Sandy M’s review of Wounded Hearts (Southern Legacies, Book 3) by M.C. Scout
Historical erotic romance eBook released by Whiskey Creek Press
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. So much happens to this heroine, so much tragedy in her life that I should have been in tears through some of her ordeal. There’s something missing that doesn’t give a reader that little something extra to invoke truly deep emotion.
I liked the characters. Anne is a strong woman, but there is a point in the story where she is at the lowest she can be and her actions just didn’t ring true with her character at that point in time. I was surprised by the direction the author took her, especially because she had a child by that time. And I was disappointed it was Anne herself who didn’t pull herself up by the bootstraps but other characters who did. Anne should have been the one to see the error of her ways and then get back to the woman we know she could be. She had done something similar just prior to this, so I just didn’t understand why the author decided to go this particular route.
Justin is a man who has given his life to the military and is very good at spying during the Civil War. He knows when to go with his gut and usually he’s right. That was the case when he rescued Anne after her near-fatal encounter with a Yankee officer. He is a sensitive man who can give of himself without restraint. When he’s captured by the enemy, these scenes should have torn my insides out — the torture he suffered, not knowing if Anne was really with him or he was hallucinating. But I wasn’t as moved as I should have been. Even the reunion near the end of the story lacked something to bring all the necessary emotion to the forefront.
I also liked the secondary characters. Mamie, Anne’s servant and friend, always tells it like it is, no pussy-footing around. Aiden, Justin’s best friend and fellow officer, is loyal and true. Gabe, Justin’s cousin, takes family seriously and bends over backward for Justin and Anne. The evil Captain Patrick brings home how terrible a war our country suffered just with the division of brother versus brother, father versus son, man versus man, let alone the devastation. The historical research was done quite well. I learned little things I never knew about our Civil War.
There just wasn’t enough emotion to connect me to the characters that final step to make me really care. Also, the dialogue in certain situations was repeated too many times from character to character. By the third time something was being repeated, I skipped over it. I didn’t need to hear it again. And I didn’t care for the use of modern verbiage uttered by these characters. It wasn’t a lot, but enough to pull me that much further away from the story. This book could have been so much more, should have invoked so much more from me, and it just didn’t.
Grade: C-
Summary:
Anne Rutledge quickly learned about the horrors of war when her husband of two weeks is killed by a Yankee bullet at Chantilly then Yankee troops leave her hurt after looting her home.
On assignment for Jefferson Davis, Justin Capwell rescues a victim of the War Between the States though she unknowingly takes his heart hostage.
While both must deal with the demons of their pasts, can their wounded hearts heal for them to enjoy their lives in peace?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
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