Fit to Be Tied, by Robin Lee Hatcher (Zondervan, 2009)

It’s 1916, and Cleo Arlington is not your typical Idaho rancher’s daughter. She’s a better wrangler than the hired men, and it takes church on Sundays to get her into a skirt. Cleo’s hardly a conventional woman, but she hopes one day she’ll find a cowboy who’ll love her as she is.

Lord Sherwood Stratham is the fourth son of a British Duke, and a constant disappointment to his father. Wild living is his way of coping with the pain of his war injuries—and his memories. His punishment? A year working on an American ranch, isolated from his friends and diversions.

Cleo is not happy to have the job of turning him into a ranch hand. Sherwood feels the same about taking orders from this testy female who dresses like a man—and who insists on calling him “Woody”.

Cleo and Woody are surprised to discover the things they do have in common, and Woody makes the further discovery that faith can be more than church attendance. Working together might not be such a hardship after all.

But Woody—Lord Sherwood—must return to England when his year’s banishment ends. Will either of their hearts be unbroken?

Fit to Be Tied is a gentle love story of opposites who attract. The characters have depth, and I enjoyed the contrast between Cleo’s and Woody’s voices.

Cleo’s story is book two in the Sisters of Bethlehem Springs series, and while you don’t need to have read A Vote of Confidence first, this is very much a sequel. I doubt there’d be many surprises now if I went back to book one. Book three, A Matter of Character, released in 2010. It’s Cleo’s relative Daphne’s story, and I liked Daphne from this book.

Robin Lee Hatcher is an award-winning author of over 60 novels. Fit to Be Tied is the first one I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. Click here to read an excerpt from Fit to Be Tied. If you’ve already read the novel, you might be interested in the discussion guide.