Customer Reviews

Caine's Reckoning (Hell's Eight)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty. Where do I start? It started off with a bang that sucked me right into the story and ended on a more emotional note, one that had the tears flowing. Oh how I love a book that takes me on a roller coaster ride emotionally.

I won't go into the plot or try to summarize it for you as so many others have done, but I do have to ask you one question: Did you all laugh aloud as I did at the rooster scene? And the second one on page 428? I must share the snippet:

She looked down at the red pacifier in her hand and then at the dog. "What do you think, Boone? Should we throw away our scruples or make a stand for what's right?"

Boone eyed the monster. It spread its wings and crowed. Mid-crow, Boone shivered and let out a moan of pure terror.

Desi glanced at the outhouse. Shadow would be popping out of there any minute now, which meant expediency was her best bet if she didn't want a twenty-minute lecture. "You're right. We don't have time for scruples."

She tossed the pacifier on the ground. Cantankerous went for it with unholy zeal. She shook her head as he hopped on board. "That's just not right."

LOL...No, it's not right, but it sure is freaking funny. That as well as the scene where Caine is teaching Desi to shoot and she misses on purpose (the purpose is a kiss), shooting the outhouse instead of her target, and Sam comes running out pulling up his drawers, gun at the ready. Snort. Ms. McCarty paints a very vivid picture, one that made me laugh out loud.

I felt so badly for all the men of the Hell's Eight, what they went through when they were little boys. The old West was a son of a bear, wasn't it? Forcing boys to grow into men before their time, and allowing women to be used as any man saw fit. Son of a bear, indeed!

I enjoyed watching Desi bloom as she found her footing on the ranch, and mostly after she learned that she didn't have to work herself into the ground to earn Caine's respect. She'd already had it.

I liked Caine from the first page. I found his hard exterior very attractive, but when his sensitive side came to the fore, that was when I fell in love with him.

Together Caine and Desi learn to give and take, to bend, and in the process find love. She's the one thing he'd never expected to find, he's not at all what she expected her husband to be, yet together they find the one thing neither knew they were looking for: Each other.

Caine's Reckoning is a story of hope, a story of grit and determination. At the core of the story I found love, laughter, and family. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time, and one I will read time and time again as I anxiously await the next book in the series: Sam's Creed.

First of all...THE COVER IS THE BEST!!!!!

Being fairly new to erotic romance, it's taken me a while to sift through the good, the bad, the average, and the great. Sarah McCarty is definitely in the "GREAT" category!

This is the third book I've read from Ms. McCarty and I was not let down. While I enjoy these types of romance along with just about all others, I tend to get invested emotionally. It doesn't matter how much sex is in the story - if I don't care about the characters, I won't even finish. When there is much suffering (as in Desi's case) it can sometimes be hard to keep reading but I do know from reading Ms. M's previous books that there is going to be a great payoff in the end.

The hero is definitely of the "alpha" variety but not overwhelming and with so many great qualities (patience, sense of humor, sex appeal, patience, sex appeal, etc. - You can probably tell what qualities I really appreciate). The heroine is strong and opinionated as well as being admirable. I thought the progression from Desi and Caine's initial meeting to the end was pretty realistic. I try to keep in mind the time period and the fact that times would have been much harder thereby requiring expediting certain events such as marriage. The secondary characters contribute to the story without overtaking the main plot.

I love the dialogue which is very natural and snappy and flows very well. The humor is fantastic and had me laughing out loud several times. On the flip side, the darker scenes sometimes had me misting up or just getting mad (at the bad guys). Thankfully, there weren't a whole ton of those.

The epilogue is fantastic and well....emotional.

I highly recommend this book and all others by Sarah McCarty.

I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I wanted to. I thought it dragged on far too long. Desi truly has a lot of issues and she has my complete sympathy in regards to the rather horrific year she has endured. Caine was also a good man, he wasn't a lout or a sex crazed maniac. It wasn't just one individual thing, it was the combination of everything that made me unable to enjoy this.

While Desi has had a truly horrible year and has been as sexually abused as a woman could get, she's still eager to be a good wife to Caine. *While I could easily misconstrue that as her wanting to please him so he would let her stay, I'm not going to.* Despite her abuse, she discovers she likes it when Caine is at his most intimidating best. *That seems unbelievable to me, but again, I'm going to ignore it.* Caine makes her feel feminine and alive when he presses himself against her and she's eager to know what sex is like when done right. Caine is just as eager to show her, but every time they make progress, an ugly memory surfaces and he immediately backs off. That got old real fast. It was this endless, "Oooo, I'm going to give it to you, baby. Hard and fast. Just the way you want it. Are you ready? Cause this is it. I'm going to give it to you just the way we both want.......tomorrow." They did this like three or four times and when the sex scenes are like 8-10 pages each, that's a lot of go-nowhere sex. If he's not holding back, then she is and vice versa and it was so annoying. This could have been easier to take if I could have read about more interaction between Caine and Desi throughout the day. Instead it seemed to me that Sarah McCarty was just using the day to day activities as filler until she could return to the bedroom. Desi has a lot of problems, and they weren't all sexual. She needed a stronger hand during the day, someone helping her to build up her self confidence again. Instead, Caine lets her figure things out on her own and that was just unnecessary, and dragged out her poor feelings of self worth, imho.

