It is hard to describe sometimes just how much you enjoy a book. This story was filled with all kinds of feelings, love, hate, revenge, sadness, loneliness and a family's love. These two become very close friends through the hardships of living off the land while hiding from the Sebastian gang and then they fell in love. I will not go into details about their story because you really have to read this book to enjoy every word and to feel every emotion that is between every page. Absolutely wonderful book. This one was...a very mixed bag. Very. On one hand, we have the typical Broken Heroine complete with an ex-lover who makes me want to drop a safe on his head. Eden Paxton's ex-fiance not only ended their engagement, but let his parents drag her name through the mud just because she wasn't a pureborn high society girl like THEY wanted for him. So she goes back home with her mother to nurse her wounds. Then the poor woman gets captured by bandits who do everything short of raping her, and only because they want to sell her. The first few chapters of Eden being manhandled are VERY uncomfortable to read. :/The hero of the story is Matthew Coulter, who's pretty broken himself. We start out with him waking up to discover a gang of bandits raped and murdered his wife, so he sets out on a revenge quest. Of course, he happens upon Eden with a gang of bandits...who just happen to be the ones he's chasing! He manages to free her and Eden has no choice but to go along with the guy she just met.So yes, fairly standard Catherine Anderson fare that brings almost nothing new to the table. But at the same time it wasn't such a bad read. Eden's got lots more salt than the typical Anderson heroine and even tries to fight back against the bandits. She's good with a gun, she doesn't spend the entire book wangsting about how she's defiled forever because those nasty men touched her outside the obligatory "scrubbing herself raw" scene. Matthew isn't Anderson's usual Perfect Cowboy with a magic cock to heal the heroine's trauma, but instead a bitter widower hellbent on revenge.And the "second love" was handled quite well, too. Matthew and Eden were clearly Meant To Be, but Matthew's love for his late wife Olivia remains strong and even when he decides to let go of his revenge and swear himself to Eden, it's clear he'll never really forget her.This being an Anderson book, though, we still have to have that Big Misunderstanding near the end where the couple gets into a giant fight, and to add salt to the wound Eden's brother scolds her for being selfish even though her feelings aren't THAT petty. But to their credit, the lovebirds make up before Matthew heads out. And thankfully, the bandits get what's coming to them.So overall, this book was...okay. Not the best of Anderson's library, but definitely not the worst.
What do You think about Early Dawn (2009)?
This was an easy to read book. Now on to something else.
—Nyx
The middle of the book sorta went on and on. Good story.
—rosa
