Review: Could Not Put This Down
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 10, 2012
Wild, Wild Widow: A Western Romance by Emma Jay is an erotic historical romance set in a time when high society single women didn't go on dates without a chaperone. I'm so glad that chaperones were few and far between in late 19th century California, however, because that would have really spoiled the fun between the young Rebecca Chatham and the older Judah Merrill.After scandalizing the family in San Francisco, the young widow, Rebecca, is sent to live with her married brother and his family. She thinks this is a fate worse than death until she meets the foreman of her brother's ranch, Judah, a sexy widower.I was sucked into Rebecca's story from page one. The writing is fluid, simple, and direct. I'll share the first two paragraphs here (you can see more in Amazon's free sample):Rebecca Chatham took her seat in the box overlooking the stage at the opera house. Murmurs from the elite of San Francisco society rippled through the room and she saw more than one gaze turn away when she made eye contact. Accustomed to the treatment, she lifted her chin and cast a small smile to her escort. Neville Frost was younger than she by three or four years, and an interesting mix of sophistication and anxiety. He'd been taught all the niceties of society but didn't appear to have put them to use.He sat beside her on a velvet seat in his family's box, closer than was strictly proper, but she understood his intent. This was no courtship leading to marriage. He planned to ask her to be his mistress....Obviously an independent woman, Rebecca Chatham is a victim of her time, when society had strict rules for how women should conduct themselves. Still, in the beginning, I wasn't sure how much I really sympathized with her. She seemed spoiled and selfish. She came around, though, after she had to endure some hard realities on her brother's modest California cattle ranch.And then there was Judah Merrill, a cowboy widower from Montana who had never met a woman like Rebecca. Theirs isn't love at first sight, but when it takes off, hold onto your hats because it's *not* a sweet, bashful glance here and a soft peck there. It's magnetic and raw and irresistible. I give it 3.5 bucks out of 5 for frequent, explicit, graphic love scenes plus a half cow-hop for a mild bondage scene.The only thing that failed with this novelette was my ability to put it down when it was time to go to bed. I recommend you have a cool glass of spring water with this, because you'll need to put out a fire or two before you're finished reading.