Catherine Anderson’s latest is Early Dawn, a Western historical romance featuring Eden Paxton, a secondary character from Keegan’s Bride and Summer Breeze. Even though I haven’t read these – I have only read her contemporary romances – I wasn’t a bit lost. Like Anderson’s contemporary books, this one has action, angst and a very tortured heroine.

Matthew Coulter was happily married and his wife Olivia was expecting their first child. When they went out for a picnic, they were ambushed by the Sebastian gang who beat Matthew into a coma, and raped and killed Olivia. Matthew swears by all he holds dear to track down the Sebastians and kill them all.

Eden Paxton was engaged to a well-to-do gentleman in San Francisco. His family didn’t approve and when they discovered she was the product of a rape, her fiancé broke the engagement and spread the gossip all over the city. Eden and her mother were shunned. Rather than live where they are looked down on, Eden and her mother set off on the train to Denver to join the rest of the family.

On the way to Denver, the Sebastian gang robs the train, brutalizes some of the passengers and when Eden protests, they take her with them. Of course most of the gang wants to rape her, but the leader will not allow it – he knows a Mexican man who will pay big money for virgins. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have some “fun” with her. Meanwhile, Matthew saw the gang rob the train, and after taking time out to get a doctor for the rest of the passengers (what, no one else could?) he picks up the trail of the gang and Eden.

The Sebastian gang beat and abuse Eden for five days until Matthew is able to rescue her. When he finally does, instead of heading to Denver (which is logical), he takes a l-o-n-g trek around in an effort to double back and throw them off the trail. This sets up a road romance and in the course of it, Eden begins to heal and Matthew does as well.

I’ll give Catherine Anderson credit – it wasn’t until I was almost finished with the book that I noticed the HUGE holes in the plot. Matthew is presented as an ace tracker and shot, and when he gets the drop on the gang with Eden as their captive, instead of killing them (and they are all drunk and wrapped up in their bedrolls) he contents himself with scattering their horses while he gets Eden to safety in the ensuing panic. Later he explains to Eden that the gang are all such cunning fiends, he couldn’t be sure of getting her out and killing them too. I dunno – one armed and clever man against a bunch of wrapped up drunks…I’d bet on the armed and clever man.

Then there’s the whole idea of Eden and Matthew taking the long way around, ostensibly to throw the gang off their trail. Again, I dunno – I think heading straight for Denver would have made more sense especially since Matthew and Eden have horses while the Sebastians don’t. But then we would not have the great road romance.

Matthew and Eden are sympathetic and very likable characters – she has a deep core of strength that allows her to withstand the gang’s brutality, and he is a very kind and sensitive man. I was quite invested in their story, and cheered their happy ending, but when I put the book down, all those huge plot holes came back to bother me. I do love western romances, and there’s a lot to like about Early Dawn. If it hadn’t been for those plot holes, this grade would have been much higher.