Title : Compromised Hearts
Author : Hannah Howell
Demographic : Adult
Genre : Romance, Historical, Western
Hannah Howell heats things up with this historical romance in the Wild West.
From Goodreads :
Emily Cordelia of Boston was scarcely suited for the dangerous journey to her brother's ranch in San Luis Valley. When Indians attacked, she and a young boy were left at the mercy of a half-breed who offered to guide them to safety. His only request was that Emily share his bedroll.
The story follows Emily Cordelia heading to Colorado to find her brother, since she recently left her sister's family home and husband. The novel starts off right after Emily and her entourage were attacked by 'Injuns,' and was safely hidden unaware. She and a three-year old boy named Thornton were the only ones to have survived. With bare knowledge of their survival, she still starts off to to San Luis with what little they had. Then comes in Cloud Ryder, a quarter Cherokee drifter, who is also conveniently heading in the same direction. He makes a deal to guide and protect them in exchange for her body. She complies reluctantly, but thats where their adventure begins.
Emily's brother, Harper is there to welcome them but his wife is non to pleased and has a plan for her. She was to be married to Chilton, a bargainer to help pay off the family's debt. Cloud stops their plan and whole lot of drama continues from there. With the help of Cloud's brother, Wolfe and their friend, James they help Cloud build a new life with Emily and the boy, Thornton.
I have to first say that this was a re-issue of the novel, first published in 1989. I don't think Howell changed much in this edition but I can see the blatant difference between her writing in this novel and in her Highlanders one. It's not as descriptive and the plot was average, with too much characters popping in and out, without real purpose. Not to say it wasn't an entertaining read but I was just expecting a bit more since I never read any of her Western novels before. I think it'll be a hit and go for anyone who reads it.
Told in third person perspective of Emily, Cloud, and other side characters, we see Emily is not a meek character. She wants to survive with Thorton and happens to fall in love with Cloud while doing so. She is pretty tough with her parasol, and she knows being with Cloud would lead to a broken heart, yet she still continues on. She is from Boston, so to Cloud and his friends/family, she is a born and bred lady that differs to the saloon type girls that usual occupy their time. I liked her and there were some comedic parts I enjoyed with her being a proper lady. There was nothing I really disliked about her, but I wasn't really absorbed into her like other heroines.
Cloud . . Cloud is a womanizer and not a family man in the beginning. He was heading to San Luis Valley to finally settle down after been through some wars, but didn't expect the petite Emily to entice him. I actually had to get use to Cloud, as I usually like my heros from the get go. It seemed every city Cloud visits, he has a woman to warm his bed. It was funny to see Emily get jealous from them, but overall, it mostly annoyed me until he became the family man Emily needed. He's a total Alpha and I liked that about him, just rather he wasn't such a womanizer. Cloud didn't stray from Emily, so I hope readers don't get that impression, but I just wished Howell didn't need to extend how such a philanderer he was.
My Rating : 4 Stars
I went down a star from my usual, it just didn't appeal to me as much as I wanted, sadly. It's still a good book but I kinda wanted more involvement with Thornton, since I fell for that sweet kid from page two. The writing was good, not confusing and mostly on point, but I expected alot more since I read Howell's other book, so that's mostly why I rated down.
Romance : 4
People would think since this is a Historical Romance I would rate it 5, but I didn't. It came back to Cloud mostly, I liked him as a character but it took awhile. The sex was more fluffy than steamy, which isn't bad, but I didn't dive right into it than I usual do.
Recommended : Yes.
There was nothing wrong with this book that I passionately disliked and I still think it's worth the read. If readers out there like Historical Romance and something light to read, go for it. It's still enjoyable and I don't regret reading it.
No comments:
Post a Comment