This reminded me so much of the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,if you take away the singing and the kidnapping.

The heroine Rose trying to make a living works in a cantina where she dodges the male customers lecherous attentions and the grumpy lady proprietor of the cantina.

One day the hero,Georige steps into her workplace orders something to eat

When one of the other costumers make a grab at Rose she is defended by George but subsequently finds herself fired from her job for making too much trouble.

Downtrodden she walks out of there but to her luck hears that the man who defended her earlier is seeking a housekeeper to cook and clean for him and his brothers.

George is not at all keen to employ her seeing as she is a young and unmarried woman...but there is no one else who wants the job so its decided she has the job.They leave for his home and well there Rose realizes its not just the housework that needs taking care of.

If you have seen the movie you know where this is going ;)

So slowly she settles in and tries to both deal with housework and the brothers relationship ((they got issues))

This was if not a bad book,it was decent but I dont think I will find myself re-reading this or recommending it to others. It was just a bit too bland.

I would find myself thinking about certain scenes"oh thats sweet" but my interest in the couple never went beyond lukewarm. I just didnt get a sense of chemistry between them. It was more like they were convenient to each other.

The other books will follow the brothers way to find love but I am not sure its anything I will chose to read in a hurry.

When they finally get together romantically it felt very forced. ( )

I like romantic westerns, there's something primal about cowboys that does it for me...anyway, I liked it a lot.
Rose, a outcast Yankee by the people of Austin, is the chosen to become the house cleaner at a ranch with seven brothers with a severe lack of everything and a powerful hate for the Yankees...
The way things were after the war, the resentment and the abandonment issues as well as the angst that comes with rebuilt everything from scratch, is all here.
The heroine, Rose, is young but strong, with a maternal side that will glue all the brothers together and the light that will guide them home, turning them into a real family.
George, the eldest, got the burden of their past on his shoulder and tries to make the boys civilized and to be an example but when he can't face his own demons, things got messy.
I find this story a charming one, with all the rules and dynamic of small towns in the west as well as funny, sad and lovely. ( )

w -read 5/09, keep, enjoyable read