Books like McKettrick's Pride

The good, the mundane and the cheesy.The story takes a while to settle in its skin. Being a part of a big hist-contemp series, the author felt the need to explain/mention certain things again and again, which is irksome. Also the characters, though individually well drawn, took time to mesh into a tangible landscape. But midway, the book gets more engaging, even with all the tropey-cheesiness. Ther are times this book made me smile, enjoy the banter and the Texan-speak*. It also made me swoon – even the easy-peasy romance and hea. But what made it a winner is when it started twisting and squeezing my heart - and not just because the h herself is overly emotional and fragile. The few New Age hs I’ve read before have been more cutesy-meets-brassy. So this h’s always-close-to-tears persona and loneliness both draws and chaffs. But like the book she endures. The h is named Echo, which is just short of weird-quirky. But when the story behind her being ‘Echo’ gets explained (view spoiler)[ (a bewildered foster kid who tended to repeat everything others said) (hide spoiler)]