Review: Enjoyable Futuristic Western Romace Between An Amazon Warrior and a Bounty Hunter
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 18, 2012
I have many reasons for why I choose to read a book and this time it was sheer curiosity.  Hello?  Amazon Western?  It was quirky enough to be vastly appealing and it certainly was.  This one does not fit a certain niche and can look a little too far out to be any good, but I assure you taking a chance on this one is more than worth it if you like tough, but yet tender heroines and heroes making the back drop and world building almost secondary.What's it all about then?  Well um- a historic western set in an apocalyptic future with the legendary Amazon race thrown in for good measure?  Surprisingly, it really worked so stick with me on this one.Hinto Dakota is a reluctant bounty hunter with a big secret as he seeks to get together enough funds to get his dad the medical attention he needs.  Hinto is a hard tough man, but the moment he meets Thais, he is attracted in a way that disturbs him.Thais is a legendary Amazon warrior who has left her homeland to seek out the treasure that was stolen and to exact revenge on those who pillaged, raped and murdered their way through her village.  She single-mindedly entered the rough and wild Western Territories to the north accompanied by her three friends on the mission.  They separate with Thais going north to hunt down clues where she meets up with the dark man, Hinto Dakota, who she reluctantly takes as partner to perform a task in exchange for the info she needs.And so the adventure for Thais the Amazon and Hinto begins.  They ride into danger together learning first to trust and then to love all the while Hinto batters down all her beliefs about men. Much of the time they both struggle to resist what is growing between them particularly because they know that Thais will leave when she gets what she came for.The world-building is well written in that it is not an information dump.  The plot always takes precedence over the details which are given as you go.  After earth's natural resources are mishandled and a giant meteor shower hits, things are vastly different and the survivors are left to make up a new way of life because some how the space rocks have made it so technology will not work and earth returns to a hunter-gatherer society like the rugged frontier of the Old West.  But that was not all, somehow the space rock had an effect on the land, the wild life and some of the people.  Hinto's 'horse' is a new breed of meat-eating monster horse with almost human-like intelligence, woman are vastly outnumbered by men and infertility is rampant, and even Hinto himself is affected by a 'gift' that would get him killed if the newly-emerging government discovers this about him because all deviancies are being squelched.The plot is one of my favorite western plots- good guys seeking justice against incredible odds.  But this one also isn't quite that straight-forward.  There is the overall mission that Thais is on, but along the way there are a few different sub-plots.  In the end, certain things are resolved, but there are a few threads left dangling for the next book in the series.  I was impressed with the pace and the excitement.  The romantic side of the plot was very passionate and it was also a slow developing one that took them from reluctant partners, to cautious, to trusting to true friendship and love. The pacing varies from fast-paced excitement like when they escape from the evil cattle baron's ranch to the sweet moments like when Thais gets to meet Hinto's family (some might consider this a dragging moment, but I love 'meet the family' stuff so it worked for me).The characters-most especially the protagonists- are great.  The story is told from both their perspectives as well as from that of one other.  Hinto and Thais were so good for each other and some of their misunderstandings and frustrations were funny.  Toward the middle of the last half of the book, I was ready to smack them both though because it just got irritated when they kept pulling away from each other because I wanted them together and happy so badly. I understand that they were just preparing for the eventual separation and trying to protect their heart.So all together, I had a good time reading this one and look forward to the next installment in the series when it switches to one of the other Amazons who came north with Thais.  I've only read one apocalyptic-futuristic romance before, but I think I can really get into that genre if they're as good as this one.Hmm, now who to recommend this too- hehe!  This would appeal to those who can enjoy an futuristic twist to their Western romances.