JACEYS RECKLESS HEART [Mass Market Paperback]

From the back cover:

She rode hellbent across the West to catch a thief...and found a dangerous man--who could only be saved by her love.

Jacy Lawless is a different kind of lady--fast with a gun, a natural on a horse, and wild of spirit. Her father had once been a desperado; her mother a Boston heiress. Now driven by grief after their parent's deaths, she and her sisters take a blood oath to find the killers. Jacey rides to Tucson to find out more about her father's old gang--and which one of them stole a precious family keepsake, and left a spur behind at the murder scene.

Dark, dashing Zant Chapelo is a notorious gunslinger whose father rode in the same outlaw gang as Jacey's--and the two men became bitter rivals. Now she and Zant meet, and their worlds collide. Fighting their desire from the start, they're doomed by events that began long ago--a father's sins, a family's vengeance, and a secret that can make them enemies forever--unless Zant transforms his life to claim Jacey's love...and Jacey surrenders her reckless heart.

And my review:

This is the second book in the LAWLESS WOMAN trilogy. The other two books are Hannah's Promise (Porter, Cheryl Anne. Lawless Women.) and Seasons of Glory. I was never even able to finish HANNAH'S PROMISE, so I will admit that I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for JACEY'S RECKLESS HEART.

Just like in the first book of the series, this book suffers from a lack of romance. For a book labelled "romance", a love story seems to be the last thing this book is about. Instead, it's full of other subplots: revenge, old grudges, shootouts, and life in the old west. While those things are interesting, and can add depth to a story, the primary focus in a romance novel should be the relationship between the hero and heroine. I often felt as if their relationship was the last thing on the author's mind. She seemed more interested in her other subplots (and there were a lot of them to keep track of) than she was in the romance.

I also had a hard time liking the characters. Instead of being "fiesty", Jacey came across as irresponsible, hot-headed, and at times, not particularily smart. For a supposedly world-wise woman, she made a lot of dumb mistakes that were just out of character for her. And like her sister Hannah in HANNAH'S PROMISE, she was very quick to jump to conclusions, which got rather annoying after a while. Honestly, risking your life just to get a picture back (no matter what the sentimental value) seems rather silly.

The hero was abrasive, sleazy (most of his comments to the heroine made me roll my eyes at his cheeziness) and not very redeemable. I didn't see why the heroine should fall in love with him. He wasn't a terrible guy; just not a very swoon-worthy one. And no, being drop-dead gorgeous is not enough of a reason to love someone.

There were a lot of backstories alluded to, but they were very slow to develop. For instance, I wanted to know why Zant hated his father so much. I wanted to know what the people in Jacey's father's collection of letters had to do with the main story. These points might have become clearer later on (I never managed to make myself finish the book), but the storylines just weren't compelling enough to keep me turning the pages. I kept wondering when the author would get back to the love story. I kept slogging on until I realized that I really no longer cared if Zant and Jacey ended up together. I doubt I'll be seeking out the last book in the series, since the first two were not very compelling.

I really enjoyed Cheryl Anne Porter's book Sara's Bounty, but so far, nothing else of hers has even come close to the quality of that novel. JACEY'S RECKLESS HEART is not recommended by this reader unless you're a huge fan of the author and determined to read everything she's written.

Sorry I disagree - this book was wonderful!
I have read it 3 times now over the years.

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  3.5 out of 5 stars