Customer Reviews

A Reason to Sin

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1868 Rebecca Colfax thought her marriage was perfect until her spouse emptied all their assets and vanished. Broke, she vows to hunt him down and confront him as she needs to know why. However she needs to eat so she accepts work as a saloon singer at the Scarlet Garter in Kansas using the stage name of Glory Bowen.

Former espionage agent Slater Forrester works as a faro dealer at the Scarlet Garter. He worries that the newcomer is out of place at the saloon and vows to keep her safe although he plans not to act on his attraction as he is unworthy of her love. Glory realizes he makes her forget she is married, but also sees he has an inner turmoil that is eating at his soul; she hopes to provide him with solace through her love for him.

The Final Forrester romance (see A REASON TO LIVE and A REASON TO BELIEVE) is a superb historical romance starring two strong lead characters. The story line is fast-paced but it is Rebecca whose courage to love makes her believe she can heal Slater no matter what transgression he believes makes him unworthy. Maureen McKade is simply marvelous

Harriet Klausner

Maureen McKade's book, "A Reason to Sin" literally smacks of old time westerns in the tradition of Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour, but this author adds new western romance and HOT lovemaking to the stew. It's basically a story of a proper, middle-class lady, Rebecca, who's reduced to poverty by her con man gambler-husband, Benjamin Smooth, and must accept employment as a dance hall girl in the Scarlet Garter Saloon in order to retrieve her baby from an orphanage. At the Scarlet Garter, Rebecca, now known as Glory Bowin, meets Slater Forrester, a gambler of integrity and human sensitivities but one who's suffered atrocious physical and emotional injuries as an abused child and a prisoner of war at the imfamous Conferate Prison, Andersonville.

A truly engaging aspect of "A Reason to Sin" is the complicated plot which involves a gang of bandits who thrive on a protection racket in the town saloons, the cultural confict of acceptable and disreputable behavior (e.g., gentlewomen vs. whores, drunken cowboys and honest men), greed and honesty, violence and humane treatment, and even race relations. The skill of author McKade is revealed in her ability to present all those story lines in one book and what's more, she makes them credible.

The writing of "A Reason to Sin" is crisp and clean and never gets in the way of the progress of the narrative. If there is a fault in this book, it's Ms. McKade's occasional lapses into language that steps outside the box of what would have been true to 1868, e.g., expressions like "hardened men who drank like there was no tomorrow," and "a man of color". It's a stretch, too, to believe that Rebecca ("Glory") would have found copies of Emily Bronte's book "Wuthering Heights" or Alexander Dumas's "Le Comte de Monte Cristo" for sale in the remote town of Oaktree, Kansas. Ardent history fans might arch an eyebrow over glitches likes those, but most readers of slick commercial fiction will be carried away by the suspense built into the plot and the speed with which narrative and dialogue plummet on toward tidy resolution.

For those who want a fast action adventure with multiple twists and turns, "A Reason to Sin" offers a story where Justice Always triumphs and Evil Doers are inevitably punished.

Rebecca's privileged and sheltered life took a turn for the worst starting with the death of her parents and then her poor choice of husbands. Rebecca's gambler husband gambled away all of her money then took off leaving her penniless and pregnant. Months later Rebecca was forced to place her infant son in an orphanage as she set out to find her husband and get back what she lost. In her search for her husband, Rebecca finds the Scarlett Garter Saloon, Slater Forrester and a whole new world she never thought she would be a part of.

A Reason to Sin is simply fantastic. My one regret is that I started the series with the last installment to the Forrester brother's saga, but it's a regret I plan to rectify. Even though I've read the books out of order it didn't hurt the story one bit, A Reason to Sin reads very well as a stand-a-lone. I have to say I didn't like Rebecca much when the book started. Even though I felt for her plight, her arrogance, even if she didn't realize she was being arrogant, toward others in the saloon was a turn off. As she let her defenses down and accepted the people around her on a more equal standing I began to like her much better. Slater I liked from the start. It's easy to see past the distant demeanor to the man who is consumed with ghosts and regrets. Rebecca was good for him. Even though they both fought it tooth and nail and with good reason, I was thrilled when they finally gave into their feelings. A Reason to Sin is terrific historical western and I can't wait to read the previous installments to this series.

Ley
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Make sure your read all the books in the trilogy: A Reason to Love, A Reason to Believe, and last, A Reason to Sin- you won't be sorry!

I gave this one 4 stars because I didn't feel it was as good as the previous 2 stories in this series.

I also had a problem with one morality issue in this book. I realize it's titled "A Reason To Sin" - I just didn't realize the 'sin' would be quite this big. I don't want to give anything away in the book so I can't say anything else on what my problem with the book was.

I really like Ms. McKade's books so I was surprised I had a problem with this book. I figured it would all work out alright in the end and the "sin" wasn't really a sin after all, but the characters didn't know that at the time.

I was somewhat let down at the end. (If you've read the previous 2 books you know what type of ending I'm referring to.) I guess I expected a bit more at the final end and it just wasn't there.

I'm not, however, discouraging anyone from reading this. In my opinion there are too few historical western romances out there and Ms. McKade writes good ones.

I believe this book could also be read as a stand-alone if you didn't want to read the previous two.

I liked the lead female character, Rebecca. She had the makings of a strong heroine. On the other hand, the male lead was right on the border of being too flimsy. There was too much focus on his weaknesses and fear and, while I appreciate a nuanced character, Slate's issues became disappointing and pitiable. A fearful, pitiful kind of hero is not what I'm looking for in escapist fiction.

Beyond the main characters, the plot moved along too slowly and I gave up half-way through. Plus, the romance was tepid. As always when I don't complete a book, I wonder what happened to the characters but it's not worth the life moments to keep plowing through this "den of iniquity" to find out.