BOOK REVIEW- COLORADO DREAM

In New York in 1877, Angela Bellini longs to become a concert violinist and get away from her abusive father. When her dream takes her to Greeley, Colorado, to purchase a violin from a master instrument maker, she learns she must wait three weeks until her violin is ready before she can head home.

Angela is determined not to let anything or anyone waylay her dream, but when she meets rough-and-tumble cowboy Brett Hendricks, her heart is torn. He is her opposite in every way—uncouth, cocky, and reckless. But she is hopelessly drawn to him, like a moth to flame.

Brett Hendricks is on the run—not just from an angry rancher who is tracking him down for shooting his son but from a dark and troubled past plaguing him with guilt and shame. A wild, untamable cowboy, Brett can break any horse with a soft touch and soothing word, but nothing in the world can bring him peace. He fears he will never stop running, never see his dreams of ranching realized.

But then, one evening, he hears sweet violin music that seeps deep into his soul--music that floods him with peace. He falls hard for Angela but knows she plans to leave Colorado. All his attempts to win her heart fail disastrously, and though he buries himself in the cattle roundup, when he helps thwart a rustling outfit, his enemies multiply.

Somehow he must find a way to gain Angela's heart and trust. And somehow Angela must break past her distrust of men to discover the love awaiting her with open arms.  AMAZON

Well written, with plenty of action and emotional times in it. I really liked it.   Both Brett and  Angela had come from some tough times.  While it happened  differently for each, they both did have mean fathers in common. No only mean but violent, dangerous ones. Those men sure caused plenty of damage to their children and wives.   There are lingering, harmful effects from it on both the main characters.  Something that they will have to fight their way through in the whole book.  Angela is running towards her dream and Brett is running FROM his past.  I really liked the both of them and it was easy to be drawn into their "drama".  A few times it felt like it dragged a bit because of the emotions that they were going through.  But it usually picked back up after because there really was a fair amount of things going on.  There was also plenty of other likable people in the story too, they added without distracting. They made for a very warm community with very likable people.
Imagine my surprise when I was reading about 3 of those other people (in a family) and I thought, "wait a minute, this sounds familiar.  I think I might have read their story before"  LeRoy Banks,  his wife Gennie, and his mom, Sarah Banks are the people I am talking about.  When there was a quick mention of their "history", I just had to check it out.  Yes,I had read it and liked it.  It was really great to see them in this story because they did add a lot to the story.  Sarah Banks all on her own was quite the interesting, mysterious person.  This is where I read about them first, just in case you are interested:

Wild Secret, Wild Longing: A Sweet Historical Western Romance Novella (The Front Range Series Book 3) Kindle Edition

This book does come to a very satisfying ending and towards the end the reader gets to see where the idea of the title comes from.  I like that. 
I really enjoyed the Author's Note at the end, it was very enlightening!

"I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review."