After The Ashes by Cheryl Howe

This is my book review of After the Ashes, a western romance by Cheryl Howe.

Just to set the stage, Christopher Braddock is a bounty hunter, in search of Lorelei Sullivan’s brother, Corey, after a stage coach robbery turned deadly. I won’t tell you who has the gold but I will tell you that my mind changed on that topic a number of times while I was reading this story. You want to believe each of the characters, but they all make it so difficult for you to trust them.

I loved when Braddock first met Lorelei. I always know in an instant if the love connection is going to be realistic and whether I’ll enjoy the interaction between the MCs.  Let me tell you, their chemistry was sparking. Ooh, and I loved when he called her “sweetheart”. It always seemed really sexy to me, or maybe that was just Braddock.

Lorelei set out to protect her brother, who I mostly wanted to strangle, but everyone pays a suitable punishment for their crimes in the end and I liked it like that.

Toward the last few chapters, I desperately wanted to skip ahead, because I was starting to wonder if it were possible for both of them to get their HEA. It felt like it took extra long to get there, but the end of the story resolved all of my hangups.

I have to admit, I tend to read contemporary romances and historical romantic suspense novels, with the occassional paranormal romance thrown in for flavour.  I’ve read a cowboy story before, but I knew this book would take it a few steps further. It felt like this was my first true western romance and I absolutely loved it.  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get into it (and I did hate all that dirt) but I did, no problem. All in all, a good read.   5 Stars from me!!

You can see this and all my other reviews on Goodreads here.