Sarah McCarty - Caine's Reckoning

Texas Ranger Caine Allen is a man with a hard past and live. At an early age he lost his family and grew up in a world full of violence and hunger. Together with seven other men, almost with the same background as he, he started Hell’s Eight, a ranch that will be breeding horses in the near future, but right now Caine and his friends Sam & Tracker are hired to rescue some abducted women. Caine could not imagine being impressed by the strength of one of the victims, Desdemona Blake.

Desdemona “Desi” Blake is a young woman, who lost everyone she loved, her parents and brother are dead, and her twin sister kidnapped by Comancheros and her own life is a living hell. She has been held captive by her guardian and uses as a “sex” slave for several upstanding men in her town. So being kidnapped by some locals is her only change to escape, but then the Texas Rangers rescue her and the other women. She begs Caine not to bring her back to her guardian James Haddock. Caine ignores her plea, but when he meets James Haddock and sees the way Desi react to him, the only thing to save her from continued harm is to take her to Hell’s Eight, as his wife.

Little by little Caine discovers the truth about Desi’s past and there is only one thing on his mind…revenge.

Caine’s reckoning by Sarah McCarty is the first novel in the Hell’s Eight series and it’s one hell of a book. I cannot describe the feeling I had when I finished the book. This book is full of emotions, hurting from past experience and defiantly true love. Just the way that love can conquer all things, even after what both main characters had been through.

The relationship between main characters Caine and Desi started difficult. Both of them had a very hard and difficult past, especially Desi. She lost her parents and brother, her twin sister is kidnapped by Comancheros and she lives in hell, as “sex” toy of her guardian James Haddock. But her determination is huge; she will escape her live and find her missing sister. The moment she meets Caine, she knows he is a man of his words and when he promise her to find her sister and keep her safe in the meantime, she believes him. But can she trust him with her heart and let him in her bed, after all she been through?
Caine Allen, a Texas Ranger and owner of the ranch Hell’s Eight is determined to breed horses and succeed. But when he rescue Desi Blake and marries her to keep her safe from her guardian, she will be his number one priority. The moment he discovers the truth about Desi and her past, he will do anything to find her sister and get his revenge on the men who abused Desi. His mission now will be to get Desi to believe he sees her as a beautiful and loving woman and not the whore she think she is.

As secondary characters we see the other Hell’s Eight men, all impressive men with their own past to deal with. The only woman on Hell’s Eight is Tia, an elderly lady who lost her husband and child in the war and took the men in when they were younger. And they have just one rule, the moment you become a part of Hell’s Eight family, they will do anything in their power to protect you.

I have to say Westerns are not my favourite genre to read, but Sarah McCarty convinces me otherwise. With this novel she caught my attention and hold that all the way through the book. I could really feel the pain and emotions Desi was feelings, during her abused life. Her determination to survive was huge and that’s what I really like in a character. I hope Desi will find her missing sister in one of the following novels.

A little warning for you all, the sex scenes are raw but it will fit perfectly in this story. I for one am curious enough to see what will happen with Sam, in Sarah McCarty next novel Sam’s Creed.