I did not finish this book. Maybe I didn't realize what I was choosing, but it was way too crass for my tastes. The plot sounded interesting - I enjoy a good redemption story, but I personally couldn't get very far into it.

I loved reading this book it's been a while since I read some romance set in the West and this one does not disappoint.
Emma's left behind in D.C. to fend for herself, and after a while she stops waiting for her brother to come for her like he'd promised and goes in search of him. It's a tale of second chances, of never losing hope and of all the things that went down in the West.
I am so glad I decided to read The Trouble We Keep, I love romance, this was a unique blend of historical fiction, romantic suspense, and drama. I loved it.


Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

CW/TW – prostitution, murder, assault, abortion.

Set in the wild west, The Trouble We Keep is a slow burner enemies-to-lovers (ish) romance that is done to perfection. We follow Emma Wheat, whose both newly pregnant and on the run having stolen money from a very powerful man in the hopes that she will be able to find her lost brother. After heading to his last known location, Emma finds out that she isn’t the only Wheat that is on the run. As Emma carefully balances her budding new life in this strange town, with hiding not only her own secrets but also her identity from her new friends – will she get caught out?

It took me a good few chapters to fully get into this one but when I did, I couldn’t put it down. With so many secrets and revelations to balance and litter perfectly throughout the story, Devlin did an amazing job and I felt like each grand reveal came at the perfect time. The scene building was incredible, the ‘wild west’ setting is not one I have read a lot of, but the dusty, dirty cobbled streets and lack of creature comforts were very realistic and translated well.

Emma’s characterisation was great, I really liked her and rooted for her throughout. I will say at points you do rather forget that she’s pregnant but that’s really a non-issue. And the residents of the town, including: Josephine, Adam, Brianna and the rest of the girls, all had well fleshed out stories and not one of them felt like a filler or plot device.

If you are looking for a historical fiction with a difference, definitely check this one out.

This book is not my usual genre, but I really enjoyed it. It combined history, romance and drama. Jimmy, who is Emma’s only family, heads west and promises to send for her as soon as he can. The story begins when he doesn’t send for her before she runs out of money. Emma is a very enjoyable and believable character, I wanted to find out what happened to her.

This was certainly an original book, completely different to the plethora of thrillers we see by the dozen at the moment. Set in earlier times, the book centres on Emma whose only living relative is her brother. She manages to raise enough money to buy a train ticket to where he was last seen but once she arrives in Williams all is not as she had hoped. I don't usually like historical novels, although this isn't truly one of those, but nevertheless it was easy to follow and heartwrenching in places as it strived to give Emma the happiness she deserved.

As unlikely as it seems, I have been known to enjoy obscure sub-branches of the romance genre: Western romance, Amish romance… I do like a good historical romance, as long as blatant anachronism is avoided. Call me difficult, but I like strong female characters, who still don’t talk or react like it is 2020! The novel, set in 1901 Arizona, really fits the bill, I’m really glad I tried it!

Emma is in deep trouble. She is an orphan whose brother has left behind in D.C. while he tried his luck in the West. But he has not contacted her ever since, money has run out and she has very little choice to survive. When she finds herself pregnant, she is in an even more precarious position and, taking a chance one night, she flees and boards the first train out West. On arrival, no brother awaits her, only rain and a dingy saloon. With nowhere else to go, she stays in the saloon and decides to investigate. No one there knows about her disreputable past and her pregnancy, but people are definitely not happy about her brother, a man who has left town with stolen money and a bad reputation.

The story was well paced, with enough tension and twists to stay up late at night! Emma is well-balanced between despair and resilience, between moments of luck and new troubles arising. Of course the romance side of the book is a tad predictable, but there’s no insta-love and enough obstacles to make it interesting. I also enjoyed that the minor characters had a life of their own. It has a Christian overtone as Emma is going through guilt and redemption, but it is not preachy. It certainly is a feel-good, adventurous book, and I need all the Happily Ever After I can get in this season.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for review consideration.

This was a good book! It was sweet and had some suspense. It was a little slow for me in some places but overall a story I enjoyed.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review

It doesnt support or open after I download the pdf version of it. It's also not showing in my shelf in netgalley and I cant open it to read

Please look into the issue and if you can send me the pdf in my mail ID- taniagungunsarkar@gmail.com

I cant read the book from here. Please look into the issue

What a great story! Exactly what I was looking for in a strong historical fiction novel with a strong romance plot. I found the setting to be extremely realistic for the time period. You can tell the author did her research. Nothing felt forced, and it was such a joy to read!

Nice discovery one seat red till 1.30 am and then I am here with sleep deprivation
Emma lee is a strong woman determined and focused and this helps here to exit from a very bad situation she leaves in
Dean is a grumpy hero wrong and caring and sweet but super introverted
Nice deployment
Well written
No Ow or Om drama
No cheating
I rape scene
Too long denscriptive parts between one action and another
Overall very nice and clean
3.5 stars

The Trouble We Keep by Cara Devin is a wonderful book.

I'm so delighted I organically picked it up, because surprisingly this book was so intriguing that I finished it in one sitting.

I won't give the plot away but, I can confidently say that it was excellently well written, the main protagonist Emma Wheat has been left alone to fetch for herself after her brother promised to send for her from Williams, Arizona, from a mining boomtown out west.
In a frightening moment, Emma found the courage to make a difficult choice and fled her home town in the hopes to find her brother. When she reached Williams, it wasn't as Emma expected, she discovered that her brother had stolen from a local saloon and made a run for it.

When Emma met Dean Morelli, the owner of the place her brother robbed, a gruff, and a stubborn man who gave her a job and place to stay when she felt lost, lonely, and left out. Emma strived to survive no matter what and never backing down from a challenge and the thought of finding her brother never left her mind.

