Review - - Rustler Mountain

Rustler Mountain

by Maisey Yates

Rustler Mountain - Book 1

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date: February 25, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

 

Every year, thousands of people come through Rustler for the rodeo, historic home tours, old-fashioned candy making demonstrations, sharpshooter shows—and to see the site of the 1800s shootout in which notorious outlaw Austin Wilder was killed by Sheriff Lee Talbot. Now Millie Talbot, the sheriff’s descendant, wants to bring back the town’s Gold Rush Days. But she needs the current Austin Wilder’s support to make her dream a reality. . .

The Wilders are rumored to be as true to their last name as their ancestors. Nonetheless, Austin is agreeable to helping Millie. But he wants something in return. Austin is working to clear his family name by writing the true history of his outlaw ancestors and Millie might just hold the key.

When Millie wrangles Austin into helping plan Gold Rush Days, he figures it’s a chance to get to the truth of the past. . . . But when sparks start to fly between this bad boy and good girl, will either of them come out of it unscathed?

PJ's Thoughts:

Maisey Yates launches her new series with an enemies-to-lovers, good-girl-bad-boy romance that had me happily turning pages from start to finish.

I've always found it hard to resist a fictional bad boy. Make him a bad boy with a well-used library card, a burning desire to uncover the truth about his much-maligned ancestor, and write a book about it? Oh, and for bonus points, give him a soft spot for the good-girl librarian? It's safe to say that the present day Austin Wilder has me well and truly hooked. 

And then there's prim and proper Millie Talbot, the quiet librarian who has never quite been able to reach the high standards set by her family...or the town. It's so much fun to watch Millie fall for Austin as she slowly embraces her own dreams and desires (a little spice in the stacks, anyone?) and comes to grips with uncovered truths about her family while also battling her nemesis and her ex to resurrect the town's Gold Rush Days. 

Rustler Mountain shows that perception is not always the truth. Yates has created a small town filled with intriguing characters, plenty of complications, and a revered claim to fame that revolves around one particular historical event that two generations later still colors how the present-day descendants are viewed. But what if those plaques at the town limits and the widely attended Gold Rush Days got it wrong? 

I am all in for Maisey Yates' Rustler Mountain and already looking forward to book two, Outlaw Lake, a friends-to-lovers story that I can't wait to get my hands on. Bring on the Wilders!