REVIEWED BY CINDY

TITLE:The Bone Orchard (Part of the My Haunted Gay Blender’s Love Affair and other Twisted Tales Collection)  

AUTHOR: Abigail Roux

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing

LENGTH: 124 Pages

Blurb:

After leaving a trail of terror and death in his wake, the notorious “Missouri” Boone Jennings finally meets his match in San Francisco when US marshal Ambrose Shaw catches up to him. The story of his capture, and the marshal’s bravery, has already become legend back east by the time Pinkerton inspector Ezra Johns gets off the train from New York City to testify in the murderer’s trial.

When Ambrose is unable to give witness to the evils he’s seen, Ezra becomes their lone hope for putting Jennings in a noose. But if Ezra thinks that’s his biggest problem, he’s got plenty to learn about life—and the afterlife—in the spirited West.

Fortunately, Ambrose is there to assist, and more than happy to oblige Ezra—in the courtroom or the bedroom. He spent his life bringing justice to the Wild West, and if he has a say in it, that’s how he’ll be spending his death too.

Review:

I jumped at the chance to review this story by Abigail Roux. I’ve always loved her writing style and I do love my cowboys.

Ambrose Shaw is an old-west lawman through and through. Dedicated and tough, he follows his last job through to the end…of his life.

Still that doesn’t stop Ambrose from attending the trial of his killer. It also doesn’t stop him from falling for Ezra Johns, the main witness for the trial.

When the bad guy is found guilty and the sentence carried out, that’s when things get really interesting. Seems that Ambrose still has a job to do after all and Ezra is going to help him do it.

This story was riveting. I mean, you kind of have to guess where it’s gonna go eventually, but even knowing that, the journey to get there was wonderful. It was sort of like clinging to to back of a runaway stallion, thrilling and scary at the same time.

My heart broke for the two men at first, for so many reasons and while they way they get together wouldn’t be most people’s idea of perfect, it turns out to be perfect for them. And there’s some advantages to being a ghost!

I love how the author takes these little details and makes them important later in the story. She creates an amazing world that lets us suspend our beliefs and root for Ambrose and Ezra to make it through to their happy ending.

Abigail Roux sure knows how to turn a phrase and the smart language is one of the things that lets us fall into the story and get lost in it. The premise is something completely unique and I didn’t find one boring moment or wasted word.

I really can’t find anything to complain about with this story, not even the whole “it’s too short” thing because although it is on the shorter side, the story is complete and satisfying, the perfect thing for a rainy afternoon or anytime you have a couple of  hours to kill. (no pun intended)

Rating: 

Buy Links:

Riptide 

Amazon

Amazon.uk

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