Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔 (I wanted a bit more background on the hero and his ranch)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (plus another for the side characters)
Humor: A touch
Perspective: third person from both hero and heroine, also some from side characters Olivia and Kyle and Luis
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: It takes just a little bit – page 44 of 433 (chapter 2 of 23)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever
Epilogue: Yes, it’s brief and kind of a summary of their lives together (this many
Format: read a paperback from the library
Why I chose this book: it was recommended on a cowboy post in our vintage HR group and I wanted to give it a try!
Mains: This is a M/F relationship between a cishet hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is book 2 of Howard’s Western Ladies series but I think it’s fine alone. I can’t see how the series is connected – if you know please feel free to let me know!

Basic plot:
Dee has her farm and independence – but when Lucas comes to town he wants her farm...and her.

Give this a try if you want:
- you’ll have to be okay with some elements of colonization (it’s an American Western – brief mention of ‘Indian’ tribes, but overall no page time with conflict) and thought processes of characters – both our mains are homesteaders in Colorado in the post gold rush era in America and very defensive of their land. There’s also non-consensual and dubious consent elements here.
- Prosper, Colorado setting
- post gold rush – didn’t peg an exact year but would guess 1860s/70s or so?
- small town
- prodigal hero returns (10 years away)
- farmer heroine
- rancher hero
- he pursues
- enemies to lovers elements
- medium steam – 3ish full scenes between the mains, plus one from the secondary romance

Ages:
- heroine is 19, didn’t catch hero but would guess mid to late 20s at least

First line:
Lucas Cochran had been back in town for almost a month, but it still amazed him how much the little town of Prosper had lived up to its name.

My thoughts:
This was my first Howard – if I ever saw her mentioned, her books never really intrigued me so I always bypassed them. But I saw her mentioned on one of our ‘cowboy’ posts in our Vintage Romance group and I thought I’d give it a try.

And I was glad I did! I really liked so much about this book and liked her writing – I would definitely read more of her. This book took me by surprise in some good ways – I had low expectations for it. So the sex was steamier than I was thinking it would be. I liked the characters (mostly) but really loved the heroine. She was so bad ass and independent and I loved how she stood up to Lucas. I liked Lucas but oh he’s also such an arrogant jerk. And he does something towards the end of the story that I really despised but I ended up liking the way it was handled and I liked the self reflection the hero had (I think if he didn’t have that it would have tanked the rating for me a bit).

I loved that this was pretty character focused and not a ton of dramatic plot events – this is why I tend to not pick up a lot of westerns because I think of them as really busy with gun fights and not getting to know the characters as well – but this one proved me wrong.

Biggest complaints are the hero says ‘shut up’, calls her a ‘damn idiot’ and says ‘damn you’ to the heroine – I see this in quite a few older romances and I always despise it.


Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my frist
Average rating from me: 4 stars
Favorite book: This one by default

Quotes any typos are my own! I am bad with typos, I apologize

“You’re safe for you,” he said. “But when you’re healed, things will change. I’ll be coming after you, and it won’t take me long to get you.”
---
“Don’t come back here, because you aren’t welcome.”
“Are you going to use the shotgun on me?” he taunted, leaning down so close that she could see the glittering depths of his eyes. “Then take your best shot, sweetheart, because I’ll be back.”
---
“This is what it would be like between us,” he muttered. “Hot and wild. Think about it, damn you.” This thumb rubbed her nipple into a tight peak, and her entire body clenched from the pleasure and pain of it. He cupped both breasts, holding them high and together, and buried his face against them.
 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- parental and sibling death
- outdated thoughts and terms in regards to Indigenous People living in America
- themes of colonization and racism of North America by European settlers
- mention of attempted sexual assault and harassment of heroine – she shoots people off her property to deter them
- gun usage including a shoot out between men from a ranch and the heroine that results in injuries
- the first sex scene is basically rape – the hero is very aggressive and pushes his kisses and sex with her – she goes through some body betrayed me emotions
Author content warnings? Nothing listed

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story: I consider the mains of the story Lucas and Dee but there’s scenes between some side characters

 
Safe sex: 

  No but after the risk of pregnancy is talked about after a few sex sessions, they talk about using a vinegar sponge 

 
How’s the consent? 

  It’s not the best – If you want strong consent in your novels I would forgo this one because there’s definite noncon kisses/dubious elements with rape/body betrayed me themes in the sex 

 
Pregnancy/children in story? 

  No but there is the risk of pregnancy and talk of pregnancy and there are children mention in the epilogue 

 
Pg 125/433 – kiss
Pg 132/433 – kiss
pg 155/433 – kisses between side characters Luis and Olivia
Pg 165/433 – 🔥kisses, breast play, that leads to missionary (there’s definitely rape elements here – kind of a mix with body betrayed me – the classic old school I can’t say yes because that will make me a whore so I’ll fight you to make me a good girl...ya know) on the floor in the cabin
Pg 193/433 – kisses between Luis and Olivia
Pg 220/433 – 🔥missionary in the grass by the creek (it’s on the shorter side) followed by her on top a little bit later
Pg 248/433 – kisses and breast play between Luis and Olivia
Pg 270/433 – quick sex scene between Kyle and Tillie
Pg 344/433 – sex between Luis and Olivia
Pg 381/433 – 🔥her on top