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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.5 stars
I have really enjoyed this series! While Gin and West happened fast for enemies to lovers, the change felt real. The battle was awful and sad. I’m actually mad about certain death. I was not expecting anything like that happening and it tarnished the end for me a bit.
But I love this town and the found family they made.
I have really enjoyed this series! While Gin and West happened fast for enemies to lovers, the change felt real. The battle was awful and sad. I’m actually mad about certain death. I was not expecting anything like that happening and it tarnished the end for me a bit.
But I love this town and the found family they made.
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This last book of the Stallion Ridge series went out with a bang.
We are introduced to Cal’s mysterious brother, West. (FINALLY)
He returns to Stallion Ridge to right a wrong and hooks up with Gin, Leo’s right hand man. Which is a match up I never would have expected.
Sunsets and Showdowns is filled with Maz’s humour and her gift for bringing unique characters to life. Every other page, I was laughing or I was gripped with a sense of fear. There’s no in the middle with this series.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants fun times, and heartbreaking times. It’s not for the faint of heart.
We are introduced to Cal’s mysterious brother, West. (FINALLY)
He returns to Stallion Ridge to right a wrong and hooks up with Gin, Leo’s right hand man. Which is a match up I never would have expected.
Sunsets and Showdowns is filled with Maz’s humour and her gift for bringing unique characters to life. Every other page, I was laughing or I was gripped with a sense of fear. There’s no in the middle with this series.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants fun times, and heartbreaking times. It’s not for the faint of heart.
The Brute & the delicate
After a day of finishing this book I’m still high on the aftermath, just can’t get enough of the Stallion Ride books.
Gin- the beautiful and respectful quiet one with broken honour and with a heart of samurai, on mission.
West- the ragged legendarily cowboy with broken honour, full of regret, cocky attitude and a revenge.
The romance: two different man with hard life, bonding from deep understanding of honour and vows. Started from enemies, matching in fight, became temporary allies, they’re gravitating to each other, fell for each other with the knowledge they can’t be together in the future.
The plot closes the open lines from the previous books and gives a beautiful frame for the series.
Multiple pov ( hello Cal)
Cameos!!
Enemies to lovers
Two alphas oh lálá
Amazing chemistry, hot scenes
This was the ending we was waiting for ( I wasn’t waiting for it to end just saying).
Everyone comes together to the final. I hope there will be a bonus short, because some things in the end just can’t be true.
I won’t spoiler this book. If you already read the previous books, you know our heroes in the best hands in Maz’s. If you haven’t, this series one of the best I can recommend. I discovered Stallion Ridge exactly 1 year ago and binge read them in days. Couldn’t put down, reading still my eyes tried to escape from my head and wasn’t able to read more. Each book is unique each book is epic and every character different, diverse and interesting. Love them all. Can’t explain how much I will miss them.
I received this ARC from Gay Romance Review, and this is my honest review.
After a day of finishing this book I’m still high on the aftermath, just can’t get enough of the Stallion Ride books.
Gin- the beautiful and respectful quiet one with broken honour and with a heart of samurai, on mission.
West- the ragged legendarily cowboy with broken honour, full of regret, cocky attitude and a revenge.
The romance: two different man with hard life, bonding from deep understanding of honour and vows. Started from enemies, matching in fight, became temporary allies, they’re gravitating to each other, fell for each other with the knowledge they can’t be together in the future.
The plot closes the open lines from the previous books and gives a beautiful frame for the series.
Multiple pov ( hello Cal)
Cameos!!
Enemies to lovers
Two alphas oh lálá
Amazing chemistry, hot scenes
This was the ending we was waiting for ( I wasn’t waiting for it to end just saying).
Everyone comes together to the final. I hope there will be a bonus short, because some things in the end just can’t be true.
I won’t spoiler this book. If you already read the previous books, you know our heroes in the best hands in Maz’s. If you haven’t, this series one of the best I can recommend. I discovered Stallion Ridge exactly 1 year ago and binge read them in days. Couldn’t put down, reading still my eyes tried to escape from my head and wasn’t able to read more. Each book is unique each book is epic and every character different, diverse and interesting. Love them all. Can’t explain how much I will miss them.
I received this ARC from Gay Romance Review, and this is my honest review.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
READ: Jun 2023
FORMAT: Digital
BRIEF SUMMARY:
In this historical fantasy/romance, West is on his way to Stallion Ridge to help protect his brother Cal from an evil that’s hiding in plain sight, and to take care of some personal unfinished business. Gin, with his life devoted to the protection of one man, is tasked with putting a stop to the centaur long before he can ever make it into the town they’ve settled into. Gin has never lent significance to the rumors and legends that follow in the wake of the Pale Horse of Death and turn him into a ghost story; West is still a man who can bleed and die like any other, and he will be no match for Gin’s blades.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 2.5 / 5⭐
I’m not going to lie – my expectations for this finale of the Stallion Ridge series were admittedly set pretty low, and this book met exactly those expectations. For context, all of the setup from the previous book pointed to the events of this one taking a direction I wasn’t exactly interested in. On top of that, the two characters who were set up for the romance portion were characters who I had no investment in. My only real motivation to get into this book was to see how everything would wrap up for the town of Stallion Ridge and the characters whom I’ve grown fond of. I could have left this series several books ago; my fondest characters (Jesse, Gunner, Mack) had already had their stories pretty neatly tied up, and each book after theirs has been progressively more tedious to read.
The arc of dishonour and redemption for a peripherally-known character just never piqued my curiosity, and I put off reading this book for about two months because of it.
