After Sundown

Lawless Nights #1

by Shelly Thacker

He vowed to bring her to justice...

U.S. Marshal Lucas McKenna has brought down some of the most notorious outlaws in the West. Now he’s on a personal hunting the woman who killed his brother.

Antoinette Sutton is running for her life. The evidence against her is overwhelming - and no one will believe the truth about what happened. Lucas captures the dark-haired beauty in Colorado, but before he can take her back to Missouri to stand trial, the two are snowbound in a remote mining town. During the firelit nights of a Rocky Mountain winter, lawman and prisoner are caught in a dance of danger and desire...until Annie loses her heart and Lucas faces an impossible will he do his duty and turn her in, or set her free and become an outlaw himself?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Westerns, Historical Fiction, Western Romance, Fiction

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 1999

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Shelly Thacker has earned lavish praise from Publishers Weekly, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Detroit Free Press and The Oakland Press, who have called her historical romance novels “innovative,” “addictive,” “steamy” and “powerful.”

A two-time RWA RITA Award finalist, Shelly has won numerous other honors for her novels, including a National Readers' Choice Award, several Romantic Times Certificates of Excellence, and five straight KISS Awards for her outstanding heroes. The Detroit Free Press has twice placed her romances on their annual list of the year's best.

When she’s not at the computer, you’ll find Shelly reading with her kids, knitting in local cafes, or kickboxing at the gym. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and two daughters. For the latest news and sneak previews of upcoming books, visit her at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorShellyT... or http://www.shellythacker.com

Reviews

[NZLisaM · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best western, historical romances I’ve ever read!

This novel had everything I love in a romance; hero and heroine fighting their growing attraction to one another, eventual sizzling love scenes, along with plenty of drama and action. There were scenes that brought tears to my eyes, others that made me laugh, tense moments, and plenty of tenderness and sexiness. The plot was fast-paced, with plenty of obstacles for the main characters to overcome before they could be together. Lucas and Annie had great chemistry, and were well characterized, as were the rest of the characters. I liked the fact that Annie was written as a strong, yet vulnerable heroine in need of help, and protection. One of my pet peeves when reading historical fiction is a heroine who acts and behaves too much like a twenty-first century woman! I loved the descriptions of the town of Eminence and the sense of belonging and family the town and its people represented for both Lucas and Annie. The attention to historical detail, and the time period was both interesting and accurate.

Buy this book. You won’t be disappointed. I can’t wait for book 2 in the series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

An interesting story with a nice flow to it, despite getting at times a bit repetitive in the depiction of emotions, and characters who are endearing, although not free of the kind of cloying righteousness that plagues romance writing, especially the historical sub-genre (and particularly the male protagonists) and takes you straight out of the material of the book and into box ticking territory (you know, preaching the 'correctness' of the MCs but without the absurd and theatrical passion of actual preaching; proclaiming at every possible turn the unassailably sanitary nature of the characters). Had this book been more truthful to the experiences the characters underwent, had it made the conflicts (especially the self-conflicts of the hero) more palpable, this would have been a spectacularly good specimen of historical romance. To be fair, it is not without great moments and memorable scenes. I particularly liked two things. First, the scene where the hero who mourns his brother is filled with the anguish of not being able to remember what his brother looked like or said the last time he saw him. Romances, more often than not, deal with that kind of emotion with shocking flightiness. Shelly Thacker lingers on the hero's loss for some time and independently of providing the hero with a feral motive to 'hate' the heroine. And second, the depiction of details that compose and make vivid a scene, like the light of the moon, mirror reflections, candles, snow flakes, the smell of pine trees or of tobacco filled rooms, etc., was done with great skill without showing off and resulting in annoyingly overwritten tableaux. As for the MCs, the heroine is nice (maybe too self-sacrificing), free of the usual stupidity and stubbornness that passes off as spiritedness, while the hero, despite his fulfilling the quota of romance hero 'virtues', is not one dimensional and his portrayal does linger on after one has finished reading the book.

Overall a good romance (especially compared with what is out there getting gushing 'reviews' from the fan clubs or the uncritical reader, e.g. the ahistorical crap Elizabeth Hoyt churns out gets five stars before publication when far superior books like "After Sundown" are rather ignored) that could have done with a more sotto voce advertising of the MCs goodness and decency.

[kookyquinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I loved their chemistry, the push and pull. I loved the little bit of angst. I loved the sweetness. This book made me growl and have happy tears. I am now going to read everything else Ms Thacker has written ttfn

[Lynn Put · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good! The writing and the storyline kept me reading and I couldn’t put down. I wanted to keep reading to find out how the two main characters would end up being together but I didn’t want it to end.

Such great characters and side characters and such emotion.

This story is about how things are not always as they look and that sometimes things are not right or wrong but somewhere in between. Both the main characters had hard lives with things in their past that effected them. Annie growing up with her mother being the town prostitut and being poor with no male in the house to protect her and Lucas and an event that happened after his father left for the war which prompted him into becoming a marshal and left him searching for justice. It’s wonderful when the two come together and really learn about each other and start to see each other in a different light and fall in love.

[Zoe]

I didn't like the book at all but I stopped reading at 30%. So no rating.

[N.W. Moors · Rating 5 out of 5]

US Marshal Lucas McKenna is after the woman who murdered his brother. Annie Sutton was his brother's mistress and pregnant with his child. She's taken off to hide in the Western mountains, but Lucas finds her just as winter sets in. She's been trying to change her life, but Lucas doesn't care, sworn to do his duty and let a jury decide.
This was a nail-biter right to the end. The author does a beautiful job of gradually laying out the backstory of Annie and Lucas, where things are different than they seemed. Their romance is a slow-burn due to circumstances, but it's easy to see why this is a RITA award winner. Wonderful story.

[lia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loveee annie so much my dear girl

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the back cover:

Into his arms...

The moment she saw him she ran, desperate to escape. But he found her. U.S. Marshal Lucas McKenna made it clear his interest in Annie Sutton was very personal: he'd come to arrest her for the murder of his brother. Annie was at his mercy, trapped in a snowbound Colorado town, imprisoned in a makeshift jail until he could take her back to justice. She never expected to find love in the arms of a lawman determined to see her hang...

Into his heart...

Lucas McKenna, the msot feared lawman in the West, finally captured his brother's killer--only to feel trapped himself, tormented by her nearness, the feel of her in his arms, the scent of her hair. She said the killing was an accident. He couldn't afford to believe her. Yet as the winter passed, she slowly got under his skin, make him know her, set his heart afire. Until he had to decide: to lose his reputation and let her escape, or bring her to justice and risk losing her for good...

And my review:

This was a very enjoyable book. While it wasn't a can't-put-it-down, I still recommend it.

Thacker has a talent for creating loveable characters. They are true-to-life, honorable people, yet still somewhat flawed. They're human. Not gods, and not unlikeable, either. They're people you can relate to. I expected not to like Annie, given the fact that she had lived for three years as a married man's mistress. I should have hated her, yet somehow that was impossible. I couldn't help but love her.

The small-town thing was also well done in this book. This story had so many loveable characters in it. The townspeople were not paragons of saintly virtue, just real, human people that you would be happy to know.

The romance in this book was well done, and left me with that "warm glow" that romance readers crave. Yes, this book had its dark moments, but they never overwhelmed the story. And I really like the fact that the attraction between the characters was based on something more substantial than sexual chemistry. That is so rare in the lust-soaked world of romance today. Not that the hero and heroine weren't physically attracted to each other. They were, but it was in its proper place. The love came first, and the sexual attraction was an added bonus. That's just as it should be.

This story never got boring, yet it didn't feel like it was all plot, either. Fans of western romance (and even those who might not like it as much as other historical periods) will enjoy this book.

[Pirori · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am giving it a 1 because in one violent scene she kept referring to mixed raced people as half-breeds . It felt racist as hell. Also the ending was too fantastical. No way that boy would have defied his mother to defend a woman he didn't even know. At the end of the day Annie was his father's mistress and the bane of his family existence. The only way I can see a 14 year old going against his mom like that is if she was absolute horrid and even then kids aren't likely to dob their parents in even if they are abusers especially during that time. The situation has to be down bad and finally what happened to the mom. Last we heard she told Annie to get rid of the baby and then what? What happened to her. Did she leave town as well after people thought her daughter killed James, was she at the trial ?

