Sarah McCarty

Promises Linger
4 Stars

Synopsis:
Elizabeth Coyote will lose her ranch and everything she has worked for unless she marries. Asa MacIntyre wants nothing more than land of his own and a lady for his wife. Are they a perfect match or a disaster waiting to happen?

Review:
Steamy historical romance (erotica) with an amazingly sexy and stunningly sweet hero and a feisty heroine. The sex scenes are explicit but contribute to the construction of the relationship between the characters and to the overall storyline.

Elizabeth and Asa have fantastic chemistry. Asa is charming, loveable and has the patience of a saint. Elizabeth is more of an amalgamation of opposites. She initially comes across as strong willed and spirited but has moments in which she is completely naïve and innocent, and this is annoying at times.

The plot is engaging with 75% revolving around Elizabeth coming to terms with her trust issues and learning to love Asa, and the other 25% focusing on the question of who is sabotaging Elizabeth’s ranch. The suspense aspect of the story is a little lacking and the identity of the villain is obvious.

The story is well written with some very entertaining and amusing moments but the dialogue could have been better. The conversations are often stilted and consist of monosyllabic responses, and some readers may find the vocabulary vulgar and offensive (keep in mind that this is an erotica book after all). Moreover, there is a mix of period accurate and modern language that can be confusing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and the interaction between the characters and look forward to reading the next one.… (mer)

Tucker's Claim
3 Stars

Half-Native American, half-white, Tucker McCade has only ever felt a sense of belonging with Hell’s Eight, the men with whom he came of age in a time of destruction. Now an adult, Tucker is a Texas Ranger at home with violence and danger. Unfortunately, his life is anathema for Sally Mae Schermerhorn, the woman he has come to love and desire. As a Quaker and a nurse, Sally Mae knows that Tucker is the last person she should love, but the heart wants what the heart wants if only Sally Mae can reconcile her mind to it.

The story begins after Tucker and Sally Mae have already met and admitted their attraction to themselves if not to each other. Their backstory is provided, but it would have been better had this been shown rather than told as it feels like the reader is coming into a film in the middle.

Sally Mae’s dialogue is replete with “thous” and thys”, which might have been the manner of speech for Quakers at the time but it feels forced in this book, especially considering the erotic nature of the story and Sally Mae’s action in this regard.

That said, Sally Mae and Tucker’s romance is sweet although the conflict with the townsfolk over Tucker’s origins is underdeveloped and Sally Mae’s issues with Tucker’s profession are resolved much too easily.

All in all, not a bad love story if a little incongruous with the setting.… (mer)