well. The stories take place in a very quick, fast, blink-of-an-eye time frame. This one is no exception. Within less than a week's time, Collena and Dylan have met, squared off over their son, Adam, gotten married, are insanely attracted to one another, have sex, and fall in love - all while fighting off attempts on Collena's life. Pretty unbelievable.

Yet there is something tremendously enjoyable about the Intrigue line anyway. I enjoyed Collena's smarts. Her desire to find her son and be a mother to him. She's no victim.

Dylan is not a cookie cutter hero, either. He was a guy with doubts - all the way. Doubts about the right path to take in order to protect his son, doubts about being with Collena, doubts about his past.

This book fits in with the Intrigue model - high on suspense and action; low on the angst and emotion. We never really get a good glimpse into who these people truly are. That's more a product of the length of this book, I think, than anything else. Fossen makes a really good start, especially on Dylan and his past - all his loves have ended up either dead or attacked in some way. The impact on him has been severe. Unfortunately, the length prevents a fully in-depth exploration of this, and the mixup of the danger plots - the attempts on Collena's life are two-fold - make it nearly impossible to delve into any of the issues that either Dylan or Collena have - and Fossen makes it plain that they have many.

I feel about this book the way I do so many of te Intrigue line... I so wish that it could have been another 150 pages long. It could have been a great book. Instead, it was a quick, skimmy read that never completely engaged me. Which is a shame, because I think that Fossen is a terrific author. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoy other books in other lines.