Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Providence
SERIES: The Midnight Gang
AUTHOR: Ren Browne
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 331 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2026
BLURB:
You fall in love with a sinner and there’s two ways it can go…
Left to fend for himself as a young boy, Aiden has lived most of his life with little to call his own and little say in what comes next. But when his latest job working as a cattle driver for a wealthy rancher turns bad, he makes the deal that he hopes will give him a chance at a new start. All he has to do is spend the next week making sure nothing and no one causes his employer’s luck to run dry at the card table. Then he’s free.
Except in this bustling Texas town, Aiden finds far more than he bargained for once he encounters a charismatic gambler named Cypress, an apparent thief who seems far more interested in getting under Aiden’s skin than he does in playing the cards he’s been dealt.
The more Aiden learns about his mysterious adversary, the more he’ll be forced to question if the one path he never saw for himself is the one worth taking—no matter where the road leads.
Set nine years before Adversity’s events, this Wild West romance tells the story of how certain enemies became unlikely allies willing to bet everything on each other.
REVIEW:
Note: While technically Book 2 in this series, the events in this book take place in the years before Adversity and are Aiden and Cypress’s origin story. If you haven’t read the first book, it won’t spoil this one, but I definitely recommend the previously release book as well and they can be read in either order.
Aiden is doing a job he doesn’t like for man he detests. He was out of options and needed the payday, so he signed on for a cattle drive from Texas to Kansas with an obnoxious boss. Maddock is an entitled, condescending and far too over-confident bastard. But he is the boss and he’s determined to make Aiden come to heel. Hmmmm. This could be a mistake that could lead to disaster for everyone.
Maddock is determined to line his pockets in more than one way. He’s under his parents thumb and he resents it. He really doesn’t have any desire to drive cattle. No, he has much bigger ambitions. And he needs Aiden to make sure things go to plan. He knows who Aiden is – or rather was to hear Aiden tell it.
When Maddock and his men, including Aiden and a ragtag group of cowboys stop in the town of Soldana, they are determined to win some money at poker at the local saloon with Maddock promising to share the winnings with the crew. Aiden thinks this is a terrible idea. He also doesn’t like it when people recognize him from newspaper stories. He’s not that man anymore. He refuses to kill for Maddock – or anyone else for that matter. His gunslinger days are behind him. Or so he wishes.
The first night though a very unusual man show up to the card game. And he loses. But Aiden’s watching him and he is pretty sure there is more going on than meets the eye. When he confronts the man in the alley, well things don’t exactly go as Aiden had planned. And when the man, Cypress, gets the better of him, well he’s not at al happy about it. The longer they play these games and the more time they spend dancing around each other, he more worried he gets.
When Cypress leaves him a gift, Aiden is once again surprised. He can’t figure out what this man’s game is. Or what he wants with Aiden since he certainly doesn’t leave him alone. As the week in town winds down, well things get out of control and Aiden and Cypress have to make a run for it. They have left a mess behind them that is going to restrict their next moves. Cypress isn’t exactly unhappy about that. Aiden isn’t exactly happy about it.
The crazy journey they take to finding who and what they mean to each other is a hair raising saga. Cypress has friends that help them along the way. These two are going to have to learn how to blend their moral compasses and overcome or at least make peace with their respective traumatic pasts in order to have any kind of a chance at a life together.
This book was sooooo good. I loved the whole tone of this story. I honestly would not have survived the wild wild west! God what a crazy time and place. Lawless. Dangerous. At the mercy of the elements. Corruption. No modern medicine. I am a HUGE sucker for broken characters finding each other and figuring out how to come together to make something good. Aiden and Cypress both have overcome terrible ordeals in their past. They didn’t have childhoods really. They’ve been on their own since way before they should have had to take care of themselves. They could not be more different and that is likely what makes them work in the end. Cypress is outgoing, a good actor and his motivation for what he does is so unexpected. Aiden is a stoic. He’s not interested in risking his heart and being devastated ever again. He’s determined that killing isn’t for him and he isn’t going to do it unless he absolutely has to save his life or the life of someone he cares about. Turns out killing didn’t actually resolve anything much for him, despite trying his best to only kill those who needed killing 😉 Together they eventually have to find a balance after much reluctance on Aiden’s part and so much resistance to Cypress’s charms 😉
When push comes to shove, these two realize that they belong together and they are going to have to be honest about their feelings after a LOT of pining. Despite their banter and their disagreements, they are not going to be any good, one without the other. Dolly, Cypress’s friend, helps these two get out of their own way and she also has their backs. Dolly is a fabulous character and I absolutely loved her. She is a critical piece of their story and I was there for her. Also, the UST is off the charts with these two! This is a slooooooow burn that gets derailed a few times on the journey. The author’s writing was so evocative. I kept picturing the Wild Wild West meets The Big Valley the whole time I was reading this book. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a hard fought battle for a love that is so deserved with loads of pining and banter. Historical fans will love this also.
RATING: 
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