December 7, 2009
Launching a new series, western romance writer Gentry (To Seduce a Texan
) sets an unlikely, blood-soaked love affair in late 19th-century Wyoming. The son of a white woman raped by a Sioux warrior, Diablo is a gunfighter-for-hire plotting revenge against wealthy rancher Hurd Kruger and his men, who gang-raped and tortured Diablo 15 years before. After murdering Kruger's hired hands and stealing his prized possessions, Diablo kidnaps beautiful, obedient Sunny Sorrenson, Kruger's reluctant fiancée. Initially insipid, Sunny becomes a much more interesting character as she begins to see the good in Diablo, and their passion blazes like the Texas sun. Gentry's setting is compelling and readers will celebrate Diablo's redemption, but the romance and happy ending are undermined by numerous scenes of brutal bloodshed and references to sexual violence.
February 15, 2010
Ever since Hurd Kruger and his men took a running iron to his teenaged face, Diablo has lived for revenge. Now, his well-earned reputation as the fastest gun in Texas and Kruger's vicious range war plot have finally provided the opportunity. But a quick death is far too kind for a villain like Kruger, so Diablo plans to take everything Kruger values, including flaxen-haired Sunny, his beautiful, reluctant bride-to-be. VERDICT A scarred, half-breed hero so emotionally damaged he almost defies redemption and a plucky, tenderhearted heroine make an unexpectedly rewarding pair in this gritty, violent story, the first in a project series, that puts a new spin on "Beauty and the Beast". Gentry ("To Seduce a Texan") is one of the most popular writers in the Western romance genre; she lives in Edmund, OK.
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2010
He Not Worthy of a Name has finally gotten a lucky break. Made a slave of the Santee Sioux after his Native American father was hung for raping his white mother, the abused 13-year-old finally escapes and heads for the Promised Land called Texas; but when Trace Durango discovers him, sadistic ranchers have branded his face until it was scarred beyond recognition. Trace and his wife nurse He Not Worthy of a Name back to health, and even teach him how to use a gun. Intent on revenge, the teen becomes the feared gunfighter known as Diablo. Theres only one chink in Diablos armorhes in love with Sunny, but her initial reaction to the maimed outlaw is horror. Gentry has cleverly given the Beauty and the Beast tale a western twist by setting it during the 1892 range wars in Wyoming. Readers who enjoy this book will also like Lorraine Heaths poignant Texas Glory (1998), another western featuring a wounded hero.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)