Sweet Boundless is book two of the Diamond of the Rockies series by Kristen Heitzmann. It is a delightful sequel to The Rose Legacy. Like the first book, it keeps you on your toes. The fight for Crystal has been fought. The men in charge of trying to take over have been hanged. Beck and the Carruthers brothers are among those who died. Now Carina has no job as Beck was her boss and since the Carruthers were dead, no one was living in the house she had a deed for. She decided she would move into the house and claim it for her own. It was next door to Meg’s boarding house which made it fairly safe for her. She had married Quillan but he had left and she had no idea when he would return. Before he left, he gave her the option of dissolving the marriage. However, having been married by a priest and loving Quillan, she had no intention of doing that. She knew the full story of Quillan’s life from Rose’s journal and the murals in the chamber of the Rose Legacy mine. She knew if Quillan read the journal and read the murals, he would have a better understanding of who he was. Meanwhile, she sets out to open a restaurant for the dinner meal. She charged more for it than Meg did so the men at Meg’s wouldn’t get their feelings hurt if they couldn’t eat there. Getting the ingredients for her Italian meals was also harder. Her meals were a success. So much so that she ended up taking reservations for the two meals she served each evening. If your name wasn’t on today’s list, she put you on the next night. It worked out for her and several of the richer men reserved special tables for each meal. Alex Makepeace shows up looking for Quillan. He is the mining engineer Quillan has hired to take charge of the Cain Bradley mine he and Cain’s son DC own together. DC has gone to seminary and Quillan has no intention of being a miner. Alex finds out about the Rose Legacy and goes up there with Carina. He sees the murals but is more interested in the stalactites and stalagmites and the geode room than the murals. He sees bringing tourists down here into the mine for tours. They just have to figure out how to cut off the mural chamber and make it look natural. What does Quillan have to say about the mine?
Each book in this series gets better and better. I absurdly love them. I love the fact that each of these characters is flawed in an utterly realistic way. That makes their journey towards healing that much more believable and gripping. The emotions in this book are so real, so perfectly portrayed. It's hard to not get caught up and unable to put the book down. Once again, I'll say that each book is not a standalone story. While there is a plot arc - gradual build up, climax and denouement - the whole story spreads across all three books. Without one, it's incomplete. For that reason, I highly recommend the entire series, not just this single book.
What do You think about Sweet Boundless (2001)?
I picked this up almost by accident. It fell off a shelf at my library as I was reshelving some items. I'd never seen or heard of it before. But the author was familiar. So I decided to start it on my break. Three days later ... the book was fantastic. A different kind of story than I expected. It was deep and riveting in the pain the characters were trying to get on top of. The love story was powerful and although I believed in the end the two would end up together I had no idea how until the last pages.A great find!!
—Jodi Janz
So, this is book #2 in a trilogy that I absolutely loved. I couldn't put it down and fell in love with the characters. I found myself thinking about them all the time! Carina is a hot blooded Italian and it is fun to watch her get into trouble. She is so full of fire and yet so fragile and broken at the same time. Quillans journey is a sad one in which I could never tell if I loved him or hated him...I couldn't believe the ending to this first book and rushed right out to get the second. I'd actually like to buy all three books as I definitely am going to have to read them again. It was soooo nice to read a book without all the raunchy talk and sex scenes which I'm so over. Just great story telling and compelling plot. It was a bit slow in the very beginning but then I was up all night with every book, not able to put them down! All three books are a must read!
—Kelly
