Dark Vow by Shona Husk

Wow!!! I don't normally read anything that falls into scifi or fantasy genres, but the premise of this grabbed my attention.. A woman in a somewhat western/fantasy world works as a gunsmithy and when a bullet made by her is used to kill her husband, she vows revenge.

The world is somewhat hard to explain in a review.. It's a rugged world full of horseless buggies and guns and farming. Thus, the western feel. But there's also ten different gods over different trades (for men only.. hrmph.) such as mining, farming, and there's a bad god, the god of everything unexplained and magic, the Arcane.


The Arcane sends a bounty hunter to kill her husband. Why? She only did some engraving and made some bullets... Regardless, she's got a dead husband and as a woman, she can't get licensed to be a gunsmith herself so she's got two choices: become a whore/kept woman or move on and do her thing. She chooses the latter and along the way, meets Obsidian, an Arcane with a stone hand. See, he disobeyed the rules and healed people for free.. and now every time he heals someone, a little more of him turns to stone. But he's got skills that Jaines needs to find the bounty hunter. Can she get past her dislike for everything Arcane enough to get along with Obsidian, accept and use his help, and track down the hunter?


There's one dilemma after another as she falls in love with Obsidian and he with her, another group wants the hunter's gun to do kill more lives, and Obsidian may be faced with saving the woman he loves AND turning to stone in the process. This story was action packed, suspenseful, well told, and had a ball busting heroine. I LOVED every minute of it.


LOL quote: "If an Arcane farted near Tallow (a deputy), he'd have bottled the stench and worn it as perfume."


Favorite quotes:


This one is about Jaines's grief and it just really struck me: "Working gave me a reason to get up. Working made me hungry, so I ate. Working made me dirty, so I bathed. Without work, I would've crumpled into the empty bed, closed my eyes and never woken up."


I was surprised at the "closed door" sex, but sex wasn't necessary in this story to make things sexy as seen in this quote here: "Even with my back to him, our eyes would meet in the mirror. The heat in his gaze was brighter and hotter than any flame. I wanted him to always look at me like that, to make me feel like I could melt from just one touch."


I suspect and I hope there is a sequel to this.. I devoured every word. 

I got this from netgalley.