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Azteclady Review: Sam's Creed by Sarah McCarty

This month’s TBR Challenge theme is catching up with a series. Well, I just had the right book languishing in my humongous TBR mountain range. It’s been nigh on four years since I read and reviewed Caine’s Reckoning, and almost as long has Sam’s Creed been languishing on the shelves, unread.

Sam’s Creed, by Sarah McCarty.

The second title in the Hell’s Eight series, Sam’s Creed is set a few months after the events of Caine’s Reckoning. To sum it up, the other seven to Caine’s eighth are following up on every rumor about stolen white women in the territory, looking for Ari Blake, Desi’s twin sister. In the course of this search, Sam pretty much stumbles across his own woman, Isabella Montoya.

A disclaimer, I think, applies here. This is an erotic romance. Not only is there sex in this book, there is quite graphic sex and quite a bit of it, with plenty of graphic language to go along with it. So, if you object to either or these, you may want to refrain from reading the review—let alone the book.

Let me be upfront about the fact that I did not enjoy this novel nearly as much as I did the previous one. Fact is, it was a rather big letdown. However, it is a testament to the appeal of Ms McCarty’s voice that I managed to sail through all 400+ pages of it in three, four sittings, without any major derailments in my reading, despite the things that irked me about the book.

First irritant, the back cover blurb: (more…)

Caine’s Reckoning by Sarah McCarty

I have known Ms McCarty for a while—at least in the sense of online interactions—but I confess that I hadn’t read any of her work until now. However, after reading all 472 pages of Caine’s Reckoning overnight, in one sitting, I find myself hooked. I will definitely be reading more by her—I can barely wait for the release next month of Sam’s Creed, the second installment in her Hell’s Eight series.

Set in the Texas Territory the mid 1800s, Caine’s Reckoning is marketed as an “erotic adventure” right on the cover, but for my money this is an excellent character study more than anything else—though it is a really good romance in its own right. I have to warn readers that there is also some violence—both the blood and gore kind, on screen, and sexual violence, in Desi’s memories.

Here is the back cover blurb:

The Hell’s Eight is the only family he’s ever needed, until he meets the only woman he’s ever wanted…
Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger, definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favor. One Caine’s honor won’t let him refuse.

From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she’s determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond, but it isn’t enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her screams, her moans, her demands… everything. Yet there’s still a bounty on Desi’s head, and keeping her sexually satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.

It is very difficult to discuss the book without giving some of the plot away, so if you are one hundred percent spoiler phobic you should not read this. Really, don’t.

Okay, with that out of the way…

It takes a few chapters, but we quickly learn what happened before the novel starts: Desdemona aka Desi has survived much more in her short life than most people could. After being raised in the lap of luxury back East, her parents and brother are massacred by Comancheros right in front of her and her twin sister. Both of them are then raped and beaten and abused for a while, until a group of white men “rescue” her by buying her from her captors—leaving her sister behind. (more…)