Sandra Brown - Blind Tiger

Thatcher Hutton, a war-weary soldier on the way back to his cowboy life, jumps from a moving freight train to avoid trouble . . . and lands in more than he bargained for. On the day he arrives in Foley, Texas, a local woman goes missing. Thatcher, the only stranger in town, is suspected of her abduction, and worse. Standing between him and exoneration are a corrupt mayor, a crooked sheriff, a notorious cathouse madam, a sly bootlegger, feuding moonshiners . . . and a young widow whose soft features conceal an iron will.
What was supposed to be a fresh start for Laurel Plummer turns to tragedy. Left destitute but determined to dictate her own future, Laurel plunges into the lucrative regional industry, much to the dislike of the good ol’ boys, who have ruled supreme. Her success quickly makes her a target for cutthroat competitors, whose only code of law is reprisal. As violence erupts, Laurel and—now deputy—Thatcher find themselves on opposite sides of a moonshine war, where blood flows as freely as whiskey.

Comment: One more book by author Sandra Brown that I still had in the pile.

In this story, set in the 1920s, we meet Laurel as she and her husband are traveling to her father-in-law's home. However, once there, nothing is as her husband promised and Laurel is soon a widow. Now, with a baby and an old house, it doesn't seem there's much for her future, but the appearance of Thatcher Hutton, back in the country after the war in Europe is over, changes everything. As both get used to their personal  new circumstances, life around them forces choices on those who live in the small town they find themselves in. With the Prohibition law in alcohol and the problems this originates, is there any hope Thatcher and Laurel can find happiness with one another?

For the recent years, Sandra Brown has been writing suspense stories with elements of romance. I have been reading her work for years, both the old romances and the romantic suspense novels too, and I think I have a pretty solid idea of her style. Thus, I did like this story and I did recognize most of her tactics in it, but if there is one thing, besides the historical period, to distinguish this from most of her recent work is that the romance really did seem to take second place.

The plot is centered on the illegal moonshine business and bootlegging that spread across the country during the Prohibition law period and how this affected people's lives and even how the sheriffs and other law forces had to deal with the repercussions of what problems that caused. I will admit that this specific theme isn't one I appreciate much in historical novels because I, personally, don't like drinking and see no interest in reading about it, but also because it led to avoidable illegalities, which mean the whole situation was, after all, pointless.

Still, the author picked up interesting details about this and mixed it up with other secondary themes, such as the missing wife of the doctor and the girl who was mistreated at the ill reputed bar with, of course, the main characters' evolution. I think the real interest for me was how all these things, which seemed minimally related at first turned out to be part of a bigger picture, which we only realize after a while. Sandra Brown does this well, writing things in a way that seems not very important and then something happens and then it does or the leading to it is more shocking than we would anticipate.

Laurel is a good enough heroine but I wasn't as invested in her as I was in the past with other heroines. Perhaps my issue is that Laurel's role is one I've found to be rather weak and her personality didn't seem special. With this I don't mean she should have been louder or something, only that she felt a bit bland. Thatcher, however, was a more intriguing character and his keen notion of what was right and wrong made him someone I'd like tot talk to, for instance, and understand how he could "read" people. Their relationship surely took too long to be set up and while I accept the fact they were always going to be a couple, I just didn't feel their romance mattered much.

To be honest, it did feel as if the author was also more invested in the plot and in how to mix up all the elements regarding it, instead of really developing the HEA of the main couple. I think there are some good scenes with the couple closer to the end and the very last page does feel a little bittersweet since it's 500 pages with these characters and following them, but I cannot say this Sandra Brown's story, overall, will be one of those that remains the most vivid in my memory.

In the end, I was curious to see the details making sense, I liked seeing how things were put together and how the characters went on to their paths. It was a pleasure to spend time reading the novel but yes, it isn't one I'll say I would re-read, as I often re-read passages of other books by this author I loved.

Grade: 7/10