"Damn Dirty Dancing and its uncompromising view on romance..." - Adeline Mulhany
This was a lot of fun and a super sweet romance. This is an indy, so you will have to be willing to overlook the lack of an editor. And you will also have to be well versed in American pop culture to appreciate this. The heroine has a particular fondness for the 80's, in particular. I haven't heard mention of Dexy's Midnight Runners in ages.
Adeline is a pretty, chubby girl who is reluctantly on a "glamping" (glamorous camping) trip to Yellowstone as part of a corporate retreat. The eruption of a geyser knocks her all the way to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and quite far into the future as well.
This is a fun and imaginative take on the dystopian future. This place is very reminiscent of the wild west, but instead of cows stampeding there are these weird giant lizard thingies. Instead of 6-shooters, they use laser guns. Horses are pretty much still horses, but they come in pastel colors now. Addie "felt like she'd been transported into that Firefly episode with the creepy frontier town".
When Addie first comes to, she walks into the nearest saloon and meets the grumpy owner, Cade. Cade is an outcast due to being born 1/2 Volytn. Voltyns were a genetically engineered soldier created for some past war and are now considered subhuman. Cade also has 2 non-Voltyn half brothers who live and work with him in the saloon. One is a one armed vet with PTSD and the youngest is a goof off always getting into trouble for gambling. Both are really well drawn and add to the story.
In the future, a well groomed woman who was fortunate enough to be well-fed is considered the ideal beauty. Cade is instantly attracted, but he fights it since there are laws against his kind fraternizing with human women, especially since she's a human woman who is so desirable.
Most people fear Cade for what he is, but since Addie is ignorant of the society. She just finds him to be a big, gorgeous, cranky guy who she instinctively trusts. She finagles her way into living in one of the rooms above the bar until she can figure out how to get back to her time. In the meantime, she turns the brother's lives upside down and drives Cade crazy.
Addie is a very lovable character. She manages to walk that fine line between sweet and snarky. She's soft-hearted, but not a Mary Sue. She's funny, but not grating/obnoxious. I laughed when the youngest brother kept pestering her for stories about her home. She was afraid to reveal she was from the past, so she recited the adventures of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
Cade is adorable in that grouchy, long suffering sort of way. He loves his brothers and is falling in love with Addie, but they all drive him nuts. He is always having to pull them out of one scrape or another.
The love story is very slow burn and there isn't a huge focus on sex. There's no sex scene until quite far into the book. Cade's control over electricity does make him a very interesting sex partner, however. Think human vibrator ;)
If you're in the mood for something a bit different, I definitely recommend this quirky little romance.