Crossings [Mass Market Paperback]

Stef Ann Holm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Against the rugged beauty of a Nevada frontier town, award-winning author Stef Ann Holm pairs two unforgettable characters in a heartwarming and surprising novel where sagebrush and secrets abound....

Determined to keep her Pony Express station after her father's murder, Helena Gray soon learns that a lot of people want her to fail. Cut off by her suppliers, she brazenly goes after what she needs: a husband. She chooses a loner from the mountains who is known simply as Carrigan -- a man whose eyes are flat and unemotional, and whom the folks of Genoa fear. It would be a business proposition, that's all. Now all she has to do is convince him of that.

Living in the Sierras with his dog and Colt revolver for company, Carrigan is certain he doesn't need a woman. Then Helena Gray ventures up his way and asks to become his wife. The arrangement sounds beneficial, but a simple partnership gets complicated when Carrigan unexpectedly finds himself wanting Helena on new terms that come unbidden from his heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vivid imagery and a fine sense of time (1860s) and place (Nevada Territory) dominate Holm's latest historical. After her father's death, Helena Gray is alone in a man's world, trying to keep her family's general store and Pony Express station afloat. When she is denied the supplies and credit necessary to run her business, she turns to the only man who can help her: a dangerous recluse named Jake Carrigan. Jake agrees to marry Helena and act as her husband for six months in exchange for a parcel of land Helena owns. A plethora of problems arise when it becomes apparent that would-be friends are not to be trusted and that someone is out to eliminate Carrigan and put Helena out of business for good. Readers expecting Holm's (Snowbird) usual lighthearted tone and style may find this dark tale a bit of a disappointment.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The pony express station they own in the wilds of the Nevada Territory means everything to Helena Gray. That's why she trudges up a lonely mountain to ask the town hermit to marry her. Carrigan, a surly loner who rarely comes down off his mountain is the last man around to be considered marriage material, but Helena needs his reputation to keep her station open after her father's brutal murder. While the merchants in town won't give her the time of day, Helena knows no one would dare cross Carrigan. No one knows what he'd do if they got him mad enough. Carrigan turns Helena down flat. He chooses to stay in the high mountains above town because he wants nothing to do with people. But Helena makes him an irresistible offer. If he'll live in her house, and use his reputation to rebuild her business, she'll deed over a tract of land way outside of town to him. Six months. Carrigan reckons he can stand civilization for six months in exchange for the kind of freedom he's always wanted. Once in town, Carrigan finds it hard to maintain his distance from Helena. He's been away from a woman for so many years, he's forgotten how soft, how utterly irresistible they could be. But he has to resist. He told himself years ago that he'd never get close to anyone, so he'd never have to go through that wrenching loss ever again. For her part, Helena's stunned to find herself wishing she were in a real marriage instead of this sham. Spending time around Carrigan makes her yearn to feel his embrace, his kisses. Even if he leaves in six months, she tells herself, it would be worth it to know what it would feel like to make love to him. She could at least pretend she had a real marriage, something she knows she'll never have in her life anyway.A strong tale of two people you'll grow to care about! Stef Ann Holm has a knack for making the Old West seem as real as the present day! The perfect mix of love and intrigue! An emotional story about two wonderful yet flawed people, and the healing power of love!Annette Carney -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671510479
• ISBN-13: 978-0671510473
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,190,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WESTERN - FRONTIER FANS WILL LOVE THIS!, February 3, 2003

By 

M. Hartmann "abayyan" (Milan, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossings (Mass Market Paperback)

Genoa, Nevada Territory - April 1860.
He called himself Carrigan, rumors ran rampant that he has killed at least two dozen men and that he was the fastest draw west of anything east. [sigh!]
All agreed that he was unfriendly [grin]. He had settled on his mountain before the town was founded and he refused to make friends with any one from the settlement. He made friends with no one but would talk to August Gray, owner of the store and Pony Express station.

No one bothered him or came to his mountain, until Helena Gray.
She needed his reputation and protection of his name, as the men in town would not deal with an unmarried woman.

Jacob Henry Carrington became so bothered and intrigued by the memory of Helena that he came down off his mountain in time to save Helena from the unwanted attentions of Seaton Hanrahan [the opportunist] I loved his line, "I will take a newspaper, and I'll take you for my wife." WoW! And the deal for her and her sisters property.

But Helena took over after their marriage in finding him face down in the snow with a bullet in him. Boy, did that lead to some physical attraction, eventually. She went a long way to blowing Carrigan's intentions of leaving her alone - he would be leaving in 6 months anyway.

Helena needed the marriage to be a business proposition so that she could protect her secrets. Her secrets colored her relationship with her sister whom she loved very much and was afraid to allow to grow up. Emilie, of course, at sixteen was very attracted to the pony express rider Thomas McAllister.

It took Jake to convince Helena to realize Emilie was growing up and she needed to loosen her restrictions or lose her sister.

Bayard Kimball was doing his darndest to convince Helena that Jake was at the bottom of her troubles. But a week spent rounding up her horses with Jake soon put her marriage and secrets in right order. Soon Helena got Jake to reveal his secret and then all hell broke lose. Whee! What a story.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- Don't pass this one up. You May Have to read it again!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful love story, June 2, 2000

By 

K. Jones (Waukesha, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossings (Mass Market Paperback)

I became a Stef Ann Holm fan when I read her Brides for All Seasons books and am now going back to read her earlier books. CROSSINGS is a wonderful western romance. Helena Gray needs a husband so that she can keep the Pony Express station her late father had owned. She's been asked by several men in town, but because of a secret from her past is reluctant to marry them. Instead, she asks Josh Carrigan, a hermit with his own dark secret past to be her husband in name only. He agrees to stay for 6 months in exchange for a piece of land Helena's father has left her. As time goes on circumstances force the two together and eventually their marrige becomes real. Though, as in any romance there are alot of ups and downs on the way to true love. There are also alot of interesting secondary characters in this book - including Helena's sister, Emilie, the pony express rider she loves, and the powerful judge who wants Helena for himself! It was very heartwarming to watch two people who both thought they would never find love again, come together and create a miracle!