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readinginthegarden's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 stars!
This book would of been a 5/5 stars if it wasn’t for the last 100 pages. Why does every vintage historical romance have to include so much violence against women? I knew going into in that a western novel would have violence. I do love the Wild West it is such an interesting part of history I love western films, video games, books etc. I knew it would have grit. But this is a romance. If it was a Tolstoy tragedy it would be a different story. But as soon as Jake hits Victoria I instantly knew this wasn’t going to be smooth sailing.
Before the last 100 pages I thought the book was so good. Romance, grit, action and I love the relationship between Emma, Celia and Victoria. A gripping story about revenge with steamy romantic scenes.
But for some reason the author decides that she needs to create a divide between the main love interests. She for some reason writes in that Jake thinks the baby isn’t his. Which then turns him violent. Psychically and verbally. He hits her and insults her. It doesn’t actually make any sense. Then they stop talking to each other, other than to insult one another. Also a massive needless tragedy happens which completely changes the dynamic of the story. It long becomes a romance but to a tragedy. If you want a gritty romance than read this but if you want something warm and fluffy I would stay away!
This book would of been a 5/5 stars if it wasn’t for the last 100 pages. Why does every vintage historical romance have to include so much violence against women? I knew going into in that a western novel would have violence. I do love the Wild West it is such an interesting part of history I love western films, video games, books etc. I knew it would have grit. But this is a romance. If it was a Tolstoy tragedy it would be a different story. But as soon as Jake hits Victoria I instantly knew this wasn’t going to be smooth sailing.
Before the last 100 pages I thought the book was so good. Romance, grit, action and I love the relationship between Emma, Celia and Victoria. A gripping story about revenge with steamy romantic scenes.
But for some reason the author decides that she needs to create a divide between the main love interests. She for some reason writes in that Jake thinks the baby isn’t his. Which then turns him violent. Psychically and verbally. He hits her and insults her. It doesn’t actually make any sense. Then they stop talking to each other, other than to insult one another. Also a massive needless tragedy happens which completely changes the dynamic of the story. It long becomes a romance but to a tragedy. If you want a gritty romance than read this but if you want something warm and fluffy I would stay away!
elifobeth's review against another edition
4.0
โห้ย เรื่องนี้แทบจะชอบมากที่สุดอยู่แล้ว นั่งอ่านไปน้ำตาหยดไป เสียอยู่อย่างเดียวไม่น่ามีที่พระเอกทำร้ายนางเอกเลย
dmc_lean's review against another edition
I have… so many thoughts. Where to start?
What I liked:
- the description of Roper at the beginning as this cold blooded killer really gave me first season of Dexter vibes, and I liked him (that changed multiple times while reading but I’ll get to that)
- watching the Major go insane
- the build up of tension leading into the half way point where Jake, Garnet and the Major are all making moves that you know will culminate in a confrontation
What grew on me:
- Celia. I was not a fan in the beginning but by the end I was 1000% gutted about her ending. It did not serve the story and she deserved better. Her and Luis was cute as hell.
- The head hopping POVs. This took a while to get used to but I was surprised by how much I didn’t mind it. It helped keep the story going.
What I am still conflicted about:
- Jake. When he was just a badass gunslinger getting revenge on the Major, I was all for it. In fact, if the book had ONLY been about that, I would have loved it. But as a romantic lead? No.
- Victoria. I can count on one hand the amount of times she impressed me. I’d need a few extra limbs to count the amount of times she frustrated the heck out of me. She also fell in love with Jake very quickly, and I didn’t feel very connected to the romance.
What I could not deal with:
- Boy, is it obvious this was written at a different time. The 90’s eh? If historical accuracy is your thing, then you might not be bothered by all the casual racism, sexism, misogyny, and sexual harassment but I’d rather my love stories not have those things.
What I liked:
- the description of Roper at the beginning as this cold blooded killer really gave me first season of Dexter vibes, and I liked him (that changed multiple times while reading but I’ll get to that)
- watching the Major go insane
- the build up of tension leading into the half way point where Jake, Garnet and the Major are all making moves that you know will culminate in a confrontation
What grew on me:
- Celia. I was not a fan in the beginning but by the end I was 1000% gutted about her ending. It did not serve the story and she deserved better. Her and Luis was cute as hell.
- The head hopping POVs. This took a while to get used to but I was surprised by how much I didn’t mind it. It helped keep the story going.
What I am still conflicted about:
- Jake. When he was just a badass gunslinger getting revenge on the Major, I was all for it. In fact, if the book had ONLY been about that, I would have loved it. But as a romantic lead? No.
