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Justified
"...put me over the edge!"
"An AMAZING book!"
"I can't get it out of my head."
"Beautiful descriptive, passionate sex scenes are some of the best I've read."
"Riveting from beginning to end."
"I read it in one night!"
"Kudos to the author sensitively writing about a hero who is living with a mental illness, and a heroine who has been a prostitute since she was a young teen."
"A first book from a truly gifted writer."
Sally Benson knows the rules, for seventeen years she’s toed that line. Until one summer night in Dallas, in the bed of a sadistic deputy sheriff, fight or flight kicked in and she broke every rule in the book. Will her life be the cost Sally will pay for defending herself?
Kirk Watts lives a lie, possessing abilities he can’t comprehend. He swears by the mantra an eye for an eye and silences the voices in his head with the euphoria he drags from his opium pipe. When Kirk stumbles on Sally, running for her life through the Texas countryside, those voices start dragging up memories that even his addictions can’t soothe.
For the first time in her life, Sally meets a man she is comfortable with. Can she trust Kirk Watts, reeking of liquor and talking about things no one else can see? Are a couple hot nights with a considerate man enough for her to seek something more with him?
Can Sally and Kirk outrun the demons threatening to engulf their lives in flames? Or will Kirk’s lie and Sally’s past collide, combusting so violently it costs Sally more than her freedom, and Kirk more than his mind?
"I found Justified riveting from beginning to end. The story set in the 1890's is about sex trafficking, evil men, mysterious murders.... There's a lot of violence, graphic descriptions of addiction, alcoholism, and the sex trade. The underlying romance that was threaded throughout the story was a huge bright spot."
Suzy Vero
"An AMAZING book!"
"I can't get it out of my head."
"Beautiful descriptive, passionate sex scenes are some of the best I've read."
"Riveting from beginning to end."
"I read it in one night!"
"Kudos to the author sensitively writing about a hero who is living with a mental illness, and a heroine who has been a prostitute since she was a young teen."
"A first book from a truly gifted writer."
Sally Benson knows the rules, for seventeen years she’s toed that line. Until one summer night in Dallas, in the bed of a sadistic deputy sheriff, fight or flight kicked in and she broke every rule in the book. Will her life be the cost Sally will pay for defending herself?
Kirk Watts lives a lie, possessing abilities he can’t comprehend. He swears by the mantra an eye for an eye and silences the voices in his head with the euphoria he drags from his opium pipe. When Kirk stumbles on Sally, running for her life through the Texas countryside, those voices start dragging up memories that even his addictions can’t soothe.
For the first time in her life, Sally meets a man she is comfortable with. Can she trust Kirk Watts, reeking of liquor and talking about things no one else can see? Are a couple hot nights with a considerate man enough for her to seek something more with him?
Can Sally and Kirk outrun the demons threatening to engulf their lives in flames? Or will Kirk’s lie and Sally’s past collide, combusting so violently it costs Sally more than her freedom, and Kirk more than his mind?
"I found Justified riveting from beginning to end. The story set in the 1890's is about sex trafficking, evil men, mysterious murders.... There's a lot of violence, graphic descriptions of addiction, alcoholism, and the sex trade. The underlying romance that was threaded throughout the story was a huge bright spot."
Suzy Vero
- GenresHistorical
453 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 30, 2024
About the author
April Boulware
18 books99 followers April Boulware writes haunting psychological horror with a heartbeat.
She blends gothic atmosphere, slow-burn suspense, and raw emotional depth to explore what it means to survive the unimaginable – and still hope. Her work often centers on women reclaiming their stories after spiritual abuse, trauma, and isolation, with threads of found family and quiet romance woven through the dark.
April draws inspiration from her own past in a cult-like, abusive environment, and the long road of healing that followed. When she’s not writing or reading something ghostly, she’s probably reorganizing her planner, sipping strong coffee, or chasing a story idea down a rabbit hole.
She lives in rural South Carolina with her husband, three children, and a bunch of chickens, where she homeschools by day and writes by night.
She blends gothic atmosphere, slow-burn suspense, and raw emotional depth to explore what it means to survive the unimaginable – and still hope. Her work often centers on women reclaiming their stories after spiritual abuse, trauma, and isolation, with threads of found family and quiet romance woven through the dark.
April draws inspiration from her own past in a cult-like, abusive environment, and the long road of healing that followed. When she’s not writing or reading something ghostly, she’s probably reorganizing her planner, sipping strong coffee, or chasing a story idea down a rabbit hole.
