My Review: The Trouble We Keep by Cara Devlin

The Story:

A broken promise brought her West.

A willful heart will fight to keep her there.

Newly pregnant, alone, and a fugitive from the law, Emma Wheat has run out of time. Though her brother had promised to send for her from one of the mining boomtowns out west, he never did. And now, after doing whatever it took to survive on her own, Emma has no choice but to flee on a westward train, bound for her brother’s last known location.

What she finds in Williams, Arizona only stokes more questions. Surly saloon owner Dean Morelli claims Emma’s brother robbed him and ran--and he’s not so certain Emma is any more trustworthy. But Dean isn’t all bluster and gloom. The longer Emma stays on to find her brother and prove his innocence, the more willing Dean is to show her his softer side--though her secrets continue to stand between them.

Emma knew escaping her past wouldn’t be easy. When the man she fears most steps off a train and threatens the new life she’s building, she’ll have to trust in herself, and in the kind of love she never dreamed possible, in order to face her future.

The Trouble We Keep is a pioneer western romance filled with heart, adventure, redemption, and slow-burning true love.

Amazon | Kindle Unlimited

My Thoughts:

I’m a sucker for historical westerns, but I’ve been on a Regency kick for quite some time, so it’s been a while since I’ve read one. I devoured this one in one night. Kudos to the author for keeping this reader up well past her bedtime.

Emma Leigh has been down on her luck, waiting for years for her brother to send for her, and has turned to the world’s oldest profession in order to survive. When a client assaults her, she makes a split second decision to flee Washington for the desert in search of her wayward brother. The rough and tumble Arizona mining town becomes her new refuge—the barkeep Dean and midwife Jo, her only support system.

The Trouble We Keep has bar fights, gunslinging, and of course outlaws and a flood, everything one expects in a good western. While there are some anachronisms (a zipper in a ladies’ dress in 1901), I still enjoyed this rather sweet romance. What can I say? I love a gruff hero who turns out to have a heart of gold. I think I need to read a western marriage of convenience story next! It’s been too long since I’ve gone to the prairie with my favorite trope and now I want everything to be cowboys and barmaids.

Note: This is a general market romance so there is some strong language but no graphic sexual content. 

*I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.*

~ My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars~

Happy Reading!