Review: TANGLED PAST
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 8, 2011
TANGLED PAST combines several of my secret vices in one novel: American West novel, ménage, and characters with a little more cultural diversity. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed TANGELED PAST, because I was sure that I was going to find the premise unbelievable given the timeframe, but it wasn't, or the way Ms. Bramel writes makes it believable.What really made TANGLED PAST an enjoyable novel for me is how well I became emotionally connected to all three characters. Sarah is part Indian. Her mother, who was married at the time, had an affair with a Native American and she was the result. She spent her life isolated and made to be no more than a servant in her "father's" home. Jackson, is a part Native American as well and is a ranch hand on his best friend/lover's ranch. I liked how their each individual issues and insecurities are handled.Sarah spies Jackson and Nate in an amorous encounter at the beginning of the TANGLED PAST, when her father and step-brother arrive they see Jackson naked and Nate with his shirt off and assume that she was in the act with Jackson. She has a shot gun wedding and is carried off to Nate's ranch. For Sarah, although the situation she found herself in was bad, marriage to Jackson is a big improvement to how she was treated by her "father" and step-brother. I liked how Sarah went back and forth over the feeling of peace she finds in her new situation and the guilt/pain she feels for coming between Jackson and Nate.Jackson is consumed with guilt. He misses his relationship with Nate, even though he is falling in love with Sarah. He also believes that he isn't good enough for Sarah because of his heritage and the fact that he's only a ranch hand. Nate is feeling like the third wheel. He can't get over his feelings for Nate and the love he's developed for Sarah.Although this is a ménage, there is only like a scene and a half of ménage relationship and that's at the end of the book. Why I enjoyed TANGLED PAST is mainly about Sarah, Jackson, and Nate dealing with the changes in their life and the emotional toll it's taking on all of them and how they are working through it and finding their way to each other.The only issue that I had with TANGLED PAST was that the first couple paragraphs were confusing to me and I had to re-read several times to get grounded into the story. I also was confused with a couple of the transitions, where I thought someone was in the room with Sarah and Nate and they weren't and little things like that, which confused me.Overall, I really liked TANGLED PAST and would read the author again.REVIEW COURTESY OF LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS BLOG SPOT