She lives in rural South Carolina with her husband, three children, and a bunch of chickens, where she homeschools by day and writes by night.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 3, 2024
Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖 (It was a bit long to me but the plot was really fascinating)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (the scenes are pretty light – the language is more poetic than explicit)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑 🍑 (The first scene is probably the most developed, the others get on the short side)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 - there’s a few scenes (maybe 3?) but some are so light and short I didn’t feel like they felt countable so I settled at a 2
Humor: A touch but this is a very heavy book
Perspective: Third person perspective from heroine (I don’t think there’s anything from the hero really)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: Takes a little bit – about 8% in, chapter 6
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happy for now (I would have really liked an extended epilogue, not sure if more is coming in a series)
Epilogue: Not labeled as one, but the last chapter takes place a few weeks later and wraps things up.
Format: read the book through kindle unlimited
(Descriptions found at end of my review)
Should I read in order?
This is Boulware’s debut novel!
Basic plot:
Sally leaves with the clothes on her back one night to save her life and she meets Kirk, who takes her in with his found family
Give this a try if you want:
- 1890’s time period
- Texas setting
- romantic suspense with scenes of violence and danger
- definitely some darker content warnings including murder, on page drug use, mention of child rape
- found family vibes
- heroine has been forced to work as a whore but has never felt pleasure from the act until the hero
- lower steam – there’s 3 scenes and the first is fairly developed but the overall language is on the lighter side (more poetic than explicit) and the 3rd scene is quite short.
Ages:
- Hero is around 35, heroine is 31
First line:
Sally stared up at the ceiling.
My thoughts:
So this isn’t usually my thing, but I was curious enough to try it. And I really, really loved Boulware’s writing. She pulled me into a story that usually I wouldn’t touch and held me in thrall for most of it. (Being that this book is over 500 pages and I’m allergic to long books right now and I read it in one night is another testament to her writing! 😆
This book has a lot of dark elements in it, and some of those got in the way for me But it also gave me some great world building for this era and character depth. I loved how this had elements of danger, but was also very character driven, which is my favorite. It had a slower/medium speed to me that I really loved, because many westerns I read feel really fast paced with tons of crazy plot that leave me not knowing the characters – I felt like I really knew the characters in this one.
The steam was a bit light for me – there’s scenes there but the language is quite light and the scenes aren’t super long. But there was absolutely an emotional pull to her writing and scenes that added an element I just loved. I would definitely try more from Boulware!
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Extra stuff like what my review breakdown means, where to find me, and book clubs
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖 (It was a bit long to me but the plot was really fascinating)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (the scenes are pretty light – the language is more poetic than explicit)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑 🍑 (The first scene is probably the most developed, the others get on the short side)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 - there’s a few scenes (maybe 3?) but some are so light and short I didn’t feel like they felt countable so I settled at a 2
Humor: A touch but this is a very heavy book
Perspective: Third person perspective from heroine (I don’t think there’s anything from the hero really)
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: Takes a little bit – about 8% in, chapter 6
Cliffhanger: No this ends with a happy for now (I would have really liked an extended epilogue, not sure if more is coming in a series)
Epilogue: Not labeled as one, but the last chapter takes place a few weeks later and wraps things up.
Format: read the book through kindle unlimited
(Descriptions found at end of my review)
Should I read in order?
This is Boulware’s debut novel!
Basic plot:
Sally leaves with the clothes on her back one night to save her life and she meets Kirk, who takes her in with his found family
Give this a try if you want:
- 1890’s time period
- Texas setting
- romantic suspense with scenes of violence and danger
- definitely some darker content warnings including murder, on page drug use, mention of child rape
- found family vibes
- heroine has been forced to work as a whore but has never felt pleasure from the act until the hero
- lower steam – there’s 3 scenes and the first is fairly developed but the overall language is on the lighter side (more poetic than explicit) and the 3rd scene is quite short.
Ages:
- Hero is around 35, heroine is 31
First line:
Sally stared up at the ceiling.
My thoughts:
So this isn’t usually my thing, but I was curious enough to try it. And I really, really loved Boulware’s writing. She pulled me into a story that usually I wouldn’t touch and held me in thrall for most of it. (Being that this book is over 500 pages and I’m allergic to long books right now and I read it in one night is another testament to her writing! 😆
This book has a lot of dark elements in it, and some of those got in the way for me But it also gave me some great world building for this era and character depth. I loved how this had elements of danger, but was also very character driven, which is my favorite. It had a slower/medium speed to me that I really loved, because many westerns I read feel really fast paced with tons of crazy plot that leave me not knowing the characters – I felt like I really knew the characters in this one.
