Book four of the Harmony series set in a small, close-knit Texas town continues the romances from previous books, but it’s not necessary to have read any of them to enjoy this one. It will be, however, difficult to go back and pick up the missed books because readers will already know the outcomes of many of the long-standing threads.

Rancher Tinch Turner shows up in the emergency room of Harmony’s hospital with five other guys, having been in a barroom brawl. Still grieving his wife’s death, Tinch doesn’t really care if he lives or dies, but new doctor Addison Spencer is committed to making him live even though she abhors the redneck lifestyle she imagines he’s living.

Almost concurrently six-year-old Jamie has been found in a run-down trailer park with the body of his dead mother. Jamie says his mother said if he was ever in trouble he should go to his estranged Aunt Lori Ann and Uncle Tinch’s place, which is what they were trying to do before her overdose. Much to his chagrin, neither Addison nor Tinch’s nephew is going to leave the man to a morose loner in peace. Both poke and prod him to get on with his life and let go of his beloved Lori Ann.

Meanwhile, Reagan Truman, whose story started in the first Harmony book, is trying to cope with her self-appointed Uncle Jeremiah’s death. While Noah, one of her best friends, is off living the life of a rodeo star, she’s still got giant Brandon Biggs to console her. Also, funeral director Tyler Wright is conflicted since the love of his life, Major Kate Cummings, will be leaving on her last military mission before retirement. Will she come back alive so they can start their life together?

Life and death are the guiding forces in this book when Tinch, Reagan, and Tyler must wrestle with their futures. While Addison and Jamie help Tinch, and Biggs and Noah comfort Reagan, Tyler must suffer in silence, being a stalwart pillar for Reagan in her grief and Tyler’s housekeeper as she prepares to have her baby.

Additionally, shady characters have invaded quiet Harmony, looking for something valuable that only Jamie’s mother and the boy know about. Keeping the boy safe becomes a paramount concern for Addison and Tinch.

Readers needn’t have read the previous books to be caught up in the lives of all the denizens of the close-knit community because everyone is a sympathetic and likeable entity. Nor do readers need previous introductions or threads for this book to stand on its own merits.

If there is any problem with this fourth book, it’s the muted romance between Tinch and Addison, probably because even though the doctor gets caught up in community business, the spark between the two potential lovers doesn’t ever catch fire. Their romance looks good in theory but doesn’t gel in actuality.

Unfortunately, that’s the case with Reagan and Noah, too. Biggs is portrayed as such a sweetheart it’s disconcerting Reagan thinks the rodeo-crazed Noah is ever going to get serious and settle down.

That leaves the romance between undertaker Tyler and servicewoman Kate, which had been adequately explored in previous books. Adding Tyler’s angst for the missing Kate’s return pads the story but doesn’t really add to it.

Despite these problems, the book furthers the Harmony, Texas, story enough that series fans will be satisfied and new readers may want to be add the books to their TBR.