Double review of Caine's Reckoning

Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty
Published by Spice

Why I read this: It got tons of great reviews from other bloggers, and I liked Promises Linger so I didn't hesitate on buying this.

Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger, definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favor. One Caine's honor won't let him refuse. From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she's determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond,
but it still isn't enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her screams, her moans, her demands everything. Yet there's still a bounty on Desi's head and keeping her satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.

I'll start off by saying that this was supposed to be a joint review between me and another blogger. She has decided that after a week of reading and not being able to get past page 110, she is putting the book down. I wont out her, but it sucks that I have to take all the heat alone for this one. ;-P

In Caine's Reckoning, Desi has had a hard life. Her family was killed, then she and her sister were kidnapped and raped by Indians, then she was 'rescued' by men who chained her to a bed and used her as their own personal sex slave.

Desi, along with a few other towns women were kidnapped by outlaws. Caine and a few of his Hells Eight buddies are Rangers who were sent to find and bring home the women.

This is a book that I was very excited for, but unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was confused as to why it was so easy for her to have sex with Caine that first time in the tub. It was so difficult afterwards that they spent more time talking about it doing it, rather than actually doing it. I get that Desi had a lot of stuff going on in her head and she needed a bit of help in dealing with it. However, for me, it didn't work. They went from one easy peasy bout of sex(in the tub) to several that where difficult to understand and read, then the last one just magically happened naturally. I'm glad that Desi was finally able to just do it, but I missed where she was 'fixed'.

**Spoilers below*** Find out the problems I had while reading.

There is a part where another member of Hell's Eight was supposed to be protecting Desi while Caine was away. He is this big bad dude who is the best at protecting. However, there was no explanation about where he was when Desi was kidnapped. Before the bad guy got her, Desi kept looking for Shadow, but he didn't appear. Right until the very last page of the book I kept waiting for an explanation about that, but it never came.

I kinda felt like there was a scene missing...I wanted to read about when Caine finds out about Desi's abduction off of Hell's Eight land. It went from her being grabbed, to Caine and his boys on their way to rescue her. I also want to know how Desi got abducted with the other women in the first place. She was confined to a bedroom. Shackled and naked. It's not like she was out for a stroll and they grabbed her that way. She even has a scar on her leg that she got while trying to escape from those men who locked her up that way.

***End of spoilers***

I did like how Caine was so determined to keep and protect Desi. How much he wanted to hurt the men who hurt her was right up my ally. I love a man like that. Desi-meh. I don't have much of an opinion of her. I think the problem is that I didn't connect with her in any way.

The epilogue was very good. Desi writes a letter to her sister because the Hells Eight men have promised to find Ari and bring her home. I think the letter did a great job of setting up the next book.

Caine's Reckoning is a C- for me. Basically because I liked Caine. I could see in my head the way he walked, hear his voice, picture him on his horse, etc. He was also kind and gentle, but still tough and manly.