The steam was a bit light for me – there’s scenes there but the language is quite light and the scenes aren’t super long. But there was absolutely an emotional pull to her writing and scenes that added an element I just loved. I would definitely try more from Boulware!
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Extra stuff like what my review breakdown means, where to find me, and book clubs
March 23, 2024
I found Justified riveting from beginning to end… it’s different which I like. The story set in the early 1890s, is about sex trafficking, evil men, mysterious murders etc., and how two towns in Texas finally escape from the horrors of the evil men who have a stranglehold on them. There’s a lot of violence, graphic descriptions of addiction, alcoholism, and the sex trade.
🔸🔹The underlying romance that was threaded thru out the story was a huge bright spot. The hero, Kirk, age mid 30s, didn’t talk until he was 8 years old, spent years in an asylum and became an opium addict at age 13. The heroine Sally, age 31, was sex trafficked in her early teens, abused repeatedly, and under the stranglehold of the evil men who run the trade in these two towns.
🔸🔹Their slowly blossoming romance is a splendid contrast to the horrors going on around them. The beautifully descriptive passionate sex scenes are some of the best I’ve read from a new author!! Kudos to the author for sensitively writing about a hero who is living with a mental illness, and a heroine who has been a prostitute since she was a young teen. There were plenty of gut wrenching scenes between them as they discover their love for each other. The secondary characters are well developed and add depth to the story.
🔸🔹Minor quibbles: It’s overly long, maybe 500 pages? So it could have used some careful editing. Some of the descriptions of violence were very graphic and detailed. For a book to be considered a HR they could have been toned down quite a bit.
🔸🔹This book was mentioned and reviewed in a historical romance book group on Facebook. For it to be a true HR there should be a clear HEA, and at the end of Justified it was ambiguous. Perhaps adding an epilogue where we can read about Kirk recovered from his addiction, married to Sally, and they have a baby on the way or already have a baby, would make it more like a HR instead of an historical fiction book and thriller.
A first book from a truly gifted writer.., I’m looking forward to reading April Boulware’s next one. 📚😊
Available via KU.
🔸🔹The underlying romance that was threaded thru out the story was a huge bright spot. The hero, Kirk, age mid 30s, didn’t talk until he was 8 years old, spent years in an asylum and became an opium addict at age 13. The heroine Sally, age 31, was sex trafficked in her early teens, abused repeatedly, and under the stranglehold of the evil men who run the trade in these two towns.
🔸🔹Their slowly blossoming romance is a splendid contrast to the horrors going on around them. The beautifully descriptive passionate sex scenes are some of the best I’ve read from a new author!! Kudos to the author for sensitively writing about a hero who is living with a mental illness, and a heroine who has been a prostitute since she was a young teen. There were plenty of gut wrenching scenes between them as they discover their love for each other. The secondary characters are well developed and add depth to the story.
🔸🔹Minor quibbles: It’s overly long, maybe 500 pages? So it could have used some careful editing. Some of the descriptions of violence were very graphic and detailed. For a book to be considered a HR they could have been toned down quite a bit.
🔸🔹This book was mentioned and reviewed in a historical romance book group on Facebook. For it to be a true HR there should be a clear HEA, and at the end of Justified it was ambiguous. Perhaps adding an epilogue where we can read about Kirk recovered from his addiction, married to Sally, and they have a baby on the way or already have a baby, would make it more like a HR instead of an historical fiction book and thriller.
A first book from a truly gifted writer.., I’m looking forward to reading April Boulware’s next one. 📚😊
Available via KU.
February 6, 2024
I wanted to read this book as the author is in the instagram planner community of which I am part of, and I wanted to support her. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, her very first book. Well I will say that it totally exceeded my expectations. April's style is very descriptive, which made it easy to get into the book and the characters. Great story too, that I couldn’t put down. Congratulations April, I really look forward to your next book!
April 3, 2024
This is a dark and gritty mystery/thriller with a splash of romance. There is physical abuse, kidnapping, murder, drug use, abortion--yeah. There's all of that and more things that might offend the tender-hearted. It was like going by a bad car accident. You know you shouldn't look, but you can't help yourself.
Sally is a prostitute and has escaped from her brothel, after the big shot there threatened to kill her. He meant it and went to extremes to hunt her down. When I think about it, I'm not sure why. She was 31-years-old, had been at this since she was 15 so she was worn out, didn't harbor any house secrets. I don't know why it was so imperative that he got her back. But it is what it is and it was the crux of the story. She drew in some really bad people to her new life and they had to be dealt with.
