Petunia Wayfield was on her way from Boston to
California, when due to unfortunate circumstances, she
ended up in Simple, Texas. Without a penny to her name
and no financial support from her father, she got a
position as schoolteacher to earn money and make her way
to San Francisco. Two months later, she's no closer to
reaching her goal because of her tendency to help the
needy, especially neglected children. In this, she has
the help of Ace Parker, brawler, gambler and womaniser
extraordinaire. He doesn't seem to have much in common
with the prim and proper schoolmarm, but appearances are
often deceiving.
Sarah McCarty was a new author to me, and I was a bit
surprised that ACE'S WILD is the latest instalment in a
long series; I didn't feel I was missing much, although
it made me curious as to the previous books if only to
know a bit more about the enigmatic Hell's Eight, who
come off as some sort of Wild West Motorcycle Club with
real horse power! I loved how Ms. McCarty gave me the
impression I was truly reading something that took place
in the American West of 1860. The world of ACE'S WILD is
rich and colourful, the writing is crisp and breezy, the
dialogues are quite entertaining, and the author doesn't
dawdle.
Much is to be said about the characters in ACE'S WILD:
there are quite a few secondary characters and they are
just as compelling as Petunia and Ace. Ace is exactly how
I imagine a 19th Century cowboy to be: he seems a bit on
the fence between wrong and right, but is all for
justice. Petunia is a rather unusual heroine: she's an
old maid at almost 30 years of age, and mostly because
she's an intellectual, progressive in her thinking but
quite proper most of the time. It is quite the sexual
power struggle between Petunia and Ace, and the chemistry
between them is palpable; ACE'S WILD features the best
first kiss I have ever read. However I was a bit
perplexed at the behaviour of Petunia on the aftermath of
a somewhat disturbing, if not totally unexpected event,
which I shall not disclose, and I must admit I enjoyed
the historical and romantic part of the story more than
the light BDSM angle, but all in all ACE'S WILD is
sensual and fast-paced; a quick and entertaining read.
When you gamble with desire, be prepared to risk
everything…
Unlike the rest of the Hell's Eight brotherhood, Ace
Parker's home isn't on the range. This restless cowboy
craves the hustle of Simple, Texas, a lawless town where
he
can sate his darker appetites without guilt. At least he
could, until Petunia Wayfield arrived. The prickly new
teacher is insisting that Ace help her rid the town of
drunkenness and card playing. For that kind of miracle,
Ace
demands a reward the spinster schoolmarm will surely never
give.
But Petunia isn't backing down. Not when the intense
passion
Ace offers shatters her to the core. As soon as she can
afford a ticket home back East, she'll leave Simple behind
for good. Until then, she'll match his sensual challenge
with her own, daring him to give up his fiercely guarded
self-control. And then real danger claims Petunia, forcing
Ace to reveal the man he really is—even if it drives her
away forever….
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