Manifest Destiny

For her forty-third birthday, Evelyn Vega receives a most unwelcome gift – a trip to the Freeborn Dude Ranch in Colorado from her psychic matchmaking sister Angela Calminetti. Unbeknownst to Evelyn, Angela has been in touch with Montana Phoenix, the owner of the ranch whom she met on a visit the previous summer, a psychic herself, and the two of them have decided that Evelyn and cow boss Jason Makepeace are the perfect match. City girl Evelyn is resolved that she will simply endure the two weeks in the middle of nowhere, but she is instantly attracted to Jason and reluctantly finds herself enjoying not only the dude ranch experience, but the company of the much younger enigmatic cowboy. For his part, Jason is slowly recovering from his broken heart at the loss of the love of his life Montana to Seth Phoenix, but he knows that Evelyn is just the one to bring his mojo back! Will this star-crossed pair be able to find their MANIFEST DESTINY?

This story is the third tale to feature a Vega sibling and their big sister Angela. It also ties into another McKeever tale, Spells Cast in Shadow, which is Seth and Montana’s story. Although connected, this is a stand-alone tale and may be fully enjoyed without reading either of the other stories, but is best enjoyed with full knowledge of the back-story, if for no other reason than Ms. McKeever is such a magnificent storyteller. In many ways, Jason and Evelyn seem like each other in the opposite form - both are extremely wary of entering into any type of relationship due to painful past experiences, and both are stubborn, strong-willed individuals who insist on living life on their own terms. In many ways, they seem like a totally improbably pair! However, Ms. McKeever does a masterful job in revealing the traits of these characters in a way that plausibly allows them to become a fully recognized couple. This tale is full of twists and turns, and the reader will never know just what the irrepressible Evelyn will come up with next. The love scenes are scorching and classic McKeever! This reviewer also enjoyed revisiting the main characters from previous tales and other repeat readers will do so as well. The paranormal bits are primarily psychic in nature, although a couple of mystical creatures do make an appearance. The two main protagonists provide all of the angst so readers looking for the suspense element found many times in Ms. McKeever’s tales will miss that in this one. Excellent effort as usual, Ms. McKeever! Highly recommended!

April 2007