After witnessing and partaking in endless travesties in the midst of the war, West’s life took a turn towards crime and profiteering at the hands of an ambitious mastermind. After breaking free of that life, protecting Cal from West’s resulting shame and disgrace became his primary goal, preferring to be dead to his brother than to shatter the image of the man he would remember. Gin lives his life in accordance to the Warrior’s Code, conducting himself honorably in all things within his control. His oath of protection is unwavering and his dedication to the fair fight is unflappable, but these values are at odds when he is sent after West, and they put him at risk of failing in either one or the other.
TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3.25 / 5⭐
This book’s biggest failing is easily its page count. It had a lot that it needed to accomplish, and not nearly enough space to do it – or at least, to do it well. Between the Marshal’s arc, the battle for honour, the culmination of books-worth of plotting, the romancing, the final conflict, and the fallout of said conflict... all the seeds of an excellent finale were planted, but I feel like they just weren’t given enough air to breathe or time to grow. Nothing felt as impactful as it was meant to. Maybe I would feel different if I’d jumped right into this one instead of waiting a couple months? I don’t know.
In this book specifically, the classic enemies-to-lovers trope misses the mark as well; in part from the rushed pacing, in part from a lack of chemistry. At the fighting stage of their relationship, there isn’t so much as a spark of interest: no flirtation, no buildup of tension, no ribbing or antagonism beyond irritation at their circumstances, nothing. Then, once they establish a tentative truce, things ramp up from zero to sixty going from vague interest, to unreasonably possessive, to lust, to “okay but I still have to kill you though so see you on the battlefield,” to “I love you,” all over the course of a terribly short period of in-story time.
I actually laughed at the first declaration of love, because I was not buying it. West describes years of physical devotion to a man whom he claims to never have loved, and we’re somehow meant to believe, after a couple of days of barely getting to know each other and only two steamy encounters, that West wouldn’t treat his feelings with some degree of skepticism or caution? Again, I simply do not buy it.
Regarding the series as a whole, I will say that Maddox’s world-building through characters remains outstanding, and the best character throughout might be the town of Stallion Ridge itself. Ultimately, I sort of wish this final book would have foregone the entire romance angle for West. I think if this book belonged to Cal and Jesse, with West being a primary side character who strongly informs the big standoff, we might have had room for everything to neatly wrap up within this page count. Each of our couples could have had space to show how their relationships have continued to grow from where we left them, and how they continue to breathe life into and exist within their beloved town. I'd even have been fine if the rivalry between West and Gin still occurred, perhaps hinting at something more growing between them along the way.
FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3 / 5⭐
I’m so grateful that this series exists, and I am likely to read through a couple of the books again at some point. There are definite hits, and definite misses, and I’m sad to say that for me, this finale was a miss. Other people's reviews are overwhelmingly positive, however, and one shouldn’t go by my personal disappointment to decide whether or not to read this one. If you’re this far in, you know what you’re in for and you might as well wrap it all up.
This book has representation for gays and gender-nonconforming. Many background and skin colours are portrayed. A character represents “Natives” of a fictional tribe, although the ‘magical natives’ trope is leaned into and may be viewed as problematic, along with any misrepresentation of the wendigo myth (in this case, it's largely physical misrepresentation; the themes of greed and excess are well-placed within this story).
The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War
Minor: Child abuse, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Visit my web site for a full review of “Sunsets & Showdowns” and the entire Stallion Ridge series.
Series: Stallion Ridge #7
Rating: 5 stars - I loved it!
After the ending of the previous book, I have been eagerly waiting to get my hands on this one to find out how West will save Stallion Ridge. From the very beginning, I was hooked on this story. West is a very interesting and troubled centaur who feels like he has let his brother down. West was a deadly fighter and could be heartless when he needed to be, but he also was extremely protective of his family.
Gin has been another mysterious character in this series. He has been Leo’s bodyguard and has helped contain Lucas when he was a rampaging Manticore. Like West, he also is struggling with his past actions or lack thereof. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Gin is possessive of what he considers his. It's always the quiet ones who surprise you.
These two had a very intense relationship filled with sword fights, giant beasts, and some kinky sexy times. Their relationship was also very emotional because they had to accept their pasts and present actions, and sometimes go against their ideas of honor to do the right thing. I just loved these two and their enemies-to-lovers relationship.
For the battle at Stallion Ridge, it was as action packed and intense as I was expecting, also very emotional, which was a bit expected after all of Sky’s warnings. I think this was a great ending for this series, even if it was a bit sad. I do hope she writes more short stories within this world though because I am not ready to let these men go.
*ARC provided by the author for an honest review.*
You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
Rating: 5 stars - I loved it!
After the ending of the previous book, I have been eagerly waiting to get my hands on this one to find out how West will save Stallion Ridge. From the very beginning, I was hooked on this story. West is a very interesting and troubled centaur who feels like he has let his brother down. West was a deadly fighter and could be heartless when he needed to be, but he also was extremely protective of his family.
Gin has been another mysterious character in this series. He has been Leo’s bodyguard and has helped contain Lucas when he was a rampaging Manticore. Like West, he also is struggling with his past actions or lack thereof. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Gin is possessive of what he considers his. It's always the quiet ones who surprise you.
These two had a very intense relationship filled with sword fights, giant beasts, and some kinky sexy times. Their relationship was also very emotional because they had to accept their pasts and present actions, and sometimes go against their ideas of honor to do the right thing. I just loved these two and their enemies-to-lovers relationship.
For the battle at Stallion Ridge, it was as action packed and intense as I was expecting, also very emotional, which was a bit expected after all of Sky’s warnings. I think this was a great ending for this series, even if it was a bit sad. I do hope she writes more short stories within this world though because I am not ready to let these men go.
*ARC provided by the author for an honest review.*
You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No