Caine's Reckoning

I don't know what it is, but the last several books that have come highly recommended to me have been rather disappointing. Caine's Reckoning isn't an exception, unfortunately.

So the basic premise sounded okay to me - Caine Allen, Texas Ranger, saves Desi, who was held at the mercy of several "men" who raped and abused her for a year. Caine has to marry Desi for Reasons, and then they fall in love. Pretty typical romance novel fare, but not necessarily BAD.

Except I didn't really get into the book. I finished it quickly, true, but that was mostly because I skimmed over the sex scenes. And there are a LOT of sex scenes. Not that I have anything against sex scenes, mind you, but straight alpha male sex just does nothing for me. I can't show more fault the book for having those scenes in it, because I knew what I was getting into, but...yeah, definitely impacted my enjoyment of the book.

Besides the sex, there just didn't seem to be that much of a relationship between Desi and Caine. Nearly all of their interactions centered around sex.

And then there's the whole "Desi is a rape victim and Caine, the 'hero,' keeps trying to force her into having sex" thing that I just can't even. I really blocked it out my mind for most of those scenes because I couldn't have finished the story if I really thought about it.

I don't know, I guess that I was expecting more from a book that was so highly rated.

And then the ending! Argh!!! To wrap up all of the loose ends, instead of showing how they figured out who the "bad guy" was, the author just has Desi write a letter to her still-missing sister explaining who it is and giving out a name that we, the readers, have never heard before. Not cool!

I am interested, however, in reading Tracker's book, which is the fourth in the series, so damn it, I'll have to read the next two books before I get to his. ;D show less

In my opinion, many erotic romances have a tendency to suffer from an overabundance of sex and underdevelopment of plot. Fortunately, Caine's Reckoning has no such issues. It has an interesting and engrossing storyline while still maintaining the steamy sexuality that tends to mark erotic romances. The overarching plot of the series, that of eight mostly unrelated but sexy alpha men who have banded together as a “family” to fight evil and injustice, reminds me in some ways of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Although I have to say that since one features sexy cowboys in the old west and the other sexy vampires in a contemporary urban setting, the similarities for the most part, end there. The individual premise of show more Caine's Reckoning was interesting as well. Between the heart-stopping romance, Desi's struggles to overcome her past, some wild west action, and a light mystery surrounding one of Desi's abusers and his motives, I had a hard time putting the book down. After reading several reviews for this book, I was expecting it to be very violent. While there were a couple of shoot-outs and one short 2 ½- page nightmare sequence that contained an explicit sexual assault, I found that most of the violence was left to the reader's imagination, and wasn't much worse than many other books I've read. That's not to say that it would be easy for everyone to read, and for this reason, I would caution sensitive readers about the content. I think that it simply didn't bother me as much, because in my opinion, the author didn't delve quite as deep into the emotional fall-out to Desi's psyche as some other authors with similar characters have done, and Desi was a very strong heroine as well.

I thought that Desi was an admirable heroine, a young woman who had suffered unthinkable abuse, and yet had never truly allowed herself to become a victim. When the story opens with her courageously fighting her captors like a hellcat while the other women sat passively by, I immediately liked her. Later when she showed tremendous vulnerability, it only endeared her to me further, as did her ability to frequently blush in spite of her “experience.” I also found her to be relatable as a young woman who had been raised as a prim, proper lady, but who always felt a burning passion inside trying to surface. It wasn't until she started stubbornly holding herself at arms length from Caine's gentle, loving overtures, that I had a bit harder time with her character, but ultimately, her actions were understandable in light of her past. Some stubborn heroines can tend to annoy me, but that wasn't really the case with Desi. I think I just spent most of that part of the story worried that her willfulness would cause her to do something really stupid, but when she exhibited intelligence and ingenuity in the end, she truly earned my respect. I also thought that when Desi was finally able to fully let herself go and surrender to Caine, trusting him completely, their resulting lovemaking was both darkly passionate and thoroughly beautiful and romantic, a heady combination indeed.

