For the Roses

Julie Garwood

6/22/2008

When Adam, Cole, Douglas, and Travis were boys living on the streets of New York City they banded together to become their own gang. Adam, an escaped slave from South Carolina, knew he'd have to leave the city and go west where he might be safe. When the boys found an abandoned basket with a baby in it, they decided to become a family. They took the name Claybourne, named the baby girl Mary Rose, and went to the Montana territory.

Over the next 19 years the Claybournes claim and maintain their own ranch. Mary Rose is a beauty who can hold her own with her independent, strong brothers. Their town of Blue Belle is still wild and without a sheriff, but the Claybournes are able to keep the peace on their own land. Their main fear is that some day someone may come looking for Adam for the death of his master.

Harrison MacDonald is a lawyer from England. He follows a lead about his employer's missing daughter, Lady Victoria Elliott. When he reaches Blue Belle he believes he may have found her. But she has four brothers, so perhaps not. He gets himself invited to stay at the Claybourne ranch. Once there, he realizes that though the Claybournes are a family, they aren't blood kin. He is certain he has found the kidnapped Lady Victoria. He doesn't report this to his employer, though. He wants to get to know this family better and see what impact he may have if he takes their sister away from them.

Harrison has another quandry. He finds himself attracted to Mary Rose. She is drawn to him as well. She lets him know it once he gives in and kisses her. He is smart enough to know that if he takes advantage he will have four dangerous men after him. He also begins to realize that he want Mary Rose to be part of the rest of his life. Yet when she finds out who she really is and why he came, how will she and her brothers react? Will he still be welome anywhere near them?

Although For the Roses is primarily a romance novel, it is more. It is the saga of a family starting a life in the territories. It contains the racism components because it starts in 1860. Adam had to run away because his master died while Adam was trying to save his master's wife and his mama from the master's drunken rage. It is the story of the beginning and growth of a family. Between the chapters are letters from the boys and Mary Rose to Adam's mama that they now all claim as their own mother. The letters span from the early 1860's when the boys head west to the mid-1870's. It is the story of the despair of a family when their only child is kidnapped and lost.

Julie Garwood has woven together an insightful novel. Yes, it's a modern American romance novel and has a fair number of sex scenes. Yet those scenes could be taken out and the book would stand up very well. It was the basis of a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Rose Hill. Also, because it is a romance novel, the reader knows all will end well. Even so, getting to that point is well worth the read.

You can find more about this book at .

Notice: Very explicit sexual situations

For the Roses
One Pink Rose
One White Rose
One Red Rose
Come the Spring