All Roads Lead Me Back To You-Kennedy Foster

All Roads Lead Me Back To You
Kennedy Foster
Pocket, Aug 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9781439102046

In Washington State by the foothills of the Blue Mountains, the blizzard is nasty so Alice Anderson plans to stay inside on her ranch Standfast. That is until she sees a saddled quarter horse wandering aimlessly in the snow. She knows whomever was riding it is in trouble from exposure to the icy weather. Reluctantly after placing the horse in a barn, Alice searches for the missing rider although she fears she will bring home a frozen corpse. She finds him alive so Alice manages to get Domingo Roque on her sled and to the safety of her ranch.

Domingo proves to be an expert vaquero as he helps Alice work her ranch. However, he is also an illegal with the authorities seeking to return him to Mexico. As Alice and Domingo work together respect and friendship grows between the padrona and the vaquero; love soon follows. However Immigration is closing in on him and vile part owner Jerry Graeme makes demands of Alice or else the ICE will bring a colder reception than the blizzard did.

This is a fabulous contemporary romance that uses ranching to bring alive the impact on people of the immigration policy, which in its current manner is like the war on drugs: a failure. Fascinatingly Domingo at first struggles with working for a female, as women are not typically heads of ranches in Mexico or in the states. The story line is fast-paced from the onset as the reader anticipates the ranching couple to fall in love, but like each of them also expects it is just a matter of time before he is deported. Alice’s antagonist is a unique villain while Domingo’s foe will remind the audience of Javert from Les Miserables. ALL ROADS LEAD ME BACK TO YOU is a super modern day romance.

Harriet Klausner