Books & Spoons Review OUT RIDER by Lindsay McKenna

10/5/2016

A fresh start—that's all Devorah McGuire wants. As a former Marine and current Ranger with the US Forest Service, she's grown accustomed to keeping others safe. But when the unthinkable happens, she can only hope that a transfer to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will allow her to put the past behind her for good.

Dev's mentor at Grand Tetons National Park is fellow canine handler and horseman Sloan Rankin. He shows Dev the spectacular trails, never knowing the terror that stalks her every move. Despite her lingering fear, Dev feels an attraction for Sloan as wild as their surroundings.

With Sloan, Dev can envision a new life—a real home. Unless a vengeful man fresh out of prison succeeds in finishing what he started…

Sloan and Dev prove, that it is possible to learn to love, and trust, again, even though life has shown her less attractive side to them on several occasions in the past.
Sloan and Dev are solid together, the connection is immediate, they are drawn to each other, and attracted to each other, but first, they take their time, become friends, confidant, and get to know each other, before they act upon anything. I liked that. Sloan is so understanding, tender, and gentle with Dev. He understands where she comes from, and supports her every step to find a new beginning.
Dev has lots to overcome, the pain from her childhood, the stalker that was after her at the previous job, she has to learn to trust her judgement, people around her, and herself in that regard.
Both Dev and Sloan are likable characters, they are easy to relate to, their lives are interesting and hold the interest of the reader.
The suspense of the tale is in the background mostly, the danger is present, but controlled, or so they think. The fear and malice hikes up towards the end, bring some intense and vicious moments to the story.
The story is filled with details, some of them have no impact to the plot, just showing the life of the characters, like what cake they ate at dinner, how much they ate it, how much was left of it, and how they hoped to take the leftovers with them. There's also some repetition with these details, sometimes even in the same scene. Of course, these help to show a wider picture of the life the characters are living, their situation and level of comfort with each other. Some people like it, enjoy those details in their stories, and by all means, that's great. For me, it felt like fluff, fillers, that take my mind of the story, I lose my focus, and interest, and my mind start to wonder. Because of this, it took me awhile, to get to finish this book, I just had a hard time keeping my interest in the story.
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side