So I'm thinking that westerns may not be my thing. I haven't read many of them, so I'm not quite ready to write the whole genre off yet. The writing seemed overly simple to me. I know it was a simpler time and place with less educated people, but the writing g style didn't engage my brain enough to hold my attention. My mind kept wandering off in weird directions. For instance, I found myself obsessed with their hygiene and how they didn't seem to bathe often (or at all), and how ripe and dusty they must have been, which is not at all conducive to romance for me. I read a ton of historicals and this is the first book where that really stuck out to me so I know my mind was wandering.

The hero, Brett Liberty, is a half-Iroquois man who has faced prejudice his whole life. The hostility toward Native Americans and "breeds" has convinced Brett that he is better off alone and shouldn't mix it up with anyone but his orphanage brothers (from the first two installments of the series). I liked Brett as he was portrayed, though I never really got a good sense of him living out in a teepee on his ranch. For some reason I just couldn't picture it in my head. I think the cover is a good representation of his described looks, so that went a little toward helping me picture his character.

The heroine, Rayna, has been forced into the life of a thief due to an unfortunate upbringing. At the beginning, she is portrayed as somewhat of Robin Hood type character, but that falls by the wayside fairly early in the book. Rayna's childhood was horrendous and she has suffered terrible and degrading tragedies, but that didn't really come across in the story. Some of it seemed to be mentioned only in passing as a type of background filler. I would have liked to see it drawn out to create an emotional connection which I felt was lacking with her character. In addition, her repeated "omen" references came off as hokey rather than cultural. So her character didn't work well for me.

This wasn't a bad story, for all that my review is sounding negative. I have read the other reviews and it obviously worked for them, so this is leading me to believe that this genre/trope may not be my cup of tea. It's not the character types as one of my favorite series is Into the Wilderness, so i think it's the western genre that I may not be into.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 3 stars / 2 flames. ( )