[Cindy C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Loved It! Suspenseful and Gripping! Right from the start After Sundown takes off in this rollercoaster ride full of twist and turns that will keep you sitting on the edge of your seat! Shelly Thacker has done a spectacular job bringing the old West to life. Annie and Lucas are so believable you feel every emotion that they are feeling throughout and imagine yourself as one of the characters or just part of their journey. They draw you in and give you reason to take the journey with them. The scenes are so strikingly detailed it paints an incredible backdrop that makes you feel like you are one with the story. With blaze of western justice, murder, drama, danger, adventure, bounty hunters and a well written and very enjoyable novel.

[ann_zack_cee_am_ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book of Shelly Thacker that I’ve read is Silver And Sapphires and now I can’t get enough of her writings. Now that I’ve finished After Sundown, my tears still haven’t dried. Ohh my heart goes out to Annie. All her life she has been abandoned, used, taunted and cast aside by the people she’s surrounded with. Not only that, she got accused of a murder of her former protector. The brother of the marshall ranger, Lucas who set out to avenge for his murder by capturing Annie. What started as a quest for revenge turned into a harrowing tale of love. A tearjerking story. One of the most beautiful stories I’ve a chance to read this year.

[Lori ◡̈ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story. This was my first time reading a book by Shelly Thacker, and I loved her style. Everything about it (conversations, emotions felt by characters, scenery, etc) just came across as very realistic, easy to imagine and believe that it could have taken place... but still very romantic and sweet. Very likeable characters too. I look forward to trying out some of her other books...

[Wanda Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

I read this book years ago and loved it. When a reread it on my kindle it was even better. I would love to see and read all the planned sequels. That being said I will give another Thacker book a plug. My all time favorite time travel book is Forever His. I bought it years ago in paperback and now have it on my Kindle. I have reread it several times through the years. It is STILL the best ever! Keep up the great writing Ms. Thacker.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story needs 5 more stars..

I have read all of the stolen bride series but this western romance was awesome! I loved this story it had so much of everything I was balling my eyes out at some point. So glad Annie and Lucas got their happy ending. I would recommend this story and this author.

[Mary23nm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Into the Sunset.

[JC Mulligan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Shelly Thacker but could not finish this one.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

only historicals/westerns can get the trapped together in an abandoned hut right for me 😭 that was my favorite moment cause it was so pivotal for the hero and heroine

[Winnifred D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. I've read over a hundred historical romances since the lockdown and this is one of the best I've found on KU. It's severely underrated. More emotionally complex than most historical romances out there, especially in the opening chapters, and features secondary characters almost as compelling and important to the plot as the hero is.

The rundown (contains minor spoilers): The story opens with the heroine, who is with child, evading the law. Although her widow's dress is a costume, she is grieving the death of the man she killed. She then suffers a miscarriage and we learn the father of the baby was the very man who died by her hand. This leaves her sifting through deep feelings of guilt and unworthiness. She ends up hiding in a remote corner of Colorado that is rapidly becoming a post-Civil War, post-Gold Rush ghost town, with residents who have largely experienced their own difficult pasts (they are compared at one point to the remains in a pan after the gold is sifted).

The hero, who is a marshal and the brother of the dead man, is a bit more difficult to warm up to at first, although there is a world-weariness about him that humanizes him. He has a romanticized reputation, something he views cynically. When he enters the town, right away he is befriended by a young man who has read all about his exploits and idolizes him, but he explains to the boy what his life is really like. He is able to track the heroine down rather abruptly, and I have to admit I was taken aback by his initial instinct to shoot her. Obviously he despises her for what she's done, but seems more intent on simple revenge than justice. At other times he's portrayed as cool-headed, someone who attends more to the law than emotion. His internal conflict between vengeance and justice is something I wish was explored more completely, because there are times when he comes across as annoyingly priggish. Still, he becomes more interesting as he is forced to interact with, and finally open up to, the secondary characters in the town.

There are unexpectedly exciting action and survival scenes that were very well written from about the 40%-60% mark. But then what I term "the inevitable sex scene at 60%" occurs. I was a bit frustrated that this had to be so cookie-cutter, and the heroine, who has been strong and intelligent up until this point, becomes less so here. (POSSIBLE) SPOILER ALERT: She should know better than to have unprotected sex, the hero should know to at least pull out, and we have the typical "it was a mistake" conversation. This leads to the heroine feeling used and rejected, of course, and the hero becoming snarly until they reunite at a holiday dance back in town when the hero has finally decided to lighten up a bit.