Caine was an incredibly appealing hero. Having lost his family at a young age, like all of the Hell's Eight men, he has a dark tortured past too, but it wasn't explored in as much detail as I would have liked. I suppose that is understandable though, as there shouldn't be too much darkness in one novel, or it would become depressing. Actually, I thought that Caine had a wry and sometime self-deprecating sense of humor which I enjoyed, and which also helped to lighten things up a bit here and there. He is a very dominating alpha male, but he has a heart of gold and isn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Desi. He also pampers her in the most thoroughly romantic ways, and has some of the most swoon-worthy lines I think I have ever read in a romance novel. I absolutely loved the way that he is completely committed to their marriage and being faithful to Desi right from the start, even though he had no intentions of getting married anytime soon and basically only agreed to it out of a sense of honor and duty. Even though Caine's every instinct is to dominate, he puts his own needs on hold and shows Desi an unbelievable amount of patience. I liked that Caine was very intelligent and intuitive when it came to Desi's needs. Time and time again, Caine proves that he is an honorable man who can be trusted with anything and who is the epitome of a true gentleman, a diamond in the rough. Even though I'm raving about him, Caine did have a few impatient moments when he allowed his desires to get the best of him, but I was still able to admire him because he immediately recognized his mistakes and admitted he was wrong. All in all, I thought he did pretty well for a guy in the old west who didn't have access to a psychotherapist for his wife.;-) Caine is definitely a hero I'll remember for a long time to come.

Though Caine's Reckoning was good enough to earn a place on my keeper shelf, it wasn't quite perfect. There were several scenes, a few of the love scenes in particular, that I thought were a little too verbose. I'm all for whispering sweet nothings during lovemaking, but sometimes it seemed like they were carrying on an entire conversation. In my opinion, it made these scenes feel rather forced, like the author was trying too hard to convince me of the character's passion and feelings instead of showing me. I think a few more descriptive details and a little less chattiness in these scenes would have made them flow a bit more naturally. There were also several scenes involving dialog, especially among multiple characters, where I had a difficult time determining who was speaking. Going back and reading the passages a second time usually cleared things up, but having to do this multiple times throughout the book was rather distracting. I would have to say that Desi's ability to overcome her past, not only the abuse but the sexually repressive atmosphere in which she was raised, was a little too quick, taking mere weeks instead of the months or even years that any real woman would have likely needed. However, since this is fiction and it was good otherwise, I can allow for a little creative license. I was also a little disappointed that the mystery surrounding the ringleader of Desi's captors was not fully resolved nor justice fully exacted, but I think this was meant to be something of a cliffhanger ending that is going to carry over into a future book or books. Overall, though this was a very good novel that I would definitely recommend.

Caine's Reckoning is the first book in the Hell's Eight series. It introduces the eight members of the group, some with brief background information and some only by name, but one, Sam, is given a slightly more detailed background and more scenes. He becomes the hero of the next book in the series, Sam's Creed. The third book, Tucker's Claim, is due out next spring with another, currently untitled, volume to follow by the end of 2009. Though she is not directly on the canvas in Caine's Reckoning, Desi's twin sister, Ari, is mentioned and does play a part in the mystery that was left unresolved. I suspect that she may become the heroine of a future book, possibly paired with Tracker, since he was the first to volunteer to search for her. Unfortunately, if my assumption is correct, it could be a while before readers get to experience their story. Caine's Reckoning was my first read by Sarah McCarty, but I am really looking forward to continuing the Hell's Eight series and checking out the other books that she has written too.

Note: This book contains explicit language, violence (as mentioned in my review), and sexual situations, including mild domination/submission, spanking and anal sex, which some readers may find offensive. However, considering the subject matter, everything was handled very tastefully in my opinion. show less

I love series. There's something about them, like a continuing soap opera, each book telling the next episode, an addiction that doesn't end when the first book closes. Greedy me was more than happy to review the first edition of Hell's Eight by Sarah McCarty, especially when I began reading and happily learned the three main males are not stereotypical heroes.

The plot starts with a bang of action, introducing each character better than mere dialogue could. A mini mystery soon follows, and once it's solved, it ultimately leads heroine Desi (unwillingly) into the arms of Caine Allen, hardened Texas Ranger. Having suffered horrid sexual episodes with men of her past, Desi is jaded toward men and would like nothing better than to be left show more alone. She's sided and married with a man determined to protect and change all that, whether she initially likes the thought or not. It may be hard for some women to read a few scenes of what she went through, as the detail is intense and the scenarios violently grim, but the note of hope accompanying the rough ride leaves an appreciative turn-out.

