cover image Diablo

Diablo

Georgina Gentry, . . Zebra, $6.99 (343pp) ISBN 978-1-4201-0850-7

Launching a new series, western romance writer Gentry (To Seduce a Texan ) sets an unlikely, blood-soaked love affair in late 19th-century Wyoming. The son of a white woman raped by a Sioux warrior, Diablo is a gunfighter-for-hire plotting revenge against wealthy rancher Hurd Kruger and his men, who gang-raped and tortured Diablo 15 years before. After murdering Kruger's hired hands and stealing his prized possessions, Diablo kidnaps beautiful, obedient Sunny Sorrenson, Kruger's reluctant fiancée. Initially insipid, Sunny becomes a much more interesting character as she begins to see the good in Diablo, and their passion blazes like the Texas sun. Gentry's setting is compelling and readers will celebrate Diablo's redemption, but the romance and happy ending are undermined by numerous scenes of brutal bloodshed and references to sexual violence. (Feb.)