Finished Texas Rain by Jodi Thomas. This is the first book in her Whispering Mountain trilogy about three brothers who run a Texas ranch.

This one is about Texas Ranger Travis McMurray, who finds himself attracted to Rainey Adams — despite the fact she steals his horse. Rainey is fleeing an arranged marriage that her cruel father set up and is afraid of taking a chance on love with Travis. But she might not even get the chance to love Travis, since some outlaws are gunning for the Texas Ranger …

This is a historical romance set in the American west. It seems like most of the historicals are set in Regency England these days, and it was nice to read something different. Besides, I love a good western. 😎

In some ways, this is a very sweet romance (despite a couple of steamy scenes). Travis and Rainey get to know each other through letters that they send back and forth. I thought it was a cool plot device as it moves the stories of both characters forward even though they aren’t even in the same town at that point.

Thomas also gives her characters a real love of the land, and the McMurray brothers have an unusual backstory — their father died and they had to defend their ranch from outsiders until the oldest brother turned 18 and they could claim the land for themselves. Really, I thought that could have made a whole book in and of itself.

There are some secondary characters who add humor to the mix, and there’s a couple of nice action scenes at the end.

Overall, this one is comfort food for western romance fans. I’ll probably be reading the other two books. Thumbs up.

Up next: A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison.

Books in my TBR pile: About 12.