Because I Loved You
Donnaldson Brown
391 pages
She Writes Press
April 4, 2023
I am such a sucker for a finding your place in the world stories. We all have those moments. This was also a little nostalgia as one of my best friends growing up was a horse person. Quite unique in the suburbs of Ohio.
Beautifully written with great descriptions. I felt like I was right there with the horses. I was rooting for Caleb and Leni. They were both great characters. I’m used to reading about secrets in the mystery genre, but it was a great premise for this book. The twists and turns as the secrets unravel kept me glued to the book.
I sure hope there is another book about the other characters in this book.
East Texas, 1972. Sixteen-year-old Leni O’Hare spends her free time drawing and galloping her mare across the chaparral. Horse crazy and rebellious, she fears her dream of becoming an artist will be thwarted by her strict mother, the small-town values of her community, and her family’s meager finances. A desperate bid to save her beloved mare from being sold brings her together with Caleb McGrath, the brainy and gentle scion of the county’s richest rancher, whose dream of becoming a physicist also pushes the bounds of their town and defies his family’s expectations.
When tragedy strikes Leni’s family, and Caleb’s brother returns from Vietnam angry and dangerous, the two grow closer and make a plan to leave and start a life together. Before they can go, though, Leni learns of something she fears will derail Caleb’s hard-earned shot at the future he wants. Choosing to keep what she’s learned secret, she sets them on sudden and separate paths.
New York City, 1986. Leni, now an artist and activist, and Caleb, now engaged and working on Wall Street, meet once again. Their old passion reignites. Can their love for one another overcome the choices made in the past? And when Leni’s secret—one that impacts not only Leni and Caleb but also four generations of Leni’s family—is finally revealed, will it be too late for them?
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