San Antonio, Texas - 1883

For ten years, Seth Conner has been in love with his best friend’s sister, Jamie McEwan. When Seth was sixteen, he fell head first in love with Jamie, who was twenty-one then and a much-married woman, and now at twenty-six, he wants more than just being thought of as a friend. When he hears that Jamie is thinking about getting remarried, Seth decides it is time she does pick a new husband, but that new husband will be him and no other!

Jamie didn’t have any love for her late husband, but from his death she has owned a ranch with a lot of land and enough money to keep her comfortable. She is certainly not thinking of marrying anyone, but her younger brother Jack got on her nerves so she led him to believe she is thinking of marrying Tucker Portman, the sneaky rancher and former close friend of her deceased husband. Seth offers his help when Jamie has to go into town, since she is not happy with her brother at the moment. But whereas in the past, Jamie didn’t mind Seth tagging along, now something has changed. Every time Seth touches or smiles at her, Jamie can’t help but feel hot and bothered. She starts to wonder what it would feel like to kiss this younger man. And when Seth comes to her hotel room and does just that and even more, Jamie finally finds out what good sex can really be like. She is willing to have Seth as a lover, but Seth wants more.

Seth will try his best to make Jamie see that marriage is the best thing for them including the fact that he is in love with her. But Jamie likes her freedom and, even though she enjoys Seth in bed, she is not sure if their relationship can be a long-lasting one since her marriage was a total failure in her eyes. Seth has to prove to Jamie that his love for her is real. But the evil Tucker Portman wants Jamie for his own and won’t take “no” for an answer. Now Seth has to protect his love and her homestead from a man who will kill to get what he wants.

I love the story where the younger man has an undying love for an older woman. And when Seth tries his hand at seducing Jamie, their relationship changes for the better even though Jamie can be a bit stubborn in her thinking. THE SEDUCTION OF WIDOW McEWAN is an appealing Western romance with two characters who know what they want and refuse to budge from their beliefs. Jamie is quite the independent and spunky heroine who does have pangs of regret because her marriage was essentially arranged and not a love match. She does care for Seth and can hardly refuse him in the bedroom, but she thinks she is also adequate in that area and that a relationship with him may not work out in the end. Seth also has quite a past with the brothels he has visited but tries his hardest to show Jamie that she is the only woman he has loved and will love.

Melissa Schroeder tries her hand at also writing a bit of a mystery with some cattle deaths and threats against Jamie and Seth’s future happiness. It doesn’t take much to figure out who is behind these underhanded things, but that just helps bring Jamie and Seth closer together. Short and sweet, with moments of nice sexual tension between Jamie and Seth, THE SEDUCTION OF WIDOW McEWAN leaves you hoping that Seth will get his widow and become the new husband of her heart.

Kate Garrabrant