GRR Reviews Strong Silent Type (Rough Riders) by Lorelei James

Strong Silent Type is an erotic contemporary Western romance that is deeper than you first suspect, but also played into tropes, but not quite subverting them.

Libby and Quinn McKay have had a good marriage... until the issue of children tore them apart (with some help from his mother). Now she's living in the house, and he's living in the horse trailer... and nothing has changed in three months. Libby is tired of the detente... why isn't Quinn, the stubborn ass that he is, fight for her? When Quinn realized this is not a "phase" he can wait out, he switched back to "woo mode" and offered Libby a whole weekend of decadence, sexual and otherwise. to rekindle their love and hash out their differences. But just sex is not enough for a relationship... Will there be enough to hold onto when Monday came?

At 150 pages, this is actually quite good. There's enough sex to satisfy, yet not too much to become erotica. It's clear the two aren't over each other, but he's the kind of "strong silent type" that broods rather than talk things out, and it's frustrating for the wife. And that's just trope as heck. On the other hand, the emotional push-pull is good.

Category: Contemporary / Western / Erotic Romance

Primary Plot: Can a couple, with their relationship on the rocks, spend a weekend together for fun and sex, to fix their marriage?

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.