Love and Gunpowder

by Valeska Delsol

Genres: Lesbian, Queer

308 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2026

Reviews

[DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first book, loved the story 👍🏽

[Rhian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had great potential, but this book was filled with inconsistencies! I had no idea what was happening half the time. One example, the book opens with the year being 1894, but later in the book the women are wearing what is described as Edwardian dresses, which would make the year between 1901-1914ish? I honestly feel like this author either used AI to write the majority of the book or didn’t proofread anything she wrote.

[v · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think overall this was a great first book. to be honest i didn’t have high expectations as i just came across this book on tiktok, but i was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing. there were some parts where i was just on the edge of my seat!
however that can’t be true for the whole book. some chapters were just a bit jarring, i wasn’t a fan of the whole honey house thing. and some bits like the fighting scenes did confuse me.
this is just personal preference, but i think a slow burn trope with a lot of tension would’ve fitted the story a bit more; they were in love after one meet! i also wish some storylines would’ve been explored a bit more.
but i do think this book had a great story and writing. definitely worth a read!

[Yvonne Estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually read romance books but one of my friends told me about this book and I genuinely couldn’t put it down. I loved the story between Cass and Eleanor and we need more happy ending lesbian representation in media. This book was an incredible surprise and I can easily say it’s my favorite book I’ve read so far this year.

[bella’s reading nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might be a little biased (i absolutely love the cowboy setting)
I was able to completely immerse myself into the story and the book. It felt like i was sitting by the campfire with the whole gang. The love story was amazing and i could barely set the book down.
For me its a 5/5 book and would definitely recommend reading it (especially) if you played red dead redemption

[Azul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been such an epic story, it transports you to the Wild West action as if you were part of the gang. I loved the romantic relationship surging between Cass and Eleanor. I can’t wait to read Valeska’s next book

[LAllF · Rating 3 out of 5]

An admirable effort, I found that this book relies very heavily on similes that don’t really make sense and are used far too often.

All-in-all I enjoyed the premise and world building, would benefit from some honing of the craft though.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda felt like I played red dead redemption 2 and wished Sadie Adler was a lesbian and made a fanfiction. Nonetheless, I read the whole book.