A McKETTRICK CHRISTMAS - Linda Lael Miller
The McKettrick Series
HQN
ISBN-10: 0-373-77302-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-77302-2
November 2008
Historical Romance

Indian Rock, Arizona Territory - 1896

Lizzie McKettrick noticed the handsome stranger from the moment he boarded the train in Phoenix. He appears to be a doctor and carries an old, dilapidated medical bag; his clothes are worn and threadbare, albeit clean. Lizzie is impressed with his soft and soothing voice as he talks to the other passengers, and she especially likes the way he consoles an anxious young mother who is traveling with two youngsters and an infant.

It's just too bad that the man sitting beside Lizzie isn't so patient. Whitley Carson is the surprise Lizzie is bringing home to meet her family. She's been hoping that Whitely would propose for Christmas, but now she's wondering if he's really the man she thought he was. She'd like to settle down, marry, and have children, but Whitley has done nothing but complain since they set foot on the train in San Francisco. And his biggest complaint has been about the young mother and her children, something which gives Lizzie pause. She's looking forward to teaching school in Indian Rock and being back home around her large, boisterous family, but Whitley isn't fitting into that picture the way she thought he would. And now, Lizzie finds her eyes straying to the handsome doctor sitting across the aisle as the oblivious Whitley snores the time away in the seat next to her.

Lizzie can't wait to see her family again. She's been away two long years, and an old-fashioned McKettrick Family Christmas at the Triple M Ranch is just the tonic she needs. But Lizzie's daydreams are interrupted by what sounds like roaring thunder as the railcar is almost turned on its side and buried under a mountain of snow from an avalanche. The stranger saves her from falling out of her seat.

Doctor Morgan Shane stays calm when the train comes to a dead stop on the tracks. He soothes the other passengers as best he can and doesn't mention that they're perched over the edge of a cliff, the wheels of their passenger car unsteady under the weight of the fallen snow. They're trapped, and he has to find a way to save them all before they go over the edge into the abyss.

Lizzie McKettrick and Doctor Morgan Shane might not get to Indian Rock for A McKETTRICK CHRISTMAS unless they can find away to rescue their fellow passengers from the car that tilts farther and farther over the edge of the cliff as snow continues to fall in a raging blizzard. Lizzie is independent. She plans to teach school, marry, and have children while she continues to work. She's a McKettrick after all. Morgan is looking to establish his practice in a town that needs a doctor and offers him the challenge of everyday medicine. But he doesn't have the means or the money to provide for Lizzie in the way she's been accustomed as a McKettrick. How can he offer her a life when he can barely afford to clothe and feed himself?

With a host of dynamic characters, A McKETTRICK CHRISTMAS is a special treat for this holiday season. A host of secondary characters and McKettricks populate this novel and bring us back to the special town of Indian Rock and Lizzie's story. Many other unique characters share its pages as we meet the other passengers on the train bound for Indian Rock. Each and every personality here is one of a kind and make A McKETTRICK CHRISTMAS a book you do not want to miss!

Diana Risso