While the main plot about Caine and Desi's sexual relationship is worked through, there is a secondary plot regarding the men who helped destroy her family and made her life hell. I say secondary because the amount of energy that Sarah McCarty put into this wouldn't have powered a nightlite, much less a flashlight strong enough to light our way and I thought it was sooo disappointing. Plus Caine's was always saying how much he was going to put the hurt on the guys who used and abused his wife but when it came down to it, those guys had faaaaar too easy an end. There was another villain that pops up during the end of the book and at that point, I could have cared less.

It was at the very end where I lost it. Desi writes a letter to her sister and in it she says, "hey, remember that guy we knew? Well, he was the bad guy!" WTF? That's how Sarah wrapped up this story? That just made me mad and after 450 pages, I wanted and deserved more.

I'm really glad I read Sam's Creed before I read Caine's Reckoning, because this reckoning was pretty lackluster. It chugged along, depending far too heavily on loosely connected bedroom scenes to fill it out and I just can't recommend this one. I wanted to love it. Heck, I would have settled for just liking it, but this one just rubbed me the wrong way. I kind of went back and forth on what I felt this book deserved and finally I went with 2 stars. I didn't like it. :(

The Hell's Eight are a band of men who have gone through hell when they were children. After seeking retribution for what happened to them, they are now on the right side of the law, acting as Texas Rangers.

Caine Allen and other members of Hell's eight, save Desi and two other women who were kidnapped. Curiously, the other women will have nothing to do with Desi and Desi doesn't want to go back to town - doing whatever she can to avoid it. When Caine returns her to town, he understands why - the most crooked circuit judge in the territory has made a slimy gambler Desi's guardian. Why is that? And why is this guardian saying that Desi isn't quite "right in the head" when clearly she's as sane as the next person? Recognizing a bad situation, Caine plans to bring her to his ranch, but the local padre calls in a favor and so, to take her away from her guardian, Caine marries Desi.

Desi isn't quite sure what to make of Caine. Her experience with men over the past year has left her with horrible memories and fears. Caine is determined to help her overcome her fears and make their marriage work. He's not always sure what to do, but he's determined to cure Desi's fear - if only her stubbornness will let her let go. But can Caine help Desi overcome her fears while there's still someone who wants her back and is determined to get Desi back no matter what?

In Caine's Reckoning, you have both a hero and heroine who have gone through hell. Yup, some of what you read is painful - Desi's nightmare comes to mind. But there's also some scenes (the rooster and outhouse come to mind) that are just laugh out loud funny.

I'm not a big fan of historical romances - I tend to go for contemporary romances. But Sarah McCarty's books are a whole different genera - yup, they're historical western romances, but the depth of the characters and the wonderful storylines make you just sink into the story and forget any preconceived notions you may have about westerns or even romances. Strong women, wonder alpha men, secondary characters that you care about and a plot that will cause you to read late into the night. It really doesn't get any better than that.

If you were wondering about the steaminess of the book as the series is part of Spice instead of Ellora's Cave (who published the author's previous books), have no fear - the steaminess is still there.

My only issue with these books? I want the next story NOW! Write faster Sarah!

This was my first Sarah McCarty book. And wow, what a treat. Desi is compelling, strong, tenacious, and willful. I absolutely loved her as a heroine, and to imagine the things that she had to endure before ever meeting Caine and the Hell's Eight is just so heartbreaking.

I have so many thoughts about this book. I laughed so much ~ whether it was they way Desi and Caine first met, Desi's adventures with the rooster, or the outhouse scene, I cracked up. I also cried ~ both from anger and from sadness. Desi's past affected me more than Caine's, but they both came from tough backgrounds ~ but Desi's abuse got to me more. The fact that she went through what she did and still remained so strong was so wondrous to me.

I enjoyed the members of Hell's Eight, also. I really liked Sam and Tracker and am looking forward to Sam's book which comes out next year. I want to know more about all of them though, how they came together to form the "family" that they did. I hope that more clues are given throughout the series. Caine's Reckoning gave me just enough of the background that I want more.

I'd say this is a Very Good read. For those of you who love Sarah, I doubt you'll be disappointed with this one. I'll definitely have to read a few more of her books ~ if her others are as good as this one, she may become an auto-buy for me.

