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dirtymartini 's review for:
A Lady of the West
by Linda Howard
.
Well Hell. It's Linda Howard, so of course it was well written and the characters could practically climb outta the pages. But still, there were things that made me not love it.
The story starts and ends with violence. In fact there was quite a bit of violence.
Two boys have their parents murdered and their futures stolen by their father's deceitful foreman.
Twenty years later 'The General' as the murderer likes to call himself decides to buy a wife from the South after it was gutted in the war. Victoria agrees to marry him if he will pay for her parent's old age and take care of her little sister and cousin as well.
Once she arrives on the ranch she questions her decision... and their safety. Especially her little sister Celia, who is too pretty for her own good and a beacon of innocence. All the ranch hands (and guns) watch them like predators. Especially Jake Roper.
Twenty years is a long time to plan vengeance.
I loved the characters but there are some spoilers below for the safety gang. And I gotta say, these are the reason it wasn't a 5 star read for me. I was also unimpressed with the romance between Jake's brother and Vic's cousin Emma. I thought Ben was a douche nozzle.
romance safety
There's a side romance between Jake's brother Ben and Vic's cousin Emma. He swears he will never marry so she refuses to have sex with him. So after a few months, he goes to Santa Fe and pays for a night with a prostitute.
Violence safety
There are a few shootouts. An evil stallion that the General owns kills one of the mexican workers and also Celia. That part really threw me. I thought Celia's romance with Luis was the most romantic part of the story and then LH just kills her off. Grrrrr.
Jake hits Victoria so hard she falls down and has trouble talking for days. He did this over a misunderstanding that he later grovels for. And I really did feel that he regretted it. Vic slaps Jake when he calls their baby a bastard.
Well Hell. It's Linda Howard, so of course it was well written and the characters could practically climb outta the pages. But still, there were things that made me not love it.
The story starts and ends with violence. In fact there was quite a bit of violence.
Two boys have their parents murdered and their futures stolen by their father's deceitful foreman.
Twenty years later 'The General' as the murderer likes to call himself decides to buy a wife from the South after it was gutted in the war. Victoria agrees to marry him if he will pay for her parent's old age and take care of her little sister and cousin as well.
Once she arrives on the ranch she questions her decision... and their safety. Especially her little sister Celia, who is too pretty for her own good and a beacon of innocence. All the ranch hands (and guns) watch them like predators. Especially Jake Roper.
Twenty years is a long time to plan vengeance.
I loved the characters but there are some spoilers below for the safety gang. And I gotta say, these are the reason it wasn't a 5 star read for me. I was also unimpressed with the romance between Jake's brother and Vic's cousin Emma. I thought Ben was a douche nozzle.
romance safety
Spoiler
Jake is 33 and Vic is 21. She's a virgin because the General couldn't get hard because of PTSD. At about 20% Vic catches Jake in flagrante delicto with the tinker's daughter. But he did feel ashamed that Vic had seen them and wanted to run after her and declare that it was meaningless (like the would help). He stays true to her after that.There's a side romance between Jake's brother Ben and Vic's cousin Emma. He swears he will never marry so she refuses to have sex with him. So after a few months, he goes to Santa Fe and pays for a night with a prostitute.
Violence safety
Spoiler
There's a lot of raping and threats of rape. The book starts with the boy's mother being raped by the General before he shoots her dead. Then Jake manages to stab him a couple times before running away to survive. The General rapes the housekeeper's daughter. Both the General and his foreman Garnet, plan to rape Vic's little sister Celia.There are a few shootouts. An evil stallion that the General owns kills one of the mexican workers and also Celia. That part really threw me. I thought Celia's romance with Luis was the most romantic part of the story and then LH just kills her off. Grrrrr.
Jake hits Victoria so hard she falls down and has trouble talking for days. He did this over a misunderstanding that he later grovels for. And I really did feel that he regretted it. Vic slaps Jake when he calls their baby a bastard.