She had a very interesting plot but there was just too much sex. It reminded me of Petals on the River which a friend loaned me about 15 years ago. Many of these characters seemed to be mentally ill but especially her half brother and also Ross. Ross sure had good reason to be bonkers having been born in a whore house. He was more demented than Heathcliff.

After all the 5 star reviews, I'm wondering what in the world is going on? Did I miss something? Am I this "different" from the rest of the world? I feel like I've entered the twilight zone!

I won't rehash the plot, but here is why I feel so bothered and disturbed by this book. Ross Coleman, the "hero" of this book is not a nice man. It is important to me, as a romance novel lover, to "like" the hero. I don't need to love him or even want him for my worst enemy but I need to at least have some care in my heart for him. Ross just wasn't nice enough to like...even a little bit.

He:
- calls Lydia a "[...:]" and treats her like one right up until the very end.
- rapes Lydia during their first "sexual" encounter (how's that for romance!)
- is ungrateful to Lydia for all she does for his son
- is mean with his actions and word towards Lydia for almost the entirety of the book
- doesn't trust Lydia...ever (not even in the end after he knew her story!)
- uses Lydia for his own pleasure and when she FINALLY experiences pleasure...he assumes it's because of all her "experience" as a "[...:]"...yuck!

There is nothing remotely romantic about this man....Lydia traded one abuser for another....Not romantic in the least!

If you like this plot line...try Night in Eden by Candace Proctor. It has a similar plot line that is executed perfectly. Happy Reading.

That 1 star represents a big ol' NOPE from me.

This was truly depressing. Not only because of the general sadness of the book, but because the heroine and the hero were both incredibly stupid and had zero redeeming qualities.

There were some tough things about this book, and I felt a little sick. I hated one part in particular. But I loved the characters and the writing. I just really wish Ross had stopped himself

I hardly know what to say about this book -- the hero is a total asshole from page one and doesn't improve much. I tend to have questions about these historical stories with lots of sex and romance. Where do they go to the bathroom? Do they have deoderant of any kind? Did they ever hear of birth control? Anyway, there was a LOT of "purple prose" in this book, some of which made me giggle. I meant to write down some of it, but forgot. Anyway, I did want to finish it to see how everyone got out of trouble. And I did. And they did.

I'm going to do another read and see what I found so unappealing the first go-round. It has been years sine I read this one and maybe I was in a bad mood, interruptions could have played a part in it, whatever, I just want to give it another chance because I liked the other book of the "Coleman" duo. (Christy Reece, whose opinion I highly respect, loves this one!)

*spoilers* *TW/Rape*
I couldn’t finish this book. Ross infuriated me. I can’t support this book when the so called “hero/endgame love interest” rapes the female lead. Once I got to the rape scene, I stopped. I know how this book ends because I read the sequel, “Another Dawn” before reading “Sunset Embrace”.. (I enjoyed “Another Dawn”)so I know Ross and Lydia end up together. I can’t wrap my head around how Sandra Brown could have her female main character end up with a man that rapes her. Excusing this behavior and portraying Ross as the hero of the story is an awful message. Both “Another Dawn” and “Sunset Embrace” are time pieces, so I expected them to be somewhat sexist. However, this stepped way over the line.

Slow-burn! Sandra Brown surely does know to raise temperatures which is quite evident in her recent novels wherein the focus is more on the mystery suspense angle rather than the romance part. However in her earlier novels, it was purely the romantic chemistry between the leads and in that she doesn't disappoint. I do wish thou that the forceful sex scene could have been avoided as the heroine is already recovering from being brutally raped repeatedly. Else, it is quite a classic western romance story with very solid support characters. Ma Langston's family and her children esp Bubba and Luke pulls at our heartstrings with their brotherly antics.

Inkvotary

This is the first book of the Coleman Family Saga.

