Kate Thompson thought avenging her father’s death would help her sleep easier, but nothing has been easy since she killed the notorious outlaw Waylan Rose. Then Jesse Colton rides back into her life and the nightmares that used to visit her each evening begin to fade. At least until the papers bring word of train robberies in the south—heists staged by a man claiming to be Waylan Rose’s half brother.
Knowing that the ghosts of her past may come to claim her, Kate will have to choose: cut Jesse loose and face the Rose Riders alone, or follow her heart—even if it means risking everything she holds dear.
Previously available only to readers who preordered Retribution Rails, don’t miss this thrilling novella that bridges the gap between Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails.
Erin Bowman is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for children and teens, including the Taken Trilogy, Vengeance Road, Retribution Rails, the Edgar Award-nominated Contagion duology, The Girl and the Witch’s Garden, and the forthcoming Dustborn. A web designer turned author, Erin has always been invested in telling stories—both visually and with words. Erin lives in New Hampshire with her husband and children. You can visit her online at embowman.com, on twitter @erin_bowman, or on instagram @heyerin.
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PLEASE NOTE: Erin does not check goodreads mail. If you message her this way she will not see it. For contact methods, visit Erin's website.
Set after the events of Vengeance Road, this novella was originally available exclusively through the Retribution Rails preorder campaign. It is now available for purchase for the first time.
I loved this novella, I love the Vengeance World road and would read even more stories in this! It’s been a while since I read VR and Retribution Rails But it all came back to me pretty easily. I love Kate’s voice, so strong and independent. Jesse is understanding. MY ULTIMATE OTP!
If you’ve read Vengeance Road, I’d highly recommend reading this too! It’s available on Amazon an an ebook :)
Vengeance Road is one of my favorite novels so it was nice to return to this world and these characters, even if only for a little while.
Kate’s voice is still one of my favorite voices I’ve ever read in a book. It’s so unique and really immerses you in the story from the start.
I loved getting to see more of Kate and Jesse and to see how they got from the end of Vengeance Road to where they ended up in Retribution Rails. It was nice to see how their story unfolded further and to just spend a little more time with them as a couple.
My only issue with this book is that not much happens in it. It is just a novella, however, so this really didn’t detract from the overall story for me that much.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it for fans of Vengeance Road who want to stay immersed in the world as long as possible.
You can definitely read these books without this novella, but I really enjoyed getting to find out about Kate's life after the events of Vengeance Road.
Sweet little novella which fills in some of the gaps between Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails. How's Kate and Jesse's relationship continues. It's a nice little story worth reading if you're already read the others.
I’d really love to see Kate and Jesses love life go on a bit more. When I read the first book when the love happened i freaked out I thought it was gonna be will :/
This novella is such a perfect little bite of Kate and Jesse's HEA. I am so glad that I found it on Kindle Unlimited, so was able to read it with my subscription. Although, in my opinion, it would've been worth buying just to see how things turned out for them. Kate & Jesse picks up pretty much exactly where it left off at the end of Vengeance Road, with Jesse arriving at Kate's homestead. There's no high action or anything, but yet I enjoyed this story so much. It serves as an extended epilogue and shares some of what Jesse & Kate experience, for good and for bad, over their first few years as a couple. It is written in the same dialect as Vengeance Road, also told from Kate's POV. It is a fun piece of fluff, and left me feeling warm and fuzzy. If you were a fan of Vengeance Road, this is absolutely a must read, as it rounds off the beginning of Kate & Jesse's road together. I wouldn't recommend reading this without having read Vengeance Road, as it likely won't make as much sense & certainly will lack the emotional impact I felt.
Vengeance Road Kate and Jesse Retribution Rails By Erin Bowman
I've posted these 3 books together because they really should be read as a set. Before starting retribution rails, I thought it would be a stand alone story from the blurb but after getting a third of the way through I realised it had the original characters in it so I bought the ebook novella to get a long epilogue of sorts.
This was my first time reading a western, but I decided to give this genre a go after taking part in a murder mystery with a Western theme, this lead us to watch a few western movies as a family which I surprisingly enjoyed after never really enjoying them before.
They were so well written, very engaging and gripping. Both vengeance road and retribution rails were very hard to put down. If you are curious about Westerns, I think these will be a great introduction.
I loved Vengeance Road and this is the perfect novella that connects it to Retribution Rails. It answers the question of what happened to Kate & Jesse! I admire Kate so much for her strength and resilience. Not to mention how smart she is. Living in constant fear that the Rose Riders or someone else will show looking for her gold has made Kate come up with a plan should they have to leave her house. Jesse is perfect for Kate, even though her may not always agree with her choices, he does respect her! If you have been yearning for a little bit more of Kate and Jesse, you'll definitely want to pick up this novella!
It has been a few years since I read the two novels this tale bridges, but Bowman is such a wonderful writer, and crafted such wonderfully deep characters, it sure didn't take long to fall right back into the world. I would suggest this is only read between the two novels, not before them or after them. It doesn't create any new story tangents, just fills out the relationship between Kate and Jesse. The tone and language is perfect, again, and this is a lot of fun to read. Less gun-fightin' and more life-buildin' but quite amazing all the same.
I love Kate so damn much! 💖 This story sees Kate and Jesse in the time between book 1 and 2 as they navigate their budding relationship, town gossip, Rose Rider aftereffects, and eventually building their house in the clearing. It was such a joy to return to this world and Erin Bowman has creates such a distinctive voice for these characters.
Though short and sweet, I loved reading about Kate and Jesse and what happened to them after Vengeance Road. Kate is one of my favourite characters ever! And as much as I hate romance in books I adore Kate and Jesse together and so this was everything I could've wanted and more.
This was a super sweet aside to Vengeance Road, but I’m not sure I got what the description promised. I kind of expected more to do with the half brother and there’s very little, honestly. Otherwise I enjoyed this. I like these characters and getting to know a little more about how their story played out.
This novella was fabulous! This book, which bridges the gap between Vengeance Road and Retribution rails was great way to get back to Kate and Jesse and I loved reading more about their relationship! If you enjoyed Vengeance Road then you should definitely check this out!
It's a great continuation of the love story of Jesse and Kate. It picks up right were you left of in Vengance road. This book made my heart warm and I highly recommend this book if you liked Vangence road.
I never would have guessed the Vengeance Road duology to be one of my favorite YA book series of all time but it is, and this little addition to the story made me so happy! I want to reread the books at some point and maybe listen to the audiobooks when the time comes.
This novella reminded me a lot of Little House on the Prairie with Kate and Jesse's new home and the town and all that. Sweet epilogue to Vengeance Road and - woot woot - my hatred of Jesse's character went down to a mild dislike.
I loved Vengeance Road! So I figured I would love this too. I love Kate and Jesse’s story and I’m so excited I got to see their story become closer. The novella is a must read if you loved Vengeance Road. 4/5 stars.
They're so squishy together 😭 I adore them. And I think this was even better having read the companion first, so I know what happens with them. I love them SO MUCH.