Hawke's Pride
1991
- collectionid:wbodice_ripper
- historical romance
- fiction, romance, general
- bodice ripper
- western romance
- alpha male
- romance
- fiction, romance, historical
- fiction, romance, historical, general
- fiction, general
The story
From the moment she laid eyes on him, Rue thought Hawke Masters the most insufferable man she’d ever met. Proud, arrogant, overbearing, he made it insultingly clear that although her grandfather’s shotgun had forced him to wed Rue, nothing would make him bed a scrawny little backwoods baggage like her. But pride goeth before a fall, and Hawke Masters was going to fall hard. Once he got Rue home to his ranch to care for his orphaned niece and nephew, the girl began to blossom. Her tousled red gold hair made his fingers itch to bury themselves in its silky mass, her velvet soft skin cried out for the burning touch of his lips, and the ripe promise of her lush young body drove him to distraction. No matter what the cost to his manhood, he had to convince Rue that he was no longer a hopeless boor, but the hopelessly smitten husband who would have her, hold her, and cherish her for the rest of their lives.
What it’s like
Lush, breathless prose that lingers on heat and tension, with sun-baked ranch country, dust, and open horizons in the background and a warm, close-up intimacy in the foreground. The voice is melodramatic and sensual, full of rich physical detail and charged glances, the kind of book that reads fast in one long sitting. Its mood is hot-tempered and tender by turns, a sparring, slow-burning romance that tips into sustained sensuality rather than suspense or grit. The pacing favors escalating friction and wary softening between the leads, and the arc follows a proud, domineering man gradually humbled by a woman who refuses to be cowed. Sexual content is frank and frequent, written in an overt bodice-ripper register, with some rough-edged scenes of male dominance and an opening marriage forced at gunpoint; violence is limited and offstage. Best suited to a comfort read with a warm drink, or a weekend escape for readers who want old-fashioned western romance with explicit heat and a redemption-style hero.
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