NATE, Devils on Horseback #1
Beth Williamson
Samhain Publishing
Date: September 25, 2007
ISBN: 9781599986593
Genre: Historical romance, Western
Novel, 235 pages
Free read ebook
Beth Williamson Website
Amidst the post-war chaos that rains down around them, a controlling man and a desperate woman must choose between life and love.
Book One of the Devils on Horseback series.
Nate Marchand grew up as the only son of the town drunk. As a Confederate soldier, he found that order in the chaos was the only thing that kept him sane. Numbers, information, keeping everything in its proper place became second nature. The chaos of the war and its aftermath sent him into a rigid state that he couldn’t seem to overcome.
He and his friends, nicknamed Devils on Horseback, leave behind the aftermath of war to start fresh in the west. Their new business venture flounders and desperation drives them to take whatever work they can.
The Devils are hired to remove the Taggert family from land claimed by Samuel O’Shea, the largest landowner in Grayton, Texas. When he meets Elisa Taggert, his entire world shifts beneath him. Attracted, bewildered, and off-kilter, Nate ignores his conscience in favor of his wallet.
The simple task of removing a woman, a boy, and an old man, along with a small herd of cattle, resembles a Medieval siege. Nate wrestles with what he knows is right with what he must do. Will his love for Elisa overcome his need for survival?
Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, violence.
REVIEW and RATING SYSTEM
OUR REVIEWS
WildAboutBones
Review: 2 – A small howl
Sexual: 1 - Flirty
This, the first of the Devils on Horseback series, reads like episode of Gunsmoke, The High Chaparral or a Lifetime Made for Television movie.
Set in Texas just after the Civil War, this has everything the quintessential western needs - the bad guys, the good guys, a tough as nails damsel in distress, a wrong that needs righted, a romance and a touching and/or shocking revelation.
While I do enjoy the occasional western and reruns of these old westerns, westerns are not my favorite thing to read. However, if I was to start reading them occasionally, I'd definitely read the rest in this series.
Kris
Review: 5 – An Alpha Howl
Sexual: 3 - Hot
I really enjoyed this story enough to immediately buy the next one. I loved Nate and all of his friends. I enjoyed watching him try to deal with Elisa as he slowly fell in love with her. Elisa was a stitch. She was such a strong person, and had so much to deal with. But my favorite parts were when she got the upper hand with Nate or his friends. I loved when she got him to strip by the water! It was a bit violent, but nothing too over the top. I loved Williamson's writing and thought she did a great job with the dialogue, the plot, and the emotions of the romantic relationship.
Cynthia
Review: 3 – One Good Howl
Sexual: 2 – Steamy
I like historical and I like westerns, so this book was right up my alley. Tensions ran high right after the War Between the States. So it isn’t hard to imagine that after the war ended, a posse of men tries to stay a few steps ahead of their greatest enemy during the war. I enjoyed the premise of the novel: The Posse need to find work after the war and head West, oldest sibling of a family does what she can to save the ranch from greedy Land Grabber. An unexpected twist to the story was a delight.
There were just a couple of things that irked me. Some of the dialogue felt forced and a few characters too gruff. Yes, Elisa may have known the territory, but I have a hard time believing she could sneak-up on well trained men such as these. The bad guys killed all the cattle – without anyone hearing them?!? They must have had one helluva stash of ammo. And, this is not an erotic read, Steamy at best. BUT, I am willing to give Ms. Williamson the benefit of the doubt. Since this is the first book in her Devils on Horseback series, I’m hoping they improve.
Laurie
Review: 2 – One Small Howl
Sexual: 1 – Flirty
For a free read this was ok. I did like the mystery behind Elisa and her father. I didn’t like Elise at all to over baring and loud for me. I was expecting this to be erotic, but to tell you the truth I have read just regular historical romances hotter than this one. Nate didn’t too much cut it for me either. He could have found out how to help Elise way before he did. Overall I found this book hard to believe by the way the heroine acted for this time period.
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