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Saturday, May 2, 2015

|Review| Without Words by Ellen O'Connell


Title: Without Words
Author:
Published September 30th, 2014
Genre: historical western romance
Rating: A
Goodreads summary:
Bounty hunter Bret Sterling kills Rufus Petty, thief and murderer, less than ten feet away from a frightened, half-starved woman. Rufus should have surrendered. The woman should have kin to help her. But Rufus went down shooting, and the woman has no one. Bret figures by the time he finds a safe place to leave Hassie Petty, he'll earn the five hundred dollar reward several times over.

Hassie doesn't mourn Rufus, but the loss of the ten dollars he promised her for supplies is a different matter. The bounty hunter gives her nothing, takes everything, ties the body on one horse and orders her on another. Afraid if she defies him, he'll tie her down tighter than Rufus, Hassie mounts up and follows the icy-eyed killer.

Mismatched in every way, the sterling man and petty woman travel the West together, hunting thieves, deserters, and murderers. Wary traveling companions, friends and partners, lovers, Bret and Hassie must decide what they want, what they need, and the price they're willing to pay for love. 
Yet another hit by Ellen O'Connell! Surprise, surprise. Let met say this first: I'm currently in the BIGGEST reading slump of humanity. I can't even make it through two of my most anticipated books of EVER and they're both series enders. I'm actually ashamed to mention what those two books are. I've tried historical romance, medieval romance, contemporary romance, suspense and I cannot finish ANYTHING. But then I started Without Words and it was like my reading slump was put on pause while I devoured this book. I might have been reading it while at a Katy Perry concert, heh.

When Danielle told me about the announcement of this book, I freaked out. O'Connell writes very subtle and VERRYY slow burn romances which is why I LOVE THEM. Subtle + slow burn are my favorite. Seriously, I will always and forever choose subtle and slow burn over anything else. Always.

So Without Words, a bounty hunter hero + a mute heroine (due to a childhood accident), who doesn't already love this book? In true Ellen O'Connell fashion, you have these two mismatched couple, who are thrown at each other under difficult circumstance and from that a beautiful friendship then romance blossoms. Slowly. It was GLORIOUS!

Lets start with Bret Sterling, our hero. He fought for the union in the civil war even though his family were pro-slaves, which alienated him from his family. After the war, everything was in ruins so Bret decided to become a bounty hunter because he was good at it and it provided a lot of money. That's how he meets Hassie, the heroine.

Bret and Hassie venture out on the trail, catching wanted men. Bret originally wanted to make sure he leaves Hassie in a safe place but she insists on staying with him. Hassie has been oppressed her whole life and I loved watching her enjoy being free moving from town to another with Bret. I loved that Bret let her have her freedom and respected her spirit.

I loved Hassie and her journey from being in constantly shitty situations to finding happiness and love. Bret respected her and let her have her freedom when she was with him and enjoy the trail and it was so wonderful and sweet to read about. These two are just the ultimate OTP. Another O'Connell book I can't recommend enough!


Recommend for: fans of the SLOW BURN!
Rating: [A] Holy slow burn heaven!

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