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yellow_star's review
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I expected a Suspense Romance Western, instead I got a Cozy Romance Western. There are brief scenes at the beginning and end that are guns drawn at high noon but most of the book is just work and lunches. Falling short on the promised genre is part of the low rating. Because of this author's seeming confusion on genre the book is fast at the beginning and end, and painfully slow in the middle.
I appreciate the character building of the female lead to have a mixture of moxie and occasional fears and reluctance. A perfect badass is a common type of poorly written female character, and this book avoided that.
I also dislike when creators pretend Westerns should be all white and abled. The horrible bullet injury was fully healed within a few paragraphs (this spoils nothing).
I also dislike that everyone in this book was white even though Western towns should have been a mix of Hispanic, native, white, African American, and sometimes Chinese American people. I refuse to accept that as a trope of the genre, instead I consider that a long term racism problem in some but not all Westerns but it is not a requirement of the genre to continue that problem and it was the author's choice to contribute to this longstanding racism tradition. I don't know if this was due to a publishing house's censorship or her own writing choice, but either way I hope she improves diversity in future books.
Reading challenge notes: this takes place in Colorado, 1800's, fake relationship to lovers, police, newspaper reporters, train, carriage, countryside, Western, red cover,fake marriage, stalker, water fall, a social dance event
I appreciate the character building of the female lead to have a mixture of moxie and occasional fears and reluctance. A perfect badass is a common type of poorly written female character, and this book avoided that.
I also dislike when creators pretend Westerns should be all white and abled. The horrible bullet injury was fully healed within a few paragraphs (this spoils nothing).
I also dislike that everyone in this book was white even though Western towns should have been a mix of Hispanic, native, white, African American, and sometimes Chinese American people. I refuse to accept that as a trope of the genre, instead I consider that a long term racism problem in some but not all Westerns but it is not a requirement of the genre to continue that problem and it was the author's choice to contribute to this longstanding racism tradition. I don't know if this was due to a publishing house's censorship or her own writing choice, but either way I hope she improves diversity in future books.
Reading challenge notes: this takes place in Colorado, 1800's, fake relationship to lovers, police, newspaper reporters, train, carriage, countryside, Western, red cover,
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