About book The Lone Texan - Jalan Sepi Sang Ranger (2012)
I tagged this as Native American romance, but it's ties to that are slight; Sage McMurray's mother was Apache, which is mentioned a couple of times but really isn't in her character or the story.Mixed feelings here. Drummond Roak was interesting because of his angst and the lone Marlborough man image. There were some nice parts where the author delved into his head, showing his internal pain even as he showed no reaction or emotion. I appreciated that, and it rounded his character a bit more.I did not like that he'd "loved" her since he was 15, as I have a hard time buying off on teenage crushes turning into real love when they hadn't even spent that much time together. Sage and Drum didn't know each other. Sage's character was annoying. Her feelings for Drum were no more than lust. The growth of her feelings into love seemed to come from no where. She kept denying she felt anything more for him. The author's justification for this denial was that the men she'd loved before had died, but Sage realized she hadn't loved her first husband - it just wasn't strong enough to justify her treatment of Drummond. Their arguments were more literary convenience than boiling emotions that really worked with these characters.There was a decided lack of emotions from Sage. She seemed more childish and selfish than anything else. And Drum wasn't much better at certain points, though given his background I could at least excuse that.Speaking of literary convenice: Sage was married but her husband never wanted to sleep with her. Sage's Apache grandfather pops out of nowhere to "marry" Sage and Drum for no better reason than he wants Sage married off and thinks they belong together because they quarrel. They're also "married" by outlaw creed. Drum is a hired quick draw who doesn't get shot though he rides into dangerous situations where he's up against 20 or more other gunfighters. And then there's his miraculous recovery when Sage shoots him herself from only a few feet away. These things were all so ridiculously convenient that they made me irritated with the author, rather than into the story. It seemed that rather than thinking up something that would really work or was clever, she lazily feel to convenience. I don't appreciate that in an eight-dollar book.Also, it was just so disappointing because of what this story could have been with Sage's Apache background and Drum's painful past. This could have been a great book. I'm disgusted. I really, really liked Roak in Tall, Dark, and Texan. He's everything I love in a hero, including his rising gunslinger career. Sage was already annoying, but I was prepared to love this just for Roak. But, my problems with this book were numerous and not all with Sage. Roak went from this mysterious character to a stalker ala Edward Cullen -- watching Sage while she sleeps after breaking into her hotel room and reading letters from her in Teagan's desk. Creepy. Not romantic. Creepy. Age had not made Sage anymore palatable. She was still immature and I wish Roak had given up on her. Even if she is his one and only, he needs to leave her alone and let her mature.I agree with other reviewers that Brad and Bonnie's romance was far, far more interesting!
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Jodi brings her characters to life. A true inspiration for new writers.
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