I must admit I am not a Westerns person. I usually find them too formulaic and cliche. I picked Haven's Flame up because I've enjoyed Marie Piper's short stories and I am glad I gave it a chance!

Yes, it's the typical small town with one saloon, a tiny jail, and the usual crowd of uppity biddies, but Cricket Bend is refreshingly fleshed out with the farmhouses and prairie scenes Piper includes. The rich parlor filled with the backstabbing society women and their Ladies Meeting was vividly painted, and a scene that kept a smile on my face. From the Anderson's home to the remote pond, all of Piper's locations felt authentic and set a comfortable, homey place for her reader to fall in love with.

Her characters were equally enjoyable. Haven, Matthew, Hank, Braxton, and Callie are complex and unpredictable in their actions rather than the flat stereotypes they easily could have been. Even relatively minor characters like Jasper and Bill were relatable enough to make me want far more of their story than what could be included in this fast-paced, delightful read.

Piper threw a few curve-balls, enough to keep a reader turning pages, and stuck to sweet and sassy romance even when she could have shocked with unnecessary brutality or over-the-top sex. External action was well-peppered through our look into the internal struggles of Haven and Matthew.

Overall I'm impressed with Piper's first novel. I'm only sad I read it so early that I now have a long wait before the next installment!