Circle of Gold by Diana Palmer

Title: Circle of Gold

Author: Diana Palmer

Series: Men of Medicine Ridge

Publisher: Harlequin

Line: The Essential Collection (Reprint)

ISBN: 9780373363742

More Information: http://www.eharlequin.com

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Actually, I was hoping to read this story for a while.  But it's always hard to find OOP books.  This is the 2nd book in the Medicine Ridge saga.  I've read the 3rd and 4th book.  So, I was curious of about reading Gil's story and I actually liked it.

John Callister needed a secretary.  In steps Kasie Mayfield.  But it was his older brother, Gil Callister, doing the interviewing.  Even though there was something he didn’t like about her, Gil chose her right away by the conservative way she dressed.  Trying to keep her separate from his family was difficult as his little girls fell in love with her.  And so was he. 

Being a Diana Palmer romance, there are some themes that readers have come to expect.  The heroine was an innocent, who dressed like a prude even in this day and age.  But I did like Kasie Mayfield, despite her lack of style.  In comparison to most of Palmer’s heroines, she was educated with a pretty feisty attitude, tempered by patience.  Despite the adversarial attitude of Gil’s current secretary and the hero himself, she handled the situations with aplomb and dignity.  On the other hand, Gil was your typical Diana Palmer’ hero: contradictory.  He was always thinking worse of the heroine and never understood why everyone else seemed to loved her.  Pretty narrow minded and not always aware of what’s going on in his own home.  And when it came time for the groveling scene, this was not Palmer’s best.  I would not have gone back to him even for his children’s sake.  The man did not deserve sympathy for believing second-hand information.  He never even taken the time to actually talk to the heroine in the first place, before making judgment.  He was his own worst enemy.

Despite the less than stellar hero, I found this story a breeze to get through.  The story was well-paced with events to keep it appealing.  The dialogue was pretty witty in parts.  I love all the side characters.  All in all, it was a decent read in comparison to her latest writings.  This is a pretty clean romance.  However, if you missed this book the first time around like I did, it was worth getting it.  But if you are looking for something different from Palmer’s usual, please skip this reprint.