Casee‘s review of The Gift (Malloy Family, Book 5) by Beth Williamson.
Trevor Malloy loves women of all shapes and sizes. When he bets a small fortune on a hand of poker only to lose to a lady gambler he can’t seem to charm, he finds himself beholden to a woman for the first time.
Adelaide Burns refuses to fall under Trevor’s spell and is determined to make him pay every cent he owes her—in muscle and sweat.
Like sparks from flint and rock, Trevor and Adelaide nearly set the sheets on fire. Together they find heaven in each others arms, fight for Adelaide’s saloon, and face a future that only the luck of the cards will tell.
This is my least favorite book of the series. First of all (and this has nothing to do what I actually thought of the book), who is that woman on the cover? The cover totally turned me off, but it was Trevor the book that I didn’t really like.
Trevor Malloy is a selfish bastard. Srsly. He’s an arrogant ass, too. From the moment he leaves home (in a huff) and turns up in Adelaide’s salon, Trevor grated on my nerves. He left home after he decided that no one appreciated him. Boo-hoo. He decided that he could definitely make it as a professional gambler. That’s when he loses all of his savings and then some to Adelaide. His arrogance got the best of him.
Adelaide was an okay heroine. I didn’t love her, but I didn’t dislike her either. I was pretty ambivalent about her. When she first saw Trevor, she was determined to teach him a lesson. She didn’t plan on getting a $15,000 (or so) marker from the man. Though it’s not in her nature to be mean, she decides that the perfect lesson is to make him think he has to work off his debt in her salon. Which will take the rest of his life.
I really hoped that Trevor would get better as the book went on, but that didn’t happen. To top it all off, he got in a fight with his brother, Brett, at the end of the book b/c he’s such a jerk. I just really didn’t care for this book. It didn’t turn me off of the series, though. I still am really enjoying it.
3 out of 5.
This book is available from Samhain. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Other books in the series:
I do love these westerns of Beth’s! I didn’t read this one yet. My favorite I think is Nicky and Tyler from THE BOUNTY, but I found them each unique. Its hard for me usually to pick just one favorite because each time I’m reading and enjoying the book, that hero is my favorite at that time. Make sense? Too I enjoy more of them in the series but some may really stand out like THE BOUNTY did for me.
Thanks for the review! Going to do some catching up!
That is an AWESOME cover!