(Originally from All About Romance)
Sylvie Kaye
2007, Contemporary Romance
Triskelion Publishing, $6.50, 169 pages, Amazon ASIN 1601860676
Grade: C+
Sensuality: Hot
Mercy (yep, that’s actually her name) leads a dull, dull life in small town Pennsylvania, so when she takes a holiday to San Antonio to visit her best friend, she has only one agenda: to spice up her lackluster existence. While hanging out at her uncle’s bar on her first night in town, she meets a tall, dark, long, lean cowboy who practically screams seduction. So Mercy, who’s never done anything forward in her life, takes it as a sign from above that this is the night and this is the man to finally show her what good sex is.
Their first encounter is memorable…though not for the reasons Mercy had hoped. Luckily, she makes a deal that leads to more encounters. And more. And more.
This is a classic opposites attract story. Mercy is small town – not innocent, but naïve. She’s peace and love and goodness. Her hero? Oh, let me tell you about her hero. I mentioned the tall, dark, long, lean, but there’s a cowboy hat, some boots, smoldering eyes, big hands, patience, loyalty, a past dark tragedy, and a wrong as of yet unavenged. Oh, and his name? Sinner.
Shivers down the spine stuff, let me tell you.
The relationship between Mercy and Sinner is fantastic. From the first pick-up line (and the very sexy response), it’s hot, it’s well-paced, it’s believable, it’s funny.
The secondary characters and their subplots, though, dragged the story down. Mercy’s best friend Cindy suffers the most, in my opinion. I think Kaye wrote her with genuine affection, but she comes across as ridiculous much of the time, which is unfair given her actions in the story. She had the potential of being a very relatable character, but her portrayal was too over-the-top for true connection. Cindy’s colleagues come across as cardboard, though their subplot is, if somewhat unnecessary, at least creditable. The character who bothered me most, however, is Mercy’s uncle Parker. No spoilers, but the plot surrounding this character and his actions were a weak link in an otherwise intriguing plot.
The story was also about twenty pages too long – and at just 169 pages, twenty is a sizeable chunk. Kaye did a good job of avoiding saggy middle syndrome, but there were definitely areas that could have been culled to keep the action sharper and the plot lines crisper. Perhaps a novella or anthology contribution would have been more appropriate for this story.
Though there were problems aplenty, the Devil in Cowboy Boots and his angel of Mercy may make this a story worth checking out.
