Review: I loved her creativity
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 14, 2013
Dorothy Bell's Reprobate is set in 1881 in the Oregon Blue Mountains. Royce O'Bannon, a rugged, handsome bad boy, takes after his good for nothing father, Stanley, with his boozing, gambling, and womanizing. No woman can tame the Irish beast.Cleantha Arnaud, the beautiful school master's daughter is a cripple. A buggy accident five years earlier, took the lives of her fiancé and their unborn child. Left with broken hips and a dismal existence, she leads a shell of a life--until she meets Royce O'Bannon. At a town social in Laura creek, Royce's masterful way with his fiddle gets Cleantha's attention, along with her heart.Royce is spell bound by Cleantha's beauty. He refers to her as his Goddess. Her crippled state doesn't deter him at all. He admires her spirit and determination. Their paths cross daily in the small town and they find themselves unable to deny their powerful attraction to one another. Royce and Cleantha fall for one another and their passion is intense.Royce's father, Stanley, is wanted by the law for his past crimes. But even worse, he's wanted by some unscrupulous folks for his gambling and drug debts. Plus he's crazy and causes serious problems for both of his sons. Royce finds himself in the underground hell of human slave labor and he desperately wants to get back to his love Cleantha and their lives together.Dorothy's descriptive writing took me back in time to the Wild West and the small town of Laura's Creek. I felt like I was right there with Royce, Cleantha, Quinn, Wren, and the rest of the town. I loved her creativity and experienced the underground seedy world of the tunnels where gaming, prostitution, and opium cribs thrive.I enjoyed the chemistry between the opposites--Royce and Cleantha. I can't wait to read the next book in Dorothy Bell's Laura Creek series: The Cost of Revenge!