She’s gone over the river and through the woods, but who will protect her from the Big Bad Wolf?
Rojita is in trouble; all she needs to do is get to Abuela in Everland, but she’s being chased by El Lobo, one of the West’s most notorious gunslingers. It isn’t until she’s thrown herself head-long into danger that she realizes the old adage about frying pans and fires applies. She’s in desperate need of a protector, and hires the first man who comes along to get her safely to Everland.
Bounty hunter Hank Cutter is more than ready to retire to a lonely little cabin in Arizona, to hang up his gun and find peace. He’ll begrudgingly help the reckless young woman get to the nearest train station, because he figures she’d get into even more trouble on her own. But when El Lobo struts back into his life–Hank still has the scars from their last encounter–he knows that he can’t leave Rojita at the gunslinger’s mercy. Maybe he’s nobler than he’d thought, because he’s soon setting a trap to save the lovely, impetuous Red. The only problem is that she’s still keeping a secret that could destroy his trust.
Little Red, by Caroline Lee
As things are busy around here, short has been the name of the game for the past few weeks. I can squeeze out an hour or two for a quick read. Anything more is …well, it hasn’t been happening. Honestly, finding that hour has been a challenge. But I’m a sucker for fairy tales and wanted a change of pace (like I have a lot recently, it feels like) and so Little Red fit the bill.
This is a Western romance, set sometime in Wyoming in the 1800s, and it’s advertised as “clean,” which means all the sexy-times take place off camera. (And oh do I have some opinions on that word as a descriptor, although I have no issue with books where the author chooses not to write sex scenes.) That being said, there are definitely strong indications that there is sexual interest on both sides. So if you don’t want any acknowledgment of men and women as sexual beings, this still isn’t the book for you.
If you’ve read my book, you know that this isn’t an issue for me.
Anyway, the story starts with Rojita on the run from El Lobo. It’s not going well, in part because she doesn’t really know much about traveling across open country on her own — but she can’t take the train because El Lobo will find her there. Impulsive doesn’t even begin to describe Rojita, but on the plus side the book doesn’t try to play this off. Even the hero Hank has to come to terms with it. He was a bounty hunter but is now looking forward to finally going to settle a piece of land to call his own.
He also has a heart, so he’s unwilling to simply abandon Rojita to the wilderness. Instead he plans to escort her back to the train, because there is no reason for El Lobo to be pursuing a young woman up in Wyoming. It’s only after they reach town and El Lobo finds Rojita that Hank realizes she was telling the truth — and that his conscience won’t let him do anything less than escort Rojita all the way to her grandmother’s house in Everland.
It’s fun to see how many fairy tale and nursery rhyme references you can spot in Everland, which is clearly aimed at being the setting for a number of books in this series. On the other hand, the sheer number of characters combined with the length of the book mean that it’s nearly impossible to get to know any of them, even those that play a slightly larger role. Likewise, the short nature of the book means there’s a strong case of insta-lust going on (and transitioning into insta-love) without a lot of backstory for Hank. We know he ran into El Lobo before, but the details are never clearly explained.
Still, this was a fun and fast read. I enjoyed this retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and will certainly check out some of the others when the price is right. The writing was well done and I would gladly read something longer by the same author so she has a chance to do more character development. (Added bonus: this cover design is just gorgeous.)