Sandy M’s review of Smokin’ Six-Shooter (Whitehorse Montana: The Corbetts, Book 4) by B.J. Daniels
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Intrigue 1 Dec 10

I read this book because I forgot to take with me one day the book I was reading at the time. For some reason this one was in my car, so it got chosen by default. It’s been a while since I’ve read a Harlequin or an Intrigue. I usually enjoy them, for the most part, when I indulge. I’d been wanting a good cowboy story for a while, and the title and cover piqued my interest, though I have to say the title really doesn’t describe anything that goes on in the book.

While I like the hero, Russell Corbett, and I enjoyed the fun he and the heroine have about the differences between his cowboy and her city girl, and while the mystery to be solved is intriguing, some parts of the story just seem to jump too fast at points. I kept thinking cuts had been made due to the restrictive word count authors have to deal with in category romance, and sometimes the story can suffer. This one doesn’t unduly suffer, it just seems disjointed at times.

I do like the mystery Dulcie walks into when she investigates property she’s inherited from a virtual stranger. Memories begin to return to her as more information comes to light and she finds her adoptive parents weren’t always truthful with her. While all of this is going on, we get another point of view from the local school teacher, who’s current lesson is teaching her students how to write a story. Included in the homework after each assignment is a detailed rendition of the ages-old murder that Dulcie is looking into. I know this POV is needed in the story, but I feel it’s used too much. It takes away from Russell and Dulcie and it is their romance and I want more of them together.

Ms. Daniels is good at misdirection and she does surprise me a little, after I thought I had the mystery all figured out. I enjoyed meeting the rest of the Corbett family and would like to read more in this series just for the fun they have.

My book sports this cover to the right, not the one at the top of this review. I know, like the one above, these are the new covers Harlequin has introduced, but I just don’t care for them like I do the older covers. Of course, the author has no say in this and it’s a done deal with every Harlequin line, so I guess I just have to accept it. I just prefer those older covers.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Russell Corbett was all cowboy and wasn’t about to let a lady lasso him! But Dulcie Hughes had him tied up in knots from the moment she nearly collided with his combine. She rode into town with her fancy rental car and city clothes to claim her secret inheritance. And neither tall tale nor handsome rancher would deter her from exposing a years-old cover-up at the Beaumont property. She expected to find answers, not fall in love. But like the threatening thunderhead on the horizon, the truth would come fast and fierce, and there would be no escaping the consequences.

No excerpt available.

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