Review: 'Stillwater Dusk' by L.G. Castillo
Nerdy Nessa reviews books.
I have read several books by L.G. Castillo, so when she sent me Stillwater Dusk, I was really excited to dig in. Because of school, I hadn’t had a chance to do a lot of reading the last year, but knowing how good the previous Castillo books were, I had to take some time off from my studies to sink into the newest creation of one of my must-read authors.
Stillwater Dusk is a sweet romance with a cowboy theme. Set in Texas, the book follows the story of Jack McAllister and Giselle Stratford as they struggle with their personal dark pasts to find light in each other.
Jack has spent the last four years drowning his guilt with drinking, fighting, and anger. Being raised by his older brother Luke, who gave up his dreams to take care of him and his other brother Noah, Luke pushed Jack to go to college, even as the hard economy of Stillwater threatens to take away what little the boys have left. It was during one of Jack’s drunken fits of anger that he meets Giselle, the first person to come into his life and bring back his smile.
Giselle is one of many dancers coming from different parts of the country to study under a prestigious ballet teacher at the local college in Stillwater. Though her rich family doesn’t approve, they let her go, so long as her dance partner went with her to supervise. A partner who treats her like crap. She didn’t even realize how much was missing in her life until a wild cowboy stumbled into it. He defends her and helps her realize she can be more than what her family expects of her.
I read Stillwater Dusk in one and a half days. True to her previous books, L.G. Castillo delivered a book with rich characters and lots of drama. Castillo is not afraid of dealing with controversial and difficult themes in her books, and Stillwater Dusk is no exception. The romance is intense and makes you feel like you are a part of the story and lives inside the pages. I laughed, cried, and felt my heart nearly explode with emotion. Castillo has a way of hitting you hard in the very beginning and making you feel it all the way through the book. It keeps you reading and not wanting to put the book down until you have finished. There is an instant attachment to the characters, and her descriptions of both the characters and setting make you able to perfectly picture everything.
If there was anything I didn’t like about the book, I would say it is the fact it was so short, it is only 212 pages long. While having short reads are nice (especially when you have a school deadline coming up), Castillo always leaves me wanting more. While it does seem like there will be additional books in the series, I still wish I could have lived in the world of Jack and Giselle for just a few more chapters. Along with the length of the book, I was also wishing for a bit more sexiness. While sweet romances are not intended to have a lot of sex scenes or descriptive ones at that, I would have enjoyed just a bit more release to the tension of romance in the book.
Overall, I recommend reading Stillwater Dusk and adding L.G. Castillo to your must-read list. If you find you enjoy Stillwater Dusk, I also recommend her Strong and Wilde series as well as her Secrets and Surrenderseries. Both are three book novella series once again set in Castillo’s native Texas.
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Vanessa Cherron Riser
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In the tranquil town of Fields, Georgia, there carried on with a little fellow named Jimmy who had a voracious interest and endless energy. Since the beginning, he longed for having an effect on the planet, enlivened by the tales of extraordinary legends he read about in books. As Jimmy became older, his feeling of direction just escalated. Not entirely settled to make history, to go to bat for what was correct and battle for the people who couldn't battle for themselves. With a heart loaded with desire and a head brimming with dreams, Jimmy set out on an excursion that would lead him to become perhaps of the most cherished and powerful figure in American history. His name was Jimmy Carter. From his unassuming starting points in provincial Georgia to the consecrated corridors of the White House, Jimmy Carter's process was one of boldness, sympathy, and unflinching commitment to serving others. 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