A Reason to Live (Berkley Sensation)

How could I refuse the wish of a dying man?May 30, 1865: During the War, I watched over too many young boys in the hospital, comforting them as they cried out for those they loved, as they whispered their final thoughts to me. Keeping a record of their names, families, and last words seemed a small tribute to their sacrifice—until the war ended, and I found a new mission in life.I would visit the loved ones of those poor soldiers and deliver their messages so that some comfort could be found even in grief…But Laurel Covey never expected to find a man like Creede Forrester—an ex-gunslinger who rode all the way from Texas to Virginia in the hope of finding his son and ended up saving her from a band of ruffians. It pains her deeply to tell him of his boy's death, and she believes that in his heart, Creede blames himself for driving his son away. But there is something more to this rugged, weary man. Something that draws Laurel closer to him…something she cannot resist…

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction, Romance. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.