Review: Shadow's Stand by Sarah McCarty

Shadow's Stand

by Sarah McCarty

Hell's Eight #5

 

I love a hero who thinks he is a cold hearted bastard, when really he is a big fluffy marshmallow on the inside. All he needs is the love of a good woman to bring out his softer side, soon he will be feeding stray kittens (if he isn't already) and helping elderly women across the street (again, if he isn't already!) Shadow Ochoa is that kind of guy. So when Fei Yen saves him from the gallows and marries him so he will protect her whilst she corrects her crazy father's wrongs, he is a goner. It would all be a very quick happily ever after, if only there wasn't such a large bounty on Shadow's head and Fei's gold wasn't wanted by any scavanger who hears about it.

What I love about Romancelandia is that the bigger and tougher the heroes who claim to love nobody are, the more and more they talk/think about their tender feelings and how they couldn't possible have any. Men *sigh* even in highly romanticized romance they can be dumb as rocks. But, despite that little factor making me smile a little, I did really enjoy this book. I have read Sarah McCarty before, and loved her other historical western series Promises and I thought this was just as good. It had a little more action and adventure in it then her Promises series, which I thought added a lot of excitement to the book but also a very sweet romance.

If you like your heroes, tall, dark, broody and very very sexy which, luckily I do, then Shadow will be the guy for you. There are plenty of his kind of character around so don't expect anything too original, but that didn't stop me liking him. Fei was also good, I like a heroine that doesn't always expect the hero to save her and has a mind of her own, and Fei definitely did, armed with dynamite and a few matches she can pretty much take care of herself!

I haven't actually read the other titles in the series, but if you have, characters from the previous books pop up, and now I have read a little about them I am definietly intrigued about their own stories and will be reading the rest of Hell's Eight as soon as I get the funds!

A good historical western, nothing original but the romance is sweet, the sex is hot and the action is exciting, there are worse ways of passing the time!