Strange Angels by Jonis Agee

 

Heywood Bennett is the owner of a large cattle ranch in Nebraska.  On the ranch with him are his three children.  Arthur is the oldest and the acknowledged son.  Heywood married his mother and lived with her.  But he had other children.  He brought Cody home when Cody was around fourteen.  Cody's mother was his first love and was his mistress for many years.  Then there was Kyra, Heywood's daughter.  She was Lakota and no one knew much about her mother except that she had left Kyra and had disappeared to follow parties and drinking.

When Heywood dies, the children are left the estate equally.  Arthur is outraged as he had always thought he would inherit it all and had already made plans to sell the ranch as part of a country club.  He tries to find another will or anything to prove that he was the only real child and should inherit everything.  Cody and Kyra basically want things to remain the same.

But things never do.  Cody falls in love with the neighbor, Latta Jaboy.  Latta is older than Cody and suspicious of love since her former husband cheated on her all the time, including with Kyra.  Kyra and Latta detest each other and when Latta brings over a horse from Ireland, a fifty thousand dollar investment in the future, Kyra and a cowboy steal him, setting many events in motion.

I loved this novel.  Cody will win the reader's heart while the twists and turns of events will intrigue them.  It is clear the author knows the environment she is writing about.  Ranch work and much of the Lakota heritage is discussed and explained.  Jonis Agee was born in Nebraska and is a professor of writing at a university there.  This book is recommended to women's fiction readers and those interested in the ranching life.