The Wren by Kristy McCaffrey

By: Anonymous on Sunday, March 10, 2013

Title:  The Wren

Author:  Kristy McCaffrey

Series: Wings of the West #1

Published:  July 1st 2003 by Whiskey Creek Press

Page Count:  294

Genre:  Historical Romance

Shelf:  Review Copy

Rating:  ★★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Ten years have passed since her ranch was attacked, her folks murdered, and Molly Hart was abducted. Now, at nineteen, she's finally returning home to north Texas after spending the remainder of her childhood with a tribe of Kwahadi Comanche. What she finds is a deserted home coated with dust and the passage of time, the chilling discovery of her own gravesite, and the presence of a man she thought never to see again.

Matt Ryan is pushed by a restless wind to the broken-down remains of the Hart ranch. Recently recovered from an imprisonment that nearly ended his life, the drive for truth and fairness has all but abandoned him. For ten years he faithfully served the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers, seeking justice for the brutal murder of a little girl, only to find closure and healing beyond his grasp. Returning to the place where it all began, he's surprised to stumble across a woman with the same blue eyes as the child he can't put out of his mind.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

This story is very captivating, but in a subtle way. McCaffrey doesn’t feel the need to draw her readers in with over the top scenes and descriptions. She takes real life (for the time period and setting) and draws the reader in with immaculate writing and flawless scenes. The story is very insightful and informative while also being extremely heartfelt.

McCaffrey does a brilliant job with her descriptions and scene setups. Her descriptions are so detailed that you feel like you are on the ranch with the characters. That said, she never once writes a scene that makes the reader feel like they are bogged down in description. Every single word that McCaffrey puts down on paper brings the reader further into the story, and closer to a brilliant conclusion. Although you can guess the general gist of the conclusion well before you get there, it’s all in the journey, and McCaffrey makes that spectacular.

Although very few people have been through situations such as those faced by the main character she is still a very approachable person. All of the characters are developed in such a way that you can identify with them, which allows the reader to immerse themselves more fully into the story. There are definitely situations and aspects that set them apart, but McCaffrey’s stunning character development keeps them very realistic and down to earth. The development of all of the major characters includes a full personal history, which adds to this realism. I love these characters, especially the fact that absolutely none of them seem at all fake or made up, regardless of the fact that this is a fictional novel.

This is one of those stories that makes your heart ache at times, while at others makes you fell all warm and fuzzy inside. I’m crying happy tears right now. It’s very rarely that a romance novel can move me this much. I can still feel it tugging at my heartstrings.

Buy your copy online here today!