Review: Tall, Dark, and Lonesome by Debra Dixon

Tall, Dark, and Lonesome by Debra Dixon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I got this free via a Twitter giveaway run by Sue Grimshaw with the file supplied by NetGalley. It's part of the relaunch of the Loveswept line and according to the copyright page, it originally came out in 1993.

I have to say, it holds up pretty well. Dixon did a good job of including in just enough technology to make it feel modern without specifying a particular model or brand that would date it today. Sure, you'd think cell phones would be mentioned at least once and it's more likely the heroine, Niki, would be a blogger today, but the absence of these things wasn't too jarring.

Basically, Niki gets drafted by her newspaper editor to go on a cattle drive run by the hero, Zach. Zach, unknown to Niki in the beginning, is a successful businessman and potential politician. Niki is wary of getting involved with him because she's well aware of the scrutiny politicians face and she comes with major baggage. However, the chemistry between them is fierce and they end up together.

If I think about it too much, I'm going to talk myself into dropping the story down a star because there are some plot holes along the way. However, it was exactly what I wanted, something easy to read while I tried to distract myself from the possibility of another ice cold shower because we still have no freaking power. I liked the dogs and found Niki was delightfully spunky at times.

My main quibble is that it was shorter than I expected. The page count on Adobe Digital Editions said 248, but Tall, Dark clocks in at 141 pages. I'm assuming the rest of the file contains previews for other books in the line. I didn't bother reading it. I have to say, I'm definitely glad I didn't buy it, although 2.99 isn't that bad of a price. I would've been pissed if the page count was listed at 248 and I was gypped out of 107 pages of story. That's practically a whole 'nother book! However, if you like the short Harlequin and Silhouette books with a Western flair, you'll enjoy this.