- Victoria. I can count on one hand the amount of times she impressed me. I’d need a few extra limbs to count the amount of times she frustrated the heck out of me. She also fell in love with Jake very quickly, and I didn’t feel very connected to the romance.
What I could not deal with:
- Boy, is it obvious this was written at a different time. The 90’s eh? If historical accuracy is your thing, then you might not be bothered by all the casual racism, sexism, misogyny, and sexual harassment but I’d rather my love stories not have those things.
melluuvsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I think if you like cowboys, you'll likely enjoy this. 3.5 stars
It's got the classic Linda Howard mean-ish cool hero. The h spent a lot of time resisting a physical relationship with the H... her resistance and scandalized virgin routine got on my nerves. It's fun at first and then it just becomes tedious.
The first half REALLY drags, but at around 50% it takes off.
The H does something that was almost unforgivable. I was ready to punch him out. Does he "redeem" himself?? Maybe? I guess?
FOR THE SAFETY SQUAD
- no cheating/sharing
- OW drama - the h sees the H smexxing up someone else, but it is before they are intimate with each other
- domestic violence - the H hits the h hard enough to knock her to the floor and leave a bruise on her face - because he thinks she's pregnant with someone else's baby
- surprise virgin h
- dubcon/noncon
It's got the classic Linda Howard mean-ish cool hero. The h spent a lot of time resisting a physical relationship with the H... her resistance and scandalized virgin routine got on my nerves. It's fun at first and then it just becomes tedious.
The first half REALLY drags, but at around 50% it takes off.
The H does something that was almost unforgivable. I was ready to punch him out. Does he "redeem" himself?? Maybe? I guess?
FOR THE SAFETY SQUAD
- no cheating/sharing
- OW drama - the h sees the H smexxing up someone else, but it is before they are intimate with each other
- domestic violence - the H hits the h hard enough to knock her to the floor and leave a bruise on her face - because he thinks she's pregnant with someone else's baby
- surprise virgin h
- dubcon/noncon
laurla's review against another edition
-this book made me cry. lots of death in the ending.
thenia's review against another edition
3.0
The story of Jake, a man focused on taking revenge for his family and regaining control of their lost ranch, and Victoria, a woman who gets married to a man she doesn't know in order to save her family.
Victoria's husband is the man responsible for the death of Jake's parents and Jake is working under cover at the ranch to gather information that will aid his and his brother's mission of taking it over. That's where he meets Victoria, whom he wants to hate, believing that she only married for money, but instead starts developing feelings for the more he gets to know her.
The two fall in love, but Jake's plans are in the way of their relationship, and.
I wasn't particularly invested in their story, not really feeling the love between them, while being slightly annoyed by both secondary romances,. All in all I didn't get the happy ending feels I love in romances from this one. Let's hope I'll like the next one, [b:Angel Creek|11544903|Angel Creek (Western Ladies, #2)|Linda Howard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328342011s/11544903.jpg|648380], better.
Victoria's husband is the man responsible for the death of Jake's parents and Jake is working under cover at the ranch to gather information that will aid his and his brother's mission of taking it over. That's where he meets Victoria, whom he wants to hate, believing that she only married for money, but instead starts developing feelings for the more he gets to know her.
The two fall in love, but Jake's plans are in the way of their relationship, and
Spoiler
while Victoria is getting ready to run away with him, he disappears to gather his men and take over the ranch, making her think he abandoned her. She runs away on her own and having accomplished his goal, he runs after her, but his reasons for it don't appear to be very sentimental, since it turns out that he needs to marry her to keep control of the ranchI wasn't particularly invested in their story, not really feeling the love between them, while being slightly annoyed by both secondary romances,
Spoiler
that of Victoria's cousin with Jake's brother who refused to commit to her just because, until at the very end decided to do so since she was carrying his baby, and that of Victoria's beautiful but not particularly bright sister, who finds love with a loving, tender man who adores her, only to end up dying of stupidity, when she gets too close to a wild horse everyone's been warning her to keep her distance from and it ends up trampling herlestatmalfoy's review against another edition
5.0
This is the novel that made me fall in love with the Western romances.
mariepiperbooks's review against another edition
1.0
Here's the thing - I get vintage romances. Really, I do. I get that rape was used as a titilating plot device all the time because women weren't supposed to enjoy sex and being "forced" by aggressive and sexy alpha dudes was a THING. Like some of the other reviews on here have said, I let that slide (though the threat of rape against the leading lady and her sisters, especially the 16 year old, is constant) --but I stopped reading when (SPOILERS) the "hero" finds out the heroine is pregnant and slaps her so hard he leaves a mark and puffiness because he doesn't think its his. That's a big nope, IMHO.
