For the longest time, Bailey Wilde lived like a man, thanks to her father who refused to acknowledge her as a daughter, building a reputation of one of the best ranchers in the West. Gage Coulter owns the 5000 acres of his best range land which Bailey has taken over by cleverly building her homestead on the only suitable entrance to the canyon. At odds, since he found out, Gage and Bailey are at a standoff while he refuses to back down and finds an alternate route in.

Losing to Gage and her sisters, now married and moving away for the winter, Bailey is in for a tough eye-opening winter. When Gage shows up, at the end of the loneliest and harrowing winter, Bailey is at her weakest. So when Gage proposes an outrageous plan, desperate on his end, to get married, she agrees. But the agreements proves to be difficult for this fiercely tough independent woman who not only took part in the Civil War but now has to pretend to dress like a woman in front of Gage's nagging mother. And during this, they both have to deal with the unknown threat, trying to kill Gage for the past year. Will they find love in the midst of serious adjusting or will Bailey go back to her lonely homestead once the threat is over?

FIRE AND ICE went off with an action filled, fun start. I loved the introduction to both Bailey and Gage. Gage is a strong, patient yet very stubborn man with nil skills of dealing with woman. He has built his life from scratch, away from Texas and one very smothering mother, he loves and does not like at the same time. Bailey on the other hand is one of the toughest women I have read about in the West. Not only is she a skilled shooter, she is a gifted carpenter and one of the best ranchers in the West. Not your typical woman. Yet what she craves is one thing which she fears the most too; love and acceptance from a man like her sisters have.

FIRE AND ICE is a journey of these strong, amazing characters to finding love. The only issue I had with FIRE AND ICE was that despite the good start, the story began to fizzle off towards the end. By fizzle here I mean that it felt slightly rushed and a scene or two felt stretched and not really needed. Also the transformation of Bailey during the winters, I felt needed a slight more elaboration on how she felt about it then instead of towards the end. I absolutely loved the scene with Bailey and her father. It broke my heart a little, the things she and her siblings must have gone through. All in all, FIRE AND ICE is a fun wild west read with a strong unconventional heroine and a man who is her equal.

Book Summary

Saddle Up for a Wildly Fun Ride in Mary Connealy's Latest

Bailey Wilde is one of the best new ranchers in the West. She's been living disguised as a man for a while, but when Gage Coulter comes to drive her off her homestead, he quickly realizes he's dealing with a woman--a very tough, very intriguing woman at that.

Gage is an honest man, but he didn't make his fortune being weak. He won't break the law, but he'll push as hard as he can within it. Five thousand acres of his best range land is lost to him because Bailey's homestead is located right across the only suitable entrance to a canyon full of lush grass. Gage has to regain access to his land--and he's got to go through Bailey to do it.

Spending a winter alone has a way of making a person crave some human contact. In a moment of weakness, Bailey agrees to a wild plan Gage concocts. Can these two independent, life-toughened homesteaders loosen up enough to earn each other's respect--and maybe find love in the process?