By Jill MacLean
Could she ever heal the pain inside him? Joanna knew it, knew it as well as the verdant fields and woods of her beloved brother's farm, greening with the coming of spring: she loved the handsome newcomer, Stephen Moore. But there was something-a momentary flash of agony in his eyes when he looked at a child, the way he stiffened and tore himself from her when she said, "I love you"--something terrible hidden in his past that had turned Stephen against love forever. Could Joanna ever free him from his self-imposed prison?
Severity reflects intensity, not value — “central theme” means a warning is a core part of the book, not that the book is bad.