One thing I need to point out is that she was illiterate. She couldn't read, write, or do math. That left her fair game to the thieves and they were opportunists. Kirk was working on teaching her math, but she really needed to learn to read too. Nobody tackled that. Knowledge is power and if she'd had those tools in her pocket, it would have been harder to take advantage of her, but not impossible.
Don't go thinking that Kirk Watts was some sort of saint. He was far from that. As a matter of fact, I did not like him. He said he was insane. Everybody knew he was insane and gave him his space. I can understand mental illness and have sympathy for people who suffer from it, but that does not justify his excessive drug use or his actions while under the influence. The drug use and his actions were giant strikes against him. I could never trust anybody like that. It's just a matter of time before he loses it and turns his attentions on her.
Sally was illiterate, but she was stupid too. Bad decision after bad decision and the way she gave Kirk everything was appalling. I get that she was broken. I get that Kirk was broken, but they both rode the line of being pathetic. I didn't like either one of them.
There are some errors with the writing (reigns and reins have different meanings) and some awkward sentences that were distracting and took away from the reading experience and it isn't a sin to use an occasional pronoun. Sally this. Sally that. Frankly, it grated on my nerves, especially when Kirk had her name on loop. He was often referred to as "the sandy haired man". That was annoying too. For this being historical fiction, there were a lot of modern words used, which took away from the authenticity.
I read it to the end. I just didn't care for it.
Sally is a prostitute and has escaped from her brothel, after the big shot there threatened to kill her. He meant it and went to extremes to hunt her down. When I think about it, I'm not sure why. She was 31-years-old, had been at this since she was 15 so she was worn out, didn't harbor any house secrets. I don't know why it was so imperative that he got her back. But it is what it is and it was the crux of the story. She drew in some really bad people to her new life and they had to be dealt with.
One thing I need to point out is that she was illiterate. She couldn't read, write, or do math. That left her fair game to the thieves and they were opportunists. Kirk was working on teaching her math, but she really needed to learn to read too. Nobody tackled that. Knowledge is power and if she'd had those tools in her pocket, it would have been harder to take advantage of her, but not impossible.
Don't go thinking that Kirk Watts was some sort of saint. He was far from that. As a matter of fact, I did not like him. He said he was insane. Everybody knew he was insane and gave him his space. I can understand mental illness and have sympathy for people who suffer from it, but that does not justify his excessive drug use or his actions while under the influence. The drug use and his actions were giant strikes against him. I could never trust anybody like that. It's just a matter of time before he loses it and turns his attentions on her.
Sally was illiterate, but she was stupid too. Bad decision after bad decision and the way she gave Kirk everything was appalling. I get that she was broken. I get that Kirk was broken, but they both rode the line of being pathetic. I didn't like either one of them.
There are some errors with the writing (reigns and reins have different meanings) and some awkward sentences that were distracting and took away from the reading experience and it isn't a sin to use an occasional pronoun. Sally this. Sally that. Frankly, it grated on my nerves, especially when Kirk had her name on loop. He was often referred to as "the sandy haired man". That was annoying too. For this being historical fiction, there were a lot of modern words used, which took away from the authenticity.
I read it to the end. I just didn't care for it.
June 29, 2024
Great read. I found myself feeling all the emotions while reading this.
Texas in the late 1800’s, Sally finds herself in some of the worst situations as a sex worker for the most awful men you can imagine. To break free, Sally must put everything she’s ever know to the wind and run.
Kirk is a man with demons. A cowboy vigilante bringing justice to those that deserve it. He stumbles across a woman running for her life one day.
Surrounded by mysterious murders, evil people, and addiction - these two come together & create a story worth reading.
Texas in the late 1800’s, Sally finds herself in some of the worst situations as a sex worker for the most awful men you can imagine. To break free, Sally must put everything she’s ever know to the wind and run.
Kirk is a man with demons. A cowboy vigilante bringing justice to those that deserve it. He stumbles across a woman running for her life one day.
Surrounded by mysterious murders, evil people, and addiction - these two come together & create a story worth reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2024
Justified is set around the 1890’s and it follows Sally on her journey of escaping her life as a call girl and it does have some dark themes like abuse and violence. So keep that in mind before you read.
That being said I really enjoyed reading this book! I loved the story, I thought it had great characters, it’s descriptive and it had lots of intense moments.
That being said I really enjoyed reading this book! I loved the story, I thought it had great characters, it’s descriptive and it had lots of intense moments.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews