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The third book in Lorraine Heath's Texas Trilogy is Texas Splendor. I immediately jumped into this one after finishing Texas Glory. I just had to get Austin's hea, especially with how his portion of the story ended and then was teased.
So this book picks up 5-years after the end of Texas Glory and picks up with Austin getting out of jail. Lorraine doesn't go too much into what he's gone through in prison, but we do know that he was beaten a lot, has scars, and has really matured and changed as a person. Austin also mentions that he's lost his music. He's kind of a violin savant and we got to "hear" his beautiful music in the first couple books. After getting attacked and talked about behind his back, Austin decides to clear his name. Oh, and the girl whose reputation he saved and was supposed to wait for him, has married his best friend Cameron. Austin is heartbroken and really just feeling out of sorts around his family since so much has changed. He never met Faith or the younger girls of Houston and Amelia. It comes in a lot throughout the novel, but every time something was mentioned that (not intentionally) excluded him, it hurt. There was scene partway through where he would be the one to pass out presents at Christmas, and since he was gone, he didn't do it anymore. Instead of his brothers or Amelia or Dee remembering, they go on, almost like it's not a thing anymore. And while it had changed, it just felt weird that everyone except Austin's sweet wife noticed that he was hurt by the disregard. Like I said, it's not intentional. But I've felt that a lot and still do when I visit some of my family. It just really hard to process feeling left out or ignored, but still know it's not intentional. But, back to the fun stuff.
So Austin finally puts together that Boyd didn't write Austin as his name, but the city. He heads there to see if he could find the true killer. Almost there his horse gets injured and he comes across Loree's homestead. She assists him and the connection they form is really deep. There is a little bit of caretaking (yay!) but also some angst because Austin is still dealing with losing Becky to someone else in prison (and nobody notified him when it happened). I loved that Austin was so caring and sweet to Loree. Although, her dog died. I did not like that. It was a bobcat so at least it was nature, but he ends up buying her a puppy later. I loved how he kept coming back to see her and do things with her while he was in the area. We also get a surprise baby, but they decide to marry, after some angst, and then they head back to Dallas's ranch.
I really loved how they both were so drawn to each other, but I did get a little frustrated with them both. Yes they were more upfront with their feelings than the previous books, but there were still other issues not discussed or not discussed properly. It was also weird how upset Loree was with Austin when she found out he actually used to play the violin. But instead of realizing that there must be a reason why he said he didn't play, she just called him a liar and it became an issue. I really didn't like that fight. It felt so unnecessary and a little extreme on her end. But she was pregnant, so I don't know. Like with the previous books, too much happened to them once again. I kind of saw who the actual killer was based on how Lorraine was writing it, but I didn't like the decisions that both people made when it came to light. It was cute to see Austin get tapped by a famous composer for his music and then they head to Europe for several years. We get a little bit of a time jump at the end when they come back to Texas. I love that even then, Austin still strips her shoes off to dance. Such a cute moment between them.
I really enjoyed the trilogy and all books were a 4-star read for me. What's fun is there's also a novella, which I read next, and it was written 20 years later! I enjoyed the brothers and it's been a while since I read a true western feeling romance. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Beverly Jenkins I read, it just didn't feel western to me. I don't know, maybe it's the cowboy thing. These are definitely different than Lorraine Heath's more recent works, but I still really enjoyed them, just in a different way. If you are on the fence, please try them. They are really great!
Have you read Texas Splendor?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Texas Splendor, Lorraine Heath, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 320 pages, published in 1999
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