The Lone Texan is the conclusion to Jodi Thomas’s Whispering Mountain series. It begins slowly, has an exciting middle, then limps to the end. While I enjoyed it in a mild sort of way, it never totally engaged me.

Sage McMurray grew up on the Whispering Mountain ranch, raised by her brothers. Drummond (Drum) Roak grew up in a family of outlaws/drifters/prostitutes near the ranch and has loved Sage from afar. She went to Boston to study medicine and he made a living as a gunfighter on the fringe of the Texas Rangers. While in Boston, Sage made a brief marriage to Barret Lander – one of her instructors in medical school. He was a brilliant physician, but an aloof man suffering from a terminal illness. He left her a virgin widow. Now Sage is back in Texas where she plans to work as a doctor near Whispering Mountain. She’s accompanied by Bonnie Pierce, a tall, plain woman who is a nurse. Bonnie has no family who care for her and she admires Sage.

It doesn’t take too long for Drum and Sage to meet and she treats him like her pesky little brother. He’s soon called away to go on a mission with the Texas Rangers and while he’s gone, Sage runs into Barret’s no-good brother, Shelley, who operates a gambling den and shows an unhealthy interest in the money his “dear sister” might have inherited from Barret. When Sage and Bonnie go to confront Shelley, some outlaws who have a grudge against him trash the place and kidnap them. Bonnie is rescued by a tall cowboy named Bradford, but Sage is put up for auction at a saloon. I’ll bet you can guess who buys her.

There’s a lot more to the story in The Lone Texan, and all the plot pieces fit together like a well made puzzle. I was only moderately engaged in the story since, with the exception of Sage, the characters seemed to be shadowy. They never jumped off the page like truly vivid characters do. Sage was the exception. She was a vivid character – smart and brave, not silly or feisty. The best part of the book was when she was kidnapped and forced to treat a crazy man who turned out to be connected to Shelley Barret and the case Drum was working on for the Rangers.

Fans of western romances have had slim pickings for this year, but as long as Jodi Thomas writes them, the western romance will hang in there. While not a masterpiece by any means, The Lone Texan is a decent enough read.