Friday, May 27, 2011

Iron Horse Rider – Book 1 / Adelle Laudan

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Romance

Approximate word count: 45-50,000 words

Availability Kindle: YES    Nook: YES    Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon or B&N store

Author:

Romance author Adelle Laudan is a mother of four from Southern Ontario, Canada. Many of her books, including this one, were traditionally published previously. Laudan has now republished them independently. The Iron Horse Rider series has three books currently available. Laudan also writes spicier romances as Elle Laudan. For more, visit her website.


Description:

After his wife Kelly is involved in a fatal motorcycle accident, Shane is devastated. Running away from the life he lived with Kelly, Shane befriends an Indian chief and, despite resisting, finds himself falling in love again.

Appraisal:

It seems to me that the romance genre has more conventions than most. Since there isn’t an official organization approving and codifying these, not every romance reader will agree on what they are. Some, like the happily-ever-after ending, is one which most would agree is required. Iron Horse Rider has the required ending. Author Adelle Laudan describes Iron Horse Rider as romance and I agree. However, the male lead or hero, to use the label typical among romance readers, is the focus of the story rather than the heroine. I don’t know if this violates an unwritten genre convention. I do know it makes for an unconventional romance novel.

Iron Horse Rider has some other elements that are, if not unique, at least uncommon in the typical romance novel plot. One of these is that Shane is a motorcyclist, the iron horse in the title. This is a big influence on Shane’s life and lifestyle. It also figures prominently throughout the story. A large portion of the story takes place at an Indian camp. (Substitute your preferred term - Native American or, since the story takes place in Canada, First Nation, the term you’ll sometimes find used there for the native population.) Indian culture is a significant part of the story with some of their beliefs helping Shane eventually come to terms with Kelly’s death.

Romance fans should find Iron Horse Rider a different kind of read while still fitting what many would want in a story. For romance readers who love cruising on their Harley it should be an easy decision.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues. I did find a couple minor story inconsistencies. These were insignificant to the overall story, but might temporarily confuse you when you read a line in the book that disagrees with the rest of the story.

Rating: **** Four stars

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for your honest review. It is muchly appreciated. Sometimes it's difficult to categorize a book like Iron Horse Rider. Thanks again!

hire a web programmer said...

Thats exactly what I think. This book is really inspirational and is of very good thought. Thanks a lot for the same.