katiev's review against another edition
2.0
Hmmmmm..... Hard to rate. I'm thinking 2.5, but I just can't quite bring myself to round up. If it hadn't been for the one action I'll discuss below, I probably would have rated higher or given that full 3 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD
It's no secret that I'm a fan of the old school bodice rippers, so the consent issues didn't bother me. I have a big disconnect in my head between acceptable in RL and acceptable in Romancelandia. It's almost like a split personality :-/
This was a typical old school rape/forced seduction plot. The heroine was in love with the hero and wanted him, but thought he didn't love her and therefore tried to hold herself back. The hero was determined to have her and seduce her through her defenses. Basically if he'd said the 3 magic words then the consent issues would go out the window. It's a standard bodice ripper trope.
What did bother me was that he slapped her once, so hard that it threw her into the wall, bruised her face, and busted her lip. Again, I have that disconnect, but the hero hitting the heroine and hitting her that hard are hard for me to swallow period. It's weird that the forced seduction/rape tropes don't get me but hitting does.
The heroine does not let him off easy. Thank god for that. It takes him 3 months to get back in her bed and that's because he forces the issue. After that she still keeps herself aloof from him right up until the final pages of the book.
In a historical I can put up with things that I can't in a contemporary. Social mores were so different that I know it had to effect the way men/women interacted. At that time it was perfectly legal for a man to do almost whatever he pleased with his wife. Doesn't make it right, but I'm not a fan of historicals that simply put a 21st century character in a fluffy dress or cowboy hat. Howard did not do that, these two were definitely not modern characters, but something was missing in the delivery that I really wanted.
I can forgive a fictional character for bad deeds, but I have to see the remorse. The hero did have remorse, but it wasn't expressed well. Yes, he did apologize and he didn't get instant forgiveness, but I needed *something* - some sort of heartfelt scene that we never got. Despite the sex scenes there was a real lack of intimacy between the H/h that we never see breached. There are hints of it at the end, but I'd liked to have seen it. We were privy to all of his and her internal thoughts, but I never got that scene between the H/h that would have satisfied me. I needed that scene where they laid themselves open to one another. Instead we get a very hard, aloof man who doesn't express himself well and a very staid, proper and proud woman who also doesn't express herself well.
SPOILERS AHEAD
It's no secret that I'm a fan of the old school bodice rippers, so the consent issues didn't bother me. I have a big disconnect in my head between acceptable in RL and acceptable in Romancelandia. It's almost like a split personality :-/
This was a typical old school rape/forced seduction plot. The heroine was in love with the hero and wanted him, but thought he didn't love her and therefore tried to hold herself back. The hero was determined to have her and seduce her through her defenses. Basically if he'd said the 3 magic words then the consent issues would go out the window. It's a standard bodice ripper trope.
What did bother me was that he slapped her once, so hard that it threw her into the wall, bruised her face, and busted her lip. Again, I have that disconnect, but the hero hitting the heroine and hitting her that hard are hard for me to swallow period. It's weird that the forced seduction/rape tropes don't get me but hitting does.
The heroine does not let him off easy. Thank god for that. It takes him 3 months to get back in her bed and that's because he forces the issue. After that she still keeps herself aloof from him right up until the final pages of the book.
In a historical I can put up with things that I can't in a contemporary. Social mores were so different that I know it had to effect the way men/women interacted. At that time it was perfectly legal for a man to do almost whatever he pleased with his wife. Doesn't make it right, but I'm not a fan of historicals that simply put a 21st century character in a fluffy dress or cowboy hat. Howard did not do that, these two were definitely not modern characters, but something was missing in the delivery that I really wanted.
I can forgive a fictional character for bad deeds, but I have to see the remorse. The hero did have remorse, but it wasn't expressed well. Yes, he did apologize and he didn't get instant forgiveness, but I needed *something* - some sort of heartfelt scene that we never got. Despite the sex scenes there was a real lack of intimacy between the H/h that we never see breached. There are hints of it at the end, but I'd liked to have seen it. We were privy to all of his and her internal thoughts, but I never got that scene between the H/h that would have satisfied me. I needed that scene where they laid themselves open to one another. Instead we get a very hard, aloof man who doesn't express himself well and a very staid, proper and proud woman who also doesn't express herself well.
laura_sorensen's review against another edition
2.0
Typical of its time, this romance is one where women have basically just their bodies and their dignity, and both are stolen from them regularly by force, returned, and taken again until there just isn't any fight left. It makes for uncomfortable reading.
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