Everything rolls right along after this point, then there is a slight plot twist, and then another slight twist. Both twists make logical sense and work in the story.

A couple of details that nag at me still, though: Why the existence of the subplot of the prospectors conspiring to murder the marshal? This was treated as if it would become a dramatic plot thread, but ended up serving little purpose in the story. Maybe the author felt that the doctor needed a chance to be thanked by the hero? (Speaking of doctors, he was really the hero at the beginning of the book for me, and more than once I wanted him and the heroine to have the HEA.)

Finally, the outcome of the trial wasn't surprising, but from a legal standpoint, wasn't very realistic.

Still, this book is excellent overall. The secondary characters, including the brother who was killed, are more nuanced than you find in most romance novels, and the themes of being able to change and find forgiveness within oneself are thoughtfully explored. Beautiful descriptions of setting as well. The author has the ability to transport you to 1870s Colorado and once you're done reading, it feels as if you've left real people behind.

I would love to read a follow-up to this book involving the secondary characters, especially the doctor.

[SamS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pleasant surprise. A very angsty but healing story of a lawman and his prisoner. I liked the sweet h, oh how she broke my heart! The part where she’s is narrating what happened that night to the H is so heart wrenching and sad, I actually felt I ought to go into the book and hug her. All she wanted was love and acceptance but got none.

The H was not as bad. He was a stubborn arsehole at first but later he redeemed himself well. Also the story dragged a little too much in the middle where the H was going back and forth with figuring out his emotions towards h which kind of annoyed me but it was manageable.

Overall a good book and Shelly Thacker is a decent author.

[Gayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

really love this slow build up love story

I’m so glad to find Shelly Thacker on KU. I am rereading all of her books now.

This one in particular is one of my favorites. The story grabs you from the first paragraph.

I love the tragedy and triumph of the plot line.

The enemy to lovers theme is so well done and changes slowly over the course of the book resulting in a fabulous happy ending.

[Charlie Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars (4 for the first half of the book).
Hard book to review, I’m still unsure what I think of it.
The first half of the book had a great pace, great chemistry, tension, attraction, enemies to lovers… tick for all the above. Unfortunately the story really fell flat about half way through and I found that the heroine was a bit sickly (for lack of a better word). Too perfect and ‘tender hearted’. There was no real fire in her belly and I think I prefer that in books.

[TeriD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie and Lucas are an unlikely couple-very unlikely. She was his brother's mistress, who s accused of killing him. Lucas is a Federal Marshall personally seeing to tracking her down & bringing the murderous tramp to justice. But....things (and people) aren't always as they seem. This was a very enjoyable read with lovely main characters and side characters, a sweet and spicy story that kept me entertained. Definitely recommend!

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by this author, but I did like it.
I haven't read a western in a long while. Antoinette was on the run but she was soon captured by the law. Even though there was no proof that she was innocent, she fought Lucas and fought for her freedom.
My favorite part was the courtroom scene. And also that Lucas finally believed that Antoinette was innocent; the problem was proving it.

[Linda Godwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful

First book I have read by Ms. Thacker. This was a wonderful love story with some twists and turns - a little murder mystery. It was great right from the first few pages - kept me interested and coming back for more. Loved the strong characters. Loved how all the characters were developed. Great book!

[Nyasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely like Shelley’s writing style. She does tend to abuse some adjectives but that’s alright, after all it’s a romance novel. A lot of the twists caught me by surprise and I kept wondering how this was going to work out. Great read

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story!

This story is filled with mystery, fierce friendships, low down villains and love! Everything comes full circle (as any great story does!) And wraps up into a happy ending. Couldn't put thus book down!

[Brandi-Lynn Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn't put it down

Truly enjoyed this book. The chemistry between the Annie and Lucas was incredible, well written and infuriating! The side characters were well rounded, witty and entertaining. I enjoyed their moments just as much as I enjoyed the main plot.

[Elaine Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Total tearjerker! One of those romances I first read years ago but love to reread.

[Quinn Fforde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating characters

[Jacky Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

can't remember when I read this. It's not in my Kindle or iBooks library.