I know Sandra Browns books since many years, and I personally believe she is at her best, when she´s writing thrillers. Yes, she has one or two good books in the other genres she´s written about, but Sunset Embrace isn´t one of them. I missed the brilliance in her writing style, her fantastic use of the words she usually has and of course the lack of the thrill. Sure, the story of Sunset Embrace has some kind of thriller elements, there are a lot of hot scenes, shooting, dead people and a wonderful love story is developing between Ross and Lydia; but the rest?



Sandra Brown tells in this novel the story about some families and how they make their way to Texas. Lydia was found by the eldest son of Ma Langston and brought to the trek and Ma took care of her when she recovered from giving birth to a still born. And Ma Langston is it, who sees the solution when Ross Coleman´s wife Victoria dies during the birth of his son Lee. The widowed father is now alone with his baby boy and it looks like the baby is following his mother.



Ross Coleman – what a man. His dark past and what he´s done many years back have changed him in many ways. He killed, he tricked during Poker games and he had no conscious about whatsoever. But when he met Victoria, the daughter of a rich man, he saw his chance of becoming something, he wasn´t from birth.

Oh yes – Ma Langston is one heck of a woman! She fears nobody, no matter if woman or man, and she says what she has to say, but only when the time is right. She takes not only care of her own bunch of kids, but also of Lydia and Ross and she is it, who kind of saves Ross just like that by walking bye from giving in into his dark soul.



This novel isn´t one of the best, Sandra Brown has ever written no doubt about that. And only because two figures could really convince me, I gave three stars. Otherwise there would´ve been none.

A typical bodice-ripper of the 80s. The male lead(Ross) is a alpha-hole and the female lead (Lydia) is your typical tragic Mary-Sue. So plot summary first: Lydia is pregnant, on the run from somebody. At the opening of the book, we find her giving birth to a still-born baby (which she wants to die because she was raped). She is found by two boys a traveling train and nursed by their mother. Ross, then has his wife going into labour and dies as she gives birth to a baby boy. Lydia is then tasked to nurse the baby boy - which she seems to without having any residual feelings for her own baby.

So these two start living together in the same wagon. Ross thinks of Lydia as a whore/slut for 2/3rds of the book. Giving birth to a baby boy without a marriage and because he's attracted to her makes her a slut. And he acts like a dog-in-manger. He's jealous of any other man paying attention to her. And he's a hole because he constantly compares her to his first wife Victoria who was a pure and white as snow. Lydia, on the other hand, is a radiant Mary Sue - small, petite with radiant, beautiful hair.

Both characters had possibilities. After all, Lydia was sexually abused and Ross was a part of the Jesse James. I was hoping for character growth through out. But no, Ross didn't have any appreciable change. Lydia didn't seem to have any hang-ups from her abuse. And then this scene happens:  After getting drunk and jealous, Ross RAPES Lydia. Lydia later enjoys this and it makes it ok in her book? WTF??  I nearly DNFd it but I wanted to see how it ends. It didn't get any better. A disappointing offer from Sandra Brown.

I love Sandra Brown & her style of writing. Found this at a used book sale & grabbed it, not realizing it was a "romance novel"...mine had a mirror & brush on the cover. If it had the one shown on here, I would of never bought it. The story line hooked me right away, but was ready to scream after the 100th "breasts" & "nipple". Are they ALL like that...got really old after a few chapters.

This felt like a dark romance book, and I did not go into it expecting that. Trigger warnings: loss of a baby, sexual assault, rape from main hero, death of a character, CHEATING... Did I cover them all? The hero is an alpha-hole and the only redeeming, or sexy, quality I found was his skill with a pistol. Otherwise, I found myself wanting the heroine to get with another guy on the train, and you know that's a bad sign in a romance novel...

I absolutely loved the premise of this novel, so I'm so sad that the author took it in that direction. But it's a product of its time in a way. No more Sandra Brown for me, though. I'll take my cinnamon roll heroes, thank you very much.