Book Fidelity’s Review

Review

The following is a review from Book Fidelity! (You may have to scroll to August 18, 2020 to get to my review) She was one of the stops of the blog tour.

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Hey there reader! I was excited to read The Reluctant Bandit because I am still new to cowboy tales and, as I was reading along, I got the inkling that I was going to get a little bit of romance – and I did! Now, do not get me wrong, I hesitate to call Bandit a romance book because it isn’t heavy in the subject and it would be dishonest to make you think this was a “bodice ripper”. It isn’t (as much as I was really hoping for it! haha). Instead, what The Reluctant Bandit does is precariously balance what it is to be a historical western and a romance. Author Ami Hicken King did this extremely well. I wasn’t left feeling like I was missing something – the story is whole and reads as such. 

Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I am a character-driven reader. I need to be able to feel something for your characters. Sometimes it’s love, other times – quite the opposite. Hicken King managed to make me do both. I truly came to care for and love Charlie and Annabelle while cursing Wrighty and whoever found themselves helping him. Back to the love. Charlie’s story with his brother Jimmy tugged at my heartstrings and I felt that there was so much to unpack there. Some of it was – and I’m hoping we’ll see more of them in future books? Maybe? Please?

All in all, The Reluctant Bandit was a well-rounded, well-written, and expressive story. I see this work being loved by western-readers and romance-readers alike. Each group may find themselves wanting more (especially romance-readers, present company included lol), but I truly think there is so much to appreciate from this story and to take from it. I especially recommend it for those readers that have been reluctant (ha! involuntary pun!) to start reading cowboy tales – this is the best story to get you over that hump! Try it out – you will not be sorry!

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Book Fidelity was one of my more fruitful book tour stops–I got an actual review! A lovely one at that. Thank you Celia for taking the time to write such a thoughtful review. Reviews (no matter how long, short, good or bad–they can even be just “stars”) are super important to an author. It’s how they are evaluated and seen as well as providing much-needed exposure. There are a lot of voices out there clambering to be heard and things begging to be read. If you’ve read my novel–thank you! I appreciate that more than I can say. The icing on this cake is leaving a review. I’d really appreciate it. It also helps me gauge and evaluate my progress, as well as your likes and dislikes. While I have a vision for what I’m writing, I do take into consideration things my readers say. Some of these things might make their way into my writing, even little tweaks or thoughtful items. Your opinions and comments matter to me on more than one level.