Guest Review: Caleb by Sarah McCarty

Posted October 29, 2009 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 8 Comments

Publisher: Berkley, PenguinGenres: Paranormal Romance


Lori’s review of Caleb by Sarah McCarty.

Meet three sexy ranchers-who also happen to be vampires-in the first of a new series by the national bestselling author of Wild Instinct.

Allie always desired mysterious, sexy rancher Caleb Johnson, but he never seemed to notice her. Until the night she’s attacked by a vicious animal, and rescued by a shapeshifting vampire that she almost seems to recognize: the baritone growl, the mesmerizing eyes, the inexplicable animal attraction. That’s because her savior is Caleb, and now he has no choice but to bring Allie into the shadows with him-to protect her from a rival werewolf pack, and to finally reveal his true feelings for the woman he’s been afraid to love.

I’ve long been a fan of Sarah McCarty. I adored the original Promises trilogy. They were the first erotic romances I ever read. If I didn’t love some of her other books, I can say that the one thing that McCarty has always done phenomenally well, even if the story didn’t work for me, is write characters. Her characters have always spoken to me. Loudly. Beautifully. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with Caleb. Neither the story nor the characters worked for me.

In the past, I’ve always trusted McCarty to take me anywhere, even in a paranormal, which admittedly, has never been my favorite genre. That is no longer the case. I closed Caleb with a “been there, done that” feeling. Like this book offered nothing new. To either McCarty fans or to vampire fans.

In Caleb, McCarty uses every cliché there is to use with vampires. Every trick and trope she’s used in all of her books – the westerns and the paranormals – they’re in there. I felt as though I was reading a glossed over version of a McCarty hero without the depth and a mirror image of a McCarty heroine. Throw a few “son of a bitch”s in the mix (because all McCarty heroes must say that) and voila. And every McCarty hero threatens to paddle their heroines. All the time. But in past books, I’ve always truly felt that the threat came from a deep-seated fear for the heroine’s welfare, and huge relief at her eventual safety. Like when you want to swat your child after they ran into the street without looking, and you’re so relieved that they made it across safely. Here, instead, I honestly felt that it was just words taking up space on the page.

Caleb was supposed to be 250 years old, but Allie kept calling him “1860’s man” – as an endearment. That just bugged the ever-living crap out of me. At 250 years old, that would make him 1760’s man. Major blunder, and it took me out of the book every time she said it. I’d accept that Allie was just stupid, except that Caleb gave her his mother’s 250 year old wedding ring. From the 1800s, he noted to himself. Ugh.

There was no character depth; none at all. No history. Especially with Allie. And McCarty is usually fantastic with the characters, if nothing else. But they were totally flat. Even Caleb’s brothers, whom I assume are next in line for their own books, were flatter than an armadillo on the highway in Texas. And even more than that, I was completely squicked out by their admission that they were turned on by Allie. I didn’t find it sexy at all. Just the opposite. So I found the characters extremely lacking from an author who has always had A-1 characterization. And a piss-poor plot to back them up.

An unfortunate entry from McCarty.

1.5 out of 5

Read more from Lori at Living in the House of Testosterone and I Just Finished Reading…

This book is available from Berkley Trade. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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8 responses to “Guest Review: Caleb by Sarah McCarty

  1. Ohhh. 1.5! But the cover is sooo pretty. It’s more than just the half naked man, I swear. I love the font of the author’s name and the title.. plus the colors and the skull. Such a great cover.

  2. Oh Lori – how happy I am after reading this review that you were the one who scored this book the last time we saw Holly! lol So sorry you wasted your time.

    The 1860’s man thing would have driven me crazy as well.

    were flatter than an armadillo on the highway in Texas
    LOL great analogy.

  3. Rowena

    Oh man, I haven’t read anything by this author and this review doesn’t exactly make me want to start.

  4. Lori

    Seneca: sorry 🙁

    Janicu: She does luck out on her cover art, doesn’t she? Her Hell’s Eight covers are purty as well. although I think they’re the ones with the headless horsemen.

    Tracy: Yeah, well… it’s a shame, because I do love her earlier books. Somehow the last couple just haven’t been up to her earlier standards, and it makes me sad.

    Rowena, if you want to read some amazing western historicals, her original Promises trilogy from Ellora’s Cave is absolutely terrific.

  5. Anonymous

    I don’t care for her work. Her latest release is a rip-off of one of my fav author’s creations so I won’t be reading any others by Ms. McCarty.

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