Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Random Romance Sunday: Time Travelin' Category

The Book: The Outlaw Bride by Maggie Shayne

The Particulars: Time Travel, Silhouette Intimate Moments #967, 1999, Out Of Print

The Blurb:

TIME AFTER TIME . . .

Esmeralda Montoya would never understand the strange magic that had saved her from certain death in the Old West. All she knew was that she had been swept through time, into a world unlike any she had ever imagined -- and into the arms of a man unlike any she had ever known . . .

But she could not surrender to the wildfire passion that raced through her whenever this man from the future touched her. For Elliot Brand was her sworn enemy, and she must keep all the secrets of her heart from him -- even the knowledge that she was carrying his child . . .

Is It In Wendy's TBR?: Nope, not this one.

Any Reviews?: The Romance Reader gave this one a four heart rating (B grade):
This book is also a study of contrasts, the past with the present; the easygoing Elliott with the hot-tempered Esmeralda. Shayne works well with many things going on at the same time, which makes this an entertaining read full of likable characters. If you are unfamiliar with the “Texas Brand “series, The Outlaw Bride will probably inspire you to start looking for the others.
All About Romance gave it a C+:
Overall, the book wasn't a bad read, just. . .so-so. Predictable. Even down to the morning sickness that nobody realized was morning sickness except for the women. If you're in the mood for a light fantasy, fairy tale story, you'll probably enjoy this otherwise well-written book. If you're looking for something with a little more adult-like flavor, skip the cotton candy and go for the dark chocolate truffles.
Mrs. Giggles slapped it with a 75:
I must also express my utmost disappointment at the way Esme's IQ seems to degenerate in exponential relationship to the increasing number of pages into the book. By the last quarter, the feisty, fire-breathing lass has somehow metamorphosized into a self-effacing let-me-bend-my-back-to-sacrifice-my-love-for-the-sake-of-the-hero martyr who tearfully pushes the hero away for his own *snort* good. All for the flimsiest of reasons. Put in a cliched pregnant-after-one-night-of-love angle too and I want to gag. After all the exciting build-up of the previous 100 pages, the story has to lead me down Cliche Avenue? Puh-leeze.
Anything Else?: This is part of the author's Texas Brand series, of which it is book #7.

4 comments:

Katie Mack said...

Haven't read this one, but I did read another one of Shayne's Texas Brand books: The Baddest Virgin in Texas. I thought it was meh -- C range -- so I haven't tried anything else by the author.

The Romance Girl said...

I love how, like most Silhouettes, the back blurb just makes me more confused about whatever the book is about...

A Library Girl said...

Yeah, I'm confused, too. Who's the time traveler here? Is the woman from the Old West, traveling to the future (which could be our present or our future), or is she from the present, but was in the Old West, and is now in our future? Oh, my head.

Wendy said...

Katie: My experience with Shayne was a romantic suspense title she wrote some years back - Thicker Than Water...I think. I remember liking it, but not being "wow-ed" by it.

D.L. & Library Girl: The part that doesn't make sense to me is that the hero is her "sworn enemy" and yet she's knocked up with his baby? I mean, if you can't keep your legs closed around your sworn enemy, there is just no hope for you! LOL