I must be upfront and state that Velocity House Publishing sent me a complimentary copy of this book for review.  I don't usually accept these thinking that I'd feel a sense of obligation to write the most favorable review I could, but after a series of e-mails back and forth I decided they were indeed solely looking for an honest review and decided to give this offer a go.  I hope they truly meant it because for me this book was less then stellar.

First my overall opinion of this book then I'll step back and explain why.  I genuinely found little to like within this book and would be hesitant to recommend it to others unless they were fans of lightweight western literature.  I would give only 2 stars to this book.

Why? (This will contain some spoilers, but I will try to keep them mild and not reveal too much)-

The characters are mostly NOT likeable and in my opinion don't read as true to life nor are they consistent in behavior.

Morgan Kane (our hero)- He's supposed to be a tough, wily Texas Ranger and at first he comes across as just that.  He experiences an ambush on a train which leaves him close to dead.  He did some truly amazing things to remain alive as I would expect from a ranger, but where the heck did he get a needle?  Then after being found by a local rancher within a day he suddenly just folds.  All the strong tough guy personality falls aside and he becomes a woe is me, my life is over type of guy.  No signs of the mental toughness I'd expect from this type of character and no spark of desire for revenge even mentioned until over halfway through the book.

Yes I get that his weaknesses are supposed to be gambling, drinking and women, but seriously this guy wants to, to put it in modern terms "hook up" with almost every single woman he meets in the book even those he has a strong reason to hate and those he has known for mere hours or a day.  His bigoted attitudes towards women and Mexicans weren't at all what I was expecting either.

The Women- the first woman we meet is a femme fatale type named Allison who Morgan meets on the train.  Within hours he's kissing this woman and sliding his hand into her blouse reaching second base.  She lures him to the place of the ambush, but he still continually thinks of her as the book goes along sometimes with hate, but more often with desire.  How tight could this connection between them be when he's known her for a total of maybe 4 hours?  What woman from this time period would be that loose in a public place?  She also constantly daydreams about him and has an "itch" she thinks only he can scratch.  Say what?  You hate this guy, lure him to what is to be his death and you still want him to get in your pants?  Not believable.

Next woman is the rancher's daughter Linda.  She is a young woman of 18 to his 33.  After seeing him lying injured and having 2 extremely short conversations with him she is in love, asking for kisses and in her head is begging him to stay and not leave her.  Morgan in this same amount of time is feeling maybe 33 isn't too old, he's attracted and he can maybe see a future with her.  Okay the story needs to move along, but at pow, wham, light speed?

Then we met Inez a young Mexican girl.  Within hours of finding out Morgan is around she has "accidentally on purpose" managed to see him naked while sleeping and before the day is out is contriving to rub her breasts against him and by the next day is succeeding and asking for kisses.  Morgan appears he doesn't want to follow up on it seeing her as another potential Linda (seriously he's falling in love yet again), but he still does kiss her.

What are they putting in the water the women are drinking?  It feels like Morgan got into the supply too.

Lastly, I found myself paging backwards again and again to see if I'd somehow skipped reading pages or even whole chapters.  There seemed to be large chunks of the story that were either just glossed over or completely left out.  That shattered the stories flow in spots and created a significant amount of confusion for the reader.

I thank Velocity House for the complimentary copy, but just can't urge others to pick up a copy nor do I see myself reading any other books from this series...
I must be upfront and state that Velocity House Publishing sent me a complimentary copy of this book for review. I don't usually accept these thinking that I'd feel a sense of obligation to write the most favorable review I could, but after a series of e-mails back and forth I decided they were indeed solely looking for an honest review and decided to give this offer a go. I hope they truly meant it because for me this book was less then stellar. First my overall opinion of this book then I'll step back and explain why. I genuinely found little to like within this book and would be hesitant to recommend it to others unless they were fans of lightweight western literature. I would give only 2 stars to this book. Why? (This will contain some spoilers, but I will try to keep them mild and not reveal too much)-

The characters are mostly NOT likeable and in my opinion don't read as true to life nor are they consistent in behavior. Morgan Kane (our hero)- He's supposed to be a tough, wily Texas Ranger and at first he comes across as just that. He experiences an ambush on a train which leaves him close to dead. He did some truly amazing things to remain alive as I would expect from a ranger, but where the heck did he get a needle? Then after being found by a local rancher within a day he suddenly just folds. All the strong tough guy personality falls aside and he becomes a woe is me, my life is over type of guy. No signs of the mental toughness I'd expect from this type of character and no spark of desire for revenge even mentioned until over halfway through the book. Yes I get that his weaknesses are supposed to be gambling, drinking and women, but seriously this guy wants to, to put it in modern terms "hook up" with almost every single woman he meets in the book even those he has a strong reason to hate and those he has known for mere hours or a day. His bigoted attitudes towards women and Mexicans weren't at all what I was expecting either. The Women- the first woman we meet is a femme fatale type named Allison who Morgan meets on the train. Within hours he's kissing this woman and sliding his hand into her blouse reaching second base. She lures him to the place of the ambush, but he still continually thinks of her as the book goes along sometimes with hate, but more often with desire. How tight could this connection between them be when he's known her for a total of maybe 4 hours? What woman from this time period would be that loose in a public place? She also constantly daydreams about him and has an "itch" she thinks only he can scratch. Say what? You hate this guy, lure him to what is to be his death and you still want him to get in your pants? Not believable. Next woman is the rancher's daughter Linda. She is a young woman of 18 to his 33. After seeing him lying injured and having 2 extremely short conversations with him she is in love, asking for kisses and in her head is begging him to stay and not leave her. Morgan in this same amount of time is feeling maybe 33 isn't too old, he's attracted and he can maybe see a future with her. Okay the story needs to move along, but at pow, wham, light speed? Then we met Inez a young Mexican girl. Within hours of finding out Morgan is around she has "accidentally on purpose" managed to see him naked while sleeping and before the day is out is contriving to rub her breasts against him and by the next day is succeeding and asking for kisses. Morgan appears he doesn't want to follow up on it seeing her as another potential Linda (seriously he's falling in love yet again), but he still does kiss her. What are they putting in the water the women are drinking? It feels like Morgan got into the supply too. Lastly, I found myself paging backwards again and again to see if I'd somehow skipped reading pages or even whole chapters. There seemed to be large chunks of the story that were either just glossed over or completely left out. That shattered the stories flow in spots and created a significant amount of confusion for the reader. I thank Velocity House for the complimentary copy, but just can't urge others to pick up a copy nor do I see myself reading any other books from this series...