Deeper in the Blood Rose Trilogy

Man, Kaki Warner makes me want to move to New Mexico.   Her second book in the Blood Rose Trilogy, Open Country, is just as beautiful and engaging as Pieces of Sky.  

The Blood Rose Trilogy is about the Wilkins brothers, owners of a large cattle ranch in New Mexico in the second-half of the 19th century.  Open Country takes place a few years after Pieces of Sky ends and revolves around one of the younger brothers, Hank.  (The first novel is about the oldest brother, Brady.)  It’s really neat to have characters you love and know well appear again as secondary characters.  It adds depth to the novel and makes it even more enveloping.

I didn’t have the same connection to this book as I did to the first one, but I still couldn’t put it down, despite the fact that I accidentally ordered the large print version and so had a pretty heavy weight to hold up.  I devoured this novel in just three days.  Warner’s descriptions are enchanting and the dialogue quick paced. It’s hard not to fall in love with the characters as they fall in love with each other.

The book is a great love story and a decent adventure story - thankfully, with quite a bit less blood and gore than the first novel.  The only downside of Warner’s books is they make me so wistful.  It must be wonderful to be loved the way her main characters are. 

I am definitely looking forward to the last book in the trilogy!