Josephine "Jo" Shafter, after five long years of being one of the very few female bounty hunters in the West, finally put the man who killed her father and brother behind bars. She did not stay for the trial, but instead, married herself off to Montana as a mail order bride, because no one in the East would marry a woman tougher than they are. And the sheriff, Sam Longworth, seem to be a good match, as long as she can pass herself off as a decent cook. and do laundry. But Sam was keeping a few secrets as well. When Jo's nemesis escaped from prison, and is out to seek revenge upon her for taking down his brothers, can Jo and Sam trust each other to have a happily ever after?
The setup is fine, and the story between Jo and Sam worked right up to about midpoint, as by that time, Sam knew exactly who Jo is, and can guess pretty much why she wouldn't want to talk about it, but Jo's feeling fairly possessive over her greatest catch (and feeling responsible for putting Sam at risk, even though he's the sheriff!) that she ain't sharing until confronted with the truth. Sam's needs were much simpler... keep his wife safe, keep his town safe, keep himself safe. That's about it. Adding the extra character about Sam's secret dad was just extra complications that diluted the plot points even further, as is the idea that the bad guy was skulking around Sam's cabin or walking around in town for weeks at a time. The characters just seem too talkative for exposition's sake.
To sum it all up, like the setup, liked the first half of the book. The rest was a confused mess between domestic bliss, weird tension, and denial.
Category: historical western, romantic suspense
Primary Plot: female bounty hunter put away the criminal who killed her family and married herself out west as a mail-order bride to the sheriff; the criminal escaped and came after her...
Tropes: law enforcement, mail order bride, different worlds, disguise
Overall Rating: 3/5 (rounded up from 2.5)
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