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Pages: 129
Goes Well With: Eggs and coffee
The beautiful image of a horse on the cover of Tanya Hanson’s Outlaw in Love draws prospective readers straight into ideas of beauty, freedom, the American West, and more. The novella behind the cover lives up to this promise well, with convincing Old West settings, serious danger, and appealing characters, as two wounded protagonists work their way toward a fragile romance and freedom from the past.
The story is part of the author’s Lawmen and Outlaws series, but it stands well alone. While a wealth of back story deepens the links between characters, the author weaves it seamlessly into the plot with convincing internal and external dialogue, bringing her renegade nun and outlaw to vivid life, even as the bullets fly.
Soon there’s a mystery, filled with secrets and lies. Teresa hides a haunted past with an abusive stepfather. Ahab’s on a mysterious mission to help somebody—“A woman for sure.” And why would a nun feel jealous? Meanwhile, romance gathers with threat in a story told alternately, with vivid and relevant detail, through the eyes of outlaw and nun.
The dialogue is slow and sure, the language languid with a sense of dust and the West—a land where “dime novels” have set outlaws each “with a halo above their Stetsons.” But do nuns have halos? Teresa slipped long ago, and Ahab’s only just learning the shape of his.
The Old West is a real and scary place—its lawmen overworked, its missions underfunded, and its citizens brave. But the possibility of redemption gives an enticing heart to this tale. Romance is powerfully underplayed, a throbbing undercurrent that keeps its longing and its sins safely hidden away, making Outlaw in Love a tale of powerful emotions needing no derailment into physical description. Meanwhile, dark hearts prove lighter than they seem, and threatened hearts might survive even the long arm of the law.
I enjoyed this book for its convincing language, evocative locations, believable characters and dialogue, and its generously healing spirit.
Ed. Note: For more on Outlaw in Love, visit The Wild Rose Press.
