This is the second romance book I’ve reviewed, and this one is a western. I’ve only ever read one other romantic western, and while good, wasn’t a sub-genre that particularly interested me. However, Karen Witemeyer’s fourth book has me wondering if I should pick up some of her previous efforts. Dreamy but practical Meredith Hayes puts her own future at risk to warn tough as nails rancher Travis Archer and his brothers of imminent danger. I’ll admit the description was little unclear and, like many book jacket summaries, makes the story sound cliché. But, also typically, it also doesn’t do this book justice. Travis’s brothers, while minor characters, feel real and fleshed out rather than like window dressing. The action sequences are intense without being farfetched, better than I expected for a romance novel. The use of changing perspective allows the reader to see into the minds of the main characters and experience the age old struggle between man and woman as they try to read each other’s minds and motives. The innocent attraction between the characters is a welcome change from the oversexed romance genre. When was the last time you read about a man attracted to a woman’s ankles and calves, and at the same time thoughts of the cozy home she could help provide? Yet these interludes are written with all the heat of a bedroom scene and none of the smut. While the ending, may be a tad predictable Witemeyer definitely takes us on a less traveled route with some well written twists and turns.
I was not compensated for this review but I did receive a free copy of the book to review.
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