4.5/5; 5 stars; ACarla Kelly has a gift for taking real historical events and crafting them into the foundation of her stories and the characters that those stories are about. I really enjoyed the premise of this book; a man who has allowed himself to become a dissolute wastrel as some sort of punishment for his sins during the war is dragged by the ear back on to a steady course by an indentured servant who thinks he is absolutely worthless in the beginning. As in so many of her books, Carla Kelly's characters in this book have quite a few flaws but underneath all that tarnish they are solid and loveable. I've heard about this book for years but have never seen it at a UBS or library. Finally it is out as an ebook so I was able to get it. Well worth the wait.