Growing up as an outsider in Welcome, Texas, Liberty Jones struggles to find love and acceptance. Bookish, shy and mindful of her mixed heritage (a Mexican father and a blonde, blue-eyed mother), Liberty is a social pariah. Though she's a beauty, her trailer-park home and low socioeconomic standing do nothing to further her stock among the other kids in town. She falls hard for trailer-park hottie Hardy Cates, a tough cowboy with rugged good looks and a wild streak. He sticks around long enough to steal the teenaged Liberty's heart before leaving Welcome to pursue his fortune. Loss becomes a constant in her life; tragic accidents claim both of her parents before she's 18. Forced to abandon her dreams of college, she learns a trade to support herself and her five-year-old sister, Carrington. With a beautician's certificate in hand, Liberty heads to Houston, where she lands an apprenticeship at a swank salon and vows to work her way into the middle class, one highlight appointment at a time. Her rise from poverty speeds up when obscenely wealthy businessman Churchill Travis takes a fancy to her. He offers her a job as his personal assistant and opens his home to the sisters. Churchill's family gives them the cold shoulder, but then (wouldn't you know it?) the son who resisted Liberty the most becomes smitten with the stunning interloper. Just when Liberty seems to be on the primrose path, Hardy saunters back into the picture and stirs up trouble. The author unabashedly and unsubtly capitalizes on Texas stereotypes: Big-haired, long-nailed women lust for the trappings of wealth; headstrong oilmen have fiery tempers and rapacious sexual appetites. But she also knows when to let the plot run wild and when to pull on the reins. Sinfully pleasurable melodrama. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Stith gives a fine performance in the first-person role of Liberty Jones, a Texas girl from the wrong side of the tracks who struggles to make a life for herself and her younger sister after the death of their mother, and struggles even more with her powerful attraction to a man she can't have. Stith's voice conveys earnestness, vulnerability, self-doubt and inner strength, making Liberty an immensely likable heroine who immediately garners the listener's sympathies. She also does an excellent job as the other characters, particularly the men in Liberty's life, who are angry, passionate and struggling with their own demons. This entertaining chick lit romance works perfectly on audio and would be a natural for beach listening. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 25). (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Money is tight while Liberty Jones is growing up in Welcome, Texas, but somehow she and her mother Diana manage. Having good friends like Miss Marva, Lucy Reyes, and especially Hardy Cates, on whom Liberty has a crush, helps. Then tragedy strikes and Liberty must take care of her younger sister and find a way to support them. Hard work and determination get Liberty through cosmetology school, then, while working in a Houston salon, she meets wealthy older businessman Churchill Travis, who offers her a job as his personal assistant. At first Liberty is reluctant to accept, especially since Churchill's son, Gage, seems to think she's a gold digger. Then, just as Liberty is settling into her new life and her initially frosty relationship with Gage is heating up and turning romantic, Hardy Cates, her first unrequited love, reappears. New York Times best-seller and RITA Award winner Kleypas moves from historical romance into contemporary women's fiction with an emotionally compelling and superbly satisfying tale of family, friendship, hope, and love. Writing with wit, wisdom, and warmth, Kleypas has created a book to treasure. --John Charles Copyright 2006 Booklist