I'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.

Character driven, Caine is a great hero. He's protective and strong, if not slightly overbearing and too domineering. He's erotic and gentle, yet at times fierce and rough, hardened by life but softened by the woman at his side. Gee, if I continue with this sort of phrasing, maybe I should write soap operas some day?? :) Desi is sweet but understanbly afraid of life, and it's interesting to see how she slowly relaxes enough to overcome the obstacle life tossed her way. Among the more interesting of the bunch were Caine's two sidekicks, the scarred Indian Tracker and the womanizer Sam. Tracker especially intrigued me, and I hope beyond hope that the second book delves into his budding romance with someone (perhaps Desi's sister?) I'd like to read Sam's story as well, but it's not as enticing yet.

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. show less

I was sucked in by the hot cover, but this story was so horrible and bothered me so much I had to add my review. The premise of this story is so hard to swallow. It uses so many old fashioned female cliches that it sucks the life out of the story- our heroine's feminine power and sexuality is contained in her long hair that men just can't resist(really, please.); and somehow the feminine way in which she swallows her tea is just so erotic that Caine can't resist her (innocent virgin in the kitchen, whore in the bedroom, argh-enough already). Finally, I am a fan of erotic fiction, but I'm so mad to be blind-sided with the sexual relationship of the leads to be tied up in her continual rape by the villains and the hero. Our heroine has show more been held captive and raped for over a year and our hero marries her to save her from further rape by the villains and then he forces a sexual relationship on her to build trust in him in the first two days of meeting. Somehow, forcing her to have sex to build trust is supposed to also reinvent her as a caring wife and erase her horrible past. I'm absolutely disgusted by this story, and I can't believe a whole series was built off it show less

Romance is not my genre.

That said, I love cowboys. I also love how the Hell's Eight series, while heavily focused on the romance, does not let that be the only driving force behind the plotline. Caine's Reckoning is the opening to an engaging mystery, with interesting characters and a fascinating journey through history. It certainly helps that all the boys of Hell's Eight are sexy gun-slingers with a dark side.

The heroines of Hell's Eight, Desi especially, are not the simpering, eyelash-batting girls that have turned me off of the this genre. They are strong, independent, and opinionated, something I believe most modern women can relate to. The rest of the series explores this quite a bit more than Caine's Reckoning, with tends to show more stick with a few stereotypes character-wise.

Worth a read - I'm still having trouble putting it down, and I reread it often! show less

Well, this was a big let down for me and it took FOR-EV-ER to finish. It started out very well and there were a couple of scenes before Caine and Desi returned to the safety of the Hell's Eight ranch that were profoundly tender or emotionally tense. The scene with the chocolate will stay with me for a long time. However, as they book progressed these moments of greatness became lost in all the erotica. In all fairness, this isn't my preferred genre. I need more plot and this book jumped the rails early on and spent the majority of the bulk between the sheets, so to speak. I am curious to see if the Hell's Eight men will find Desi's sister, but I'm not rushing right out to get the next book. I gave it two stars for a great beginning, show more otherwise it would've ended on my DNF pile. show less

I had several problems with this book. (Just FYI I listened to an audio version.)

First this woman had just been kept tied to a bed as a sex slave for a year. Caine rescues her and marries her and that night (one and a half days later) he has her naked in the kitchen of the farm house where anyone could walk in and starts up some anal play. Really? This girl should have been running screaming from him. He knows about her abuse and still is on her all the time (and not in a gentle careful way mindful of her past) and she only barely seems to mind. Just not realistic and made me pretty uncomfortable.

Second the love scenes were way too long and mostly abortive. Where was the actual story?

Third there really wasn't much feel of the old show more west. Like the author said "let's throw in some horses and some six shooters! It'll be a Western!"

Fourth how many times did someone say "She's Hells Eight now"? I started to cringe every time I heard it.

Don't waste your time.
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