Caine's Reckoning is a very edgy and erotic tale of the Wild West. Some parts may be hard for some readers to get through because of the sexual abuse the heroine has gone through. But the hero Caine is the perfect man who takes a steady and caring hand when it comes to Desi, the tortured and scarred women he comes to love.
Caine is a Texas Ranger who is well known as a part of Hell's Eight, a group of hardened men who fight for the right side of the law. He is on a mission to save some kidnapped women before they are raped or killed. Along with some of his Hell's Eight buddies, they rescue the women, but there is one of these spirited gals that amazes Caine.
Desi came out to the west with her family, but they were killed. But her twin sister and Desi were kept alive and horribly gang raped and then separated. When Desi was finally saved, her nightmare continued. She has been continually raped and beaten even worse under he so-called caring guardian than before and has given up all hope. Both men and women think the worse of her. That is until Caine comes into her life.
He marries Desi to protect her and she becomes an important part of his life. But Desi has major issues with intimacy, which is understandable. Caine wants to help her with his own form of therapy and from then on it is a clash of wills both sexually and emotionally between these two.
Again, this is can be one uncomfortable read, mainly with the sex scenes that range from sexy and erotic to some actions that may make you wince.
Desi is an amazing heroine and has spirit and Caine, well he is very much an alpha, protective type of guy who may have somewhat unconventional ways of making Desi respond to him, but it works out in the end.
Sarah Mccarty has broken out from the erotic eBook field into the print world with Caine's Reckoning and she is one to watch.

Katiebabs

'd rate Caine's Reckoning as more of an erotic novel than romance, for sex continually sprints along the pages - hot and heavy - blended with romance and a few sub-plots that are exciting to follow. One is, of course, Desi escaping from the men who still want her, another being the harrowing tale of her twin sister (clearly leading up to a sequel - yeah!) Just be warned in advance that there's plenty of sex here, and if that's not to your liking I doubt you'd find this book suiting your fancy.

On the negative side, sometimes a few scenes were played over and over again with Caine and Desi, proving mildly irritating. A small shortening of the novel could have fixed that problem. At times Caine's smugness wanted to make me slap him as much as I'm sure Desi did, but fortunately his good side outweighed the bad.

In short, this is one loaded book, fraught with emotional torment, strong emotional, gripping action, and a refreshingly beautiful relationship. Heady in the erotic department and surprisingly funny at certain times, this ones worth seeking out for sure.

I don't like 'historical' but this author does write some excellent 'hot cowboy' stories, and this one (a new series by the name of Hell's Eight) is extremely good. McCarty really puts emotion and 'personality' into her characters, and the hardship the hero and heroine have gone through before they meet up with each other, give them great depth of personality. The angst of Desi trying to overcome what has happen to her. Wanting to trust, but so afraid to. Caine's patience, his screw ups and his fortitude to keep on going, trying to help Desi (determined to help her). His determination to make a 'real' marriage between them. The conflicting emotions that Desi has, and of course, through it all, the 'protection' factor (Caine trying to protect Desi from the 'bad guy', while Desi is trying to 'protect' Caine from the 'bad guy' hurting Him) runs through the whole story. Along with the 'WHY' are these people after Desi? In my opinion, this is one of the best historical westerns I've ever read, and I'm looking forward to Ms McCarty's next Hell's Eight book. (ps. and I really loved Boone! hehehe)

CAINE'S RECKONING, first in the Hell's Eight series was so worth the wait for Sarah McCarty book from Spice (Publisher). I dearly enjoy western settings, especially historicals, and Ms. McCarty hits it perfectly. Having read her Ellora Cave's PROMISES series, which are keepers, this series is very unique in itself and CAINE'S RECKONING is unique (separate)from her PROMISES series but so much like her writing voice. This author brought about a new western historical erotic fiction series that is a well planned and plotted series of 8 men that are strong alpha males. One gift this author has, is that the reader will feel and see the growth of both Caine and Desi, the main characters of this book. Desi being a strong minded and stubborn woman who grew to fight her own battles within herself and around her while Caine was both there for her when needed as well as giving her the space she needed. The romance between them was felt very read, solid and perfectly fitting to the story. The sexual tension grows throughout just as they grew in love. Without giving away details of more of the story, its one that will have you anticipating each of these eight hero's stories. If you want exact same thing as the Promises series, you won't get them as this book is totally unique as the series will be. But too if you want the beauty of this authors writing voice, skills of plotting and just the book in full, you'll get that and more. This is one of the best reads for me this year. After reading this one and waiting for the next in the Hell's Eight series, get the PROMISES series, available right here in print and also available in ebook from the publisher. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Texas Ranger Caine Allen and his friends have little hope that the three abducted females will survive their kidnappers. Still he is hired to mount a rescue so he follows the trail. However, Caine did not calculate the strength of one of the victims, Desdemona Blake. Desi is grateful to her rescuer, but begs him not to return her to her guardian, James Haddock. He was going to ignore her plea until he meets the odious Haddock. Instead he marries Desi to keep her safe from this bully.

Caine finds Desi to be a caring hard working person, who his friends adore. He also enjoys making love with her as her enthusiasm is igniting. However, she hides something from him that makes Caine wonders if she can trust any man even one who loves her. However, when he learns of her missing twin sister, lost almost a year ago to marauders, Caine decides to mount a rescue as a means to prove to Desi she is everything.

CAINE'S RECKONING is a fresh spicy historical romance mostly because of the ultra-graphic descriptions of what happened to Desi pre Caine days. Readers will empathize with the heroine who expects her marriage will not last and worries about her sibling. Caine is a strong champion trying to do what is right for his beloved while controlling his frustration with her. Character driven readers will appreciate this powerful nineteenth century tale.

Harriet Klausner