I was supposed to review this as part of the Member Giveaway scheme but I never received my review copy. I'm leaving this as a review so it doesn't affect my review statistics ( )

This historical western novella was a quick and fun read. Being as short as it was, you didn't get a chance to connect with the characters which was a shame as they were all incredibly like-able. I would have loved to learn more about the backstory with the villain, and would have enjoyed some more detail and character development within the romance subplot. With that said, there are more installments to the story, and these may be explored more in those books. Overall, a good story line, just a bit too short with not enough detail. ( )

A historical 1880’s western novella following our main character, Murial to the town of Conestone. She works security for her father, the Senator, who is set to arrive in town soon. Here she gets reacquainted with her cousin, Walter, and the local Sheriff, Jack … in the background of explosions, secrets, freedom, and possibly love? And what the means for Murial.

This novella was a quick read for me. My favorite parts of this book were the interactions that occur between Murial, Jack and Walter, Murial and Walter, and Murial and Jack. I enjoyed the camaraderie and easy banter of these three. I want to see more of this and I am looking forward to seeing these relationships developed in future novellas.

I did enjoy the plot for the most part. It did not delve too deeply even when we reached the “explosive” parts of the story. Which left the story feeling a little too rushed and not enough exploration was given to the characters and their journeys especially the “villains”.
This might bother some people.
There is a small romance subplot but it does not overtake the western theme of this story since I fully dislike “romance” novels in general.

Overall, these characters have a lot of stories to tell. Personally, I am looking forward to the next installation and seeing where the author takes them. ( )