Guest Review: Tamed by Emily Cale.

This is a delightful new release from Breathless Press and it falls somewhere between a short story and a novella. It is erotic contemporary Western fiction, and the author has written with a great deal of confidence in her research. It reflects the work of a writer that is in touch with the context of the story and that, in my experience, helps the reader to take the work seriously.

It is a story of a professional woman who has built a business with her determination and hard work, who has sacrificed just about everything to be professionally successful. Together with her best friend and partner, she has carved out a very satisfying life for herself, having left her family in Wyoming almost as soon as she could. Now living in Portland, OR, she has cut off herself from her roots for a variety of reasons, most of which fall into the category of ” . . . I’m just too busy to take a trip.” The one area of her life, though, that really sucks is her love life. She has managed to find sexual partners but they are usually for one night only, and she has two or three bars where she frankly, trolls for men. That has become tiresome and unsatisfying. In spite of having achieved many of her goals, she is deeply weary and unsatisfied with her life overall. Enter the loving but intrusive aunt–the person who has probably been most influential in Delia’s later growing up years when she spent summers on their ranch in Wyoming.

Lucas Dane is a man who has been in Wyoming all his life, loves the Big Sky Country, is nearly expert in raising horses, and loves working for Delia’s aunt and uncle. He is tall and muscular, good looking in a rugged sort of way, and Delia is immediately attracted to him. But she doesn’t want to be. He, too, sees her when she is exiting her aunt’s car upon her arrival, wearing her city casual wear, totally infit for even walking around in the front yard. She had forgotten how hard it is to walk to the barn in spike heels. Thus, Lucas begins to call her “city girl.”

This is a very engaging story that deals with some of the lifestyle issues that single professional women face–how to balance their professional responsibilities while finding ways to meet their personal needs. Delia has obviously lost focus and is living an unbalanced life. This becomes obvious when it is difficult for her to sleep because it is so quiet. There’s always noise in Portland. Those of us who live in urban areas can relate. Even though Delia is willing to add Lucas to her “men just for sex” list, Lucas isn’t really willing to become relegated to that category. It doesn’t take too long before both of these people find that their hearts have become entangled. Delia really has to struggle with with the choices she faces–can she really return to a life that has become sterile in so many ways when she has found a profound peace she had forgotten existed and a man who cares about her as a woman and not as a professional?

I found this novella to be extremely compelling in its subject matter, in the reality and humanity of its characters, and the realistic context. The story moved along in a way that kept my mind engaged. As it is not a full length novel I was able to read it in one sitting and thus I think I was more aware of the flow of the story. I thought it was so very well-written. This is my first encounter with this particular author but she has demonstrated a lively imagination, good writing skills, and the ability to tell a full and expanded story in a relatively small number of pages. I appreciate that a lot.

So I give this novella a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.