I was very, very impressed with the beginning of this book. It’s set in 1839, and the country in general was reeling from the Panic of 1837. I can’t recall many books set in America during this time, and I’ve never seen one that discussed this particular economic disaster, which was huge at the time but mostly forgotten today. My interest in the business fortunes of the hero and heroine was sustained throughout the book. Unfortunately, I was considerably less interested in their romance, which failed to capture my imagination.

Lindsay MacPhaull has the world drop out from under her when Jackson Stenett comes to New York. She receives the shocking news that her father, who deserted the family long ago and had been living in Texas, has just died – and left all of his property to Jackson. Lindsay has been running the family business, the MacPhaull Company, for years. The family fortunes have been hit pretty hard by the panic, and she’s not sure there’s really much left to turn over to Jackson.

At first Lindsay’s outraged at this usurper, but she soon decides that cooperating with him will get her farther than digging in and contesting her father’s will. For his part, Jackson doesn’t particularly want this legacy and all the baggage that has come with it. But he and Lindsay’s father owned a ranch together, and he needs a considerable sum of money to pay off the creditors and keep the place going. He tells Lindsay that he’ll just take what he needs from the company, go back to Texas, and leave the rest to her and her two siblings.

As Jackson explores the company’s finances, he discovers that someone has deliberately been swindling the company out of money, and he suspects that it is someone Lindsay trusts. There are several suspects. Lindsay has two greedy siblings, a strange business partner, and a lawyer who doesn’t seem to be above making an extra buck or two. As Jackson tries to figure out how to get the money he needs for his ranch, he also investigates the puzzling company embezzlement.

And where in all this is the romance, you might ask? Good question. Lindsay and Jackson fall in love somewhere in the middle, and admit it to each other at the last possible moment. Both of them have issues from past relationships, and neither is quick to trust the other. For some reason, I couldn’t find their personal relationship the least bit interesting. Perhaps it was because both of them entered into it for the sake of casual sex rather than love. Since they started off on the wrong foot, I had trouble believing their last minute confessions of love. But worse than that, during the first love scene, I found myself wishing they would just cut that out and get back to the more interesting stuff – the business/embezzlement plot.

And that plot line is the best part of the book, with twists and turns that I didn’t anticipate. It kept me guessing until the very end. But while that part of the book worked for me, the lack of romance was a definite problem. And strangely, the setting was somewhat problematic too. I loved that this centered on a little known time period, but as I read the book I had trouble believing that these people really lived in 1839. Their language and syntax was too modern, and their mores weren’t far behind. From repeated teasing about Jackson’s “girlfriend” to the casual way the characters hop into bed, it just didn’t feel authentic. Lindsay’s name didn’t help either. It was clear that we were supposed to assume that it was a family name, but back then no one would have thought of “Lindsay” as a female.

This book had its moments, and I’m glad I read it. I’d probably try another by this author, particularly if it had another intriguing setting. But with the lack of believable romance and the modern feel, I wouldn’t really recommend Jackson’s Way.