A slow-burn romance started and page-turning realistic moments that kept me wanting to know more.

This book is remarkably well done, a heartwarming, and exciting journey, both compelling and emotional. For characters, they felt so real and the time and place felt so authentic. I was drawn in completely from the first chapter, encouraging Emma and loving in her world.

I was so engrossed in the story, it took me on a journey to the Old West and made me forget reality for a while.

I hope I'm not late for this book, it flowed so well and I'm happy that I got to read it.

Now this is one of the best western romance books I've read all year. The characters were grand and I had to keep reading. Fantastic book which I intend to tell others about.

The book was well written and featured complex characters and situations. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and the setting for the story made the book that much more intriguing. Abandoned by her brother and getting by on her own in a brothel in D.C., Emma is pregnant and after doing what is necessary to survive, she feels she must leave and go West to find her brother. Stealing some money from one of her patrons, she runs from the brothel and takes a train out to Williams, Arizona only to find that her brother isn't there. As trouble catches up with her, Emma has to rely on herself with the help of Dean Morelli, the owner of the town's saloon and the place where she is currently staying. Set up in the Old West, this story was a good read and one I quite enjoyed. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

The writing was involving and the story gripping. I'm usually not that keen on stories that involve jeopardy but this one kept my interest. The characters were very natural: bad temper, jealousy, doubt, disapointment especially with her brother.
It isn't my usual read but learning about the areas around Arizona and the mining rush was something new and refreshing. Cara is a new author to me so I'll look out for her books in future. Emma's back story is fairly traumatic but once she gets to Dean's pub, I think, it's a clean read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was very good. I really enjoyed it.

Emma Leigh Wheat has been abandoned by her brother, who has gone out West, and she is desperately waiting to be sent for. He has been gone such a long time, that she had been reduced to sleeping rough and scavenging for food, in desperation she has had to sell herself, and when she falls pregnant, she decides to run, as she doesn’t want her baby forcibly aborted. She steals some money off a violent customer, and then makes a run for it.

When she gets to her brothers last know location, the town of Williams, she is unable to find a room, until she ends up at Grants Pass, a saloon, owned by the grumpy but secretly kind Dean Morelli, he instantly rubs Emma up the wrong way, but he offers her a job and a place to sleep, and Emma decides to accept.

As Emma becomes part of the town, and starts to find her feet, she spends time with the feisty Josephine, local dressmaker and midwife, gets to know the handsome but amoral bank manager, and spends more time with Dean. When Dean tells he that her brother is a their who has skipped town, abandoning his girl, Emma doesn’t believe him, when she gets a lead on Jimmy’s whereabouts, it is Dean who insists he will go with her.

As they go on their adventure, will Emma realise that her brother is not the person she thought he was, and will she realise that Dean is the right man for her.

This was a proper mood of a read. I was just in the right place for a western romance with inspirational twists, where things were not prettied up for some sort of fantasy, and the initially sniping relationship developing into one of true love and support was lovely. The hero and heroine were lovingly drawn, and had realistic characters, with human flaws and foibles. Emma was feisty, and also quick to anger. She definitely had her feathers ruffled by Dean. Dean was the surly, grumpy hero who hides his soft heart away. Which is just my sort of fictional man.

All in all a real treat.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

When Emma finally decides she has had enough of Washington D.C. she makes a life changing decision to get out of the town and follow her brother to Kansas. She meets Adam, moves into a boarding house and saloon run by Dean and begins to do sewing for a local dress maker and mid-wife. As Emma faces the challenges of an unexpected pregnancy she finds support in people that she had previously deemed untrustworthy.
I had not read a romance novel in a long time when I opened up "The Trouble We Keep". I was unexpectedly entertained by the quaint heroine, beautiful descriptions of Kansas in the time period and unexpected friendships that developed in this entertaining novel. The fact that the climax is based on a real historical event made it not just entertaining but an educational read as well. If you are looking for a fun book to read with a positive romantic outcome for a likeable heroine and unlikely hero add this book to your reading list for the summer. Thank #NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Jimmy headed west and Emma, his sister, is left waiting for him to send for her. Money runs out and tough decisions are made. Thus begins this story of Emma's choices and the results. She does make some unwise decisions but she does go looking for Jimmy. Along the way she meets Dean. The story is a different kind of western romance. There is a small town with some interesting characters. A good book that kept my interest. I liked the ending.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story was emotionally charged, layered in gruesome, realistic fiction.
The main characters are struggling to find meaning, purpose and new beginnings.
I can’t imagine living in these difficult times as a women. I thought the author did a good job. She shares a story of poverty and lawlessness. Showing the struggle of women and the few choices they had to survive.
I wouldn’t say this was a mystery or romance, but maybe historical fiction.
It did have a HEA.

This was a NETGALLEY gift from the publisher and all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and Cara Devlin for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This is my very first ever Western Romance. This one was very out of my reading comfort zone. I’m usually not a fan of Historical Fiction and Western movies always make me think of my grandparents but something about this book called to me on NetGalley. I figured why not give it a try?
I fully expected horses, gun-slinging, swinging saloon doors opening to a room full of rough men and some good old fashioned West action. I was not disappointed. I wasn’t sure what amount/style of romance to expect with a western historical fiction. I would say this book was very tame on the romance side!

I received a complimentary copy of The Trouble We Keep from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

An amazingly detailed account of one woman's place in the old west, this novel kept me on the edge of my seat for some time. A very well written, with just the right amount of action, romance, and suspense, this book held my attention. I will DEFINITELY read from this author again.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.