Danni Roan, $2.99, ISBN 978-1393522935
Historical Romance, 2020
Danni Roan is one of the more enjoyable authors I’ve somewhat recently come across by chance, but I took a break from her Brides of Needful Texas series because the stories are all the same, to put it bluntly.
Still, there is something about wholesome rescue fantasies that is always appealing, especially with the state of the world being what it is at the moment, so here I am, back again to continue from where I left off.
So, Rosa. The romance in this one actually formed in a previous story, so it may be worthwhile to read that one first. Still, I can’t remember much about that story and I can follow this one just fine.
Our heroine, Rosa Rodriguez, was in the same carriage as her young daughter and Ruth Warthan, all of them on their way to the town of Needful, Texas, when they were attacked by outlaws. Fortunately, they were rescued by the brave, dashing, and conveniently single men of Texas, among them the mayor Dan Gaines that has since taken a fancy to Rosa.
Well, there is more to the premise. You see, Rosa was married to Dan’s good friend, and then the good friend died, making our hero feel all guilt-ridden and what not. This guilt intensifies when he wants to boi… oh right, this is a clean and wholesome romance… hold Rosa’s hand for the rest of his life.
Meanwhile, Rosa is finally free to pursue her own dreams and make a life for herself and her daughter in Needful, as we all know how progressive these shanty western towns can be back in the old days, and she isn’t so sure about having a man in her life that will force her and her daughter to live under his thumb.
Can Dan convince her that he’s the man for her? Will she get over her initial dislike of this man to hold his hand back?
Fortunately, the author will insert some plot developments to make sure that Rosa can’t cut it out alone, such as Rosa’s mean daddy coming to drag her back home, thus making it so much easier for Dan to finally get his hand-holding mojo going.
Yes, that’s where my issue lies when it comes to this thing. Despite the story being structured a little differently from the previous stories, there is much about this one that is familiar.
While normally this won’t be so bad, the central theme of this story—the emotional conflict between the hero and the heroine, that is—is a psychological one. Hence, this story needs the hero and the heroine to have enough time to analyze and hash out their feelings for the romance to work.
Alas, the author instead tosses enemies and external conflicts at the heroine, all of these designed to necessitate going to the hero for protection. In this story, this method doesn’t work. What happens is that the heroine is spatting and hissing at the hero to get lost, then there is drama and then there is more drama, and she then abruptly decides that she’s in love with Dan after all. So yes, I don’t really buy the romance as it never gets enough room here to develop into something more substantial.
Also, with the author so focused on the drama, these characters never exhibit any organic growth. I’ve mentioned how Rosa goes from boo and hiss to love pretty abruptly, and it’s the same with the hero. Dan’s guilt feels static, never really going anywhere, and then, as the story heads to a close, it’s resolved just like that.
Can I also say that it is a wasted opportunity to have a Mexican heroine, a notable change from all the lily-white heroines in the previous stories in this series, only to have her behaving like any generic white bread damsel in distress in cowboy town?
In the end, this isn’t an awful read by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s lacking in the emotion department. In fact, I’d say that this is the weakest entry to date in the series!
