Silver-Tongued Devil

So, what is a girl to do when given an advance copy of a book from her favorite author mere hours before said book is about to release, you start reading it of course. And because it is another fabulous read by The Fabulous Lorelei James you finish that book even though you got to go to work in the morning. When I tell you, I could not put this book down I mean it. I might be hating life at work in the next two hours when my alarm clock is supposed to go off, but it was worth every freaking moment of lost sleep. I truly love this story. The writing is beyond impeccable, and the characters just suck you in from the get-go. This book gives you a little bit of everything, love, romance, lust, intrigue, it will make you cry, and it will make you laugh. Put down whatever book you are reading now and pick this one up you will thank me for it. P.S. If you have never read a book from the Rough Riders series no worries this is a complete standalone. However, with that said you should definitely read the Rough Riders series if you haven’t yet.

Lorelei James delivers a masterfully written prequel to her popular Rough Riders series. In this stand alone romance, readers see the origin of the McKay family and insight into the famous McKay-West feud. I loved this double romance. Twins Jonas and Silas McKay are living in an unincorporated area of the Wyoming territory. Jonas is a deputy for Labelle Township and Silas is working the land he claimed in the McKay name as well as buying more land with his gambling winnings. Silas has an ongoing feud with Zeke West stemming from an incident when Silas was working under Zeke on the railroad. Silas is sweet on Dinah the township’s schoolmarm and the doctor’s assistant, trouble is Zeke wants what Silas has and things get might interesting. Meanwhile Jonas has had a long time secret affair with Ruby the Madam at Miss Ruby Red’s “Boarding House.” I loved the twists and turns of this story. I enjoyed watching Silas and Dinah’s courtship and the wild and raunchy times between Jonas and Ruby. While their stories were very different, both women were incredibly strong and had lived hard lives. The men’s lives hadn’t been a bed of roses either and it shaped them into the people they are in this story. I have never been a fan of historical romance, but I devoured this book from cover to cover in about 5 hours time. I could not put it down. This book was perfection, just so many layers. One thing I've always loved about Lorelei's writing is the depth to her stories. You don't get that with so many authors these days. Engaging, entertaining, and sexy as all get out, Silver-Tongued Devil is one of my top reads of 2020.

***5 Stars*** Fangirl down…Fangirl down… And in the best of ways. Diving back into the world of the McKay clan, even one set in the wild west, was like coming home. You see, the Rough Riders series was one of a handful of series, that many, many moons ago reminded me why I loved reading so much and it brought some amazing people into my life and set me on a path that I never could have expected, so it holds a special place in my reading loving heart to this day. Which, of course, makes it difficult for this review to be unbiased, so I’m going to be clear right now that it’s not and will be pretty vague to keep things non-spoilery because even I wasn’t prepared for ALL that went on in the book. What I will say is that I ADORED Silas, Dinah and Jonas. ADORED. Silas and Jonas are simply good men who are loyal, hard working and protective of those they call their own...and the title of the book definitely applies to both of them. Dinah was all kinds of feisty. She knew what she wanted and had no problem speaking her mind and doing what needed to be done. The interactions between these characters had me grinning because I could see where their progeny got their charm, heart and fire from. And the smexy was HAWT! (Not surprising, but needs to be stated) As this is an origin story/prequel we get to witness what started the feud between the West’s & McKay’s, and boy, I got it. I had no issue siding with the McKay’s at all. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this ride. It had me grinning like a fool and swooning throughout the majority of it and the twists that were tossed in were all very well done and that ending was awesome and it has me wanting to re-read the series all over again. ~ Copy provided by the author & voluntarily reviewed ~