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"From the Back Cover
Carson hates the idea, but he'll do anything for Perry's happiness. He'll even help get her historic home fixed up for sale. She can stay with him at his ranch house on Outlaw Lake in the meantime. What ensues are dinners filled with laughter, dating app disasters--and Carson wondering why he'd look for another woman when the one he loves is right here. His answers may lie in the letters he finds from the man who married the mail-order bride . . . But can he finally gather the courage to be true to his wild heart--before it's too late?"

The bulk of my review is in the "further comments" section, near the bottom of this page.

People who like emotional romance stories.

Please see the "further comments" section, near the bottom of this page.

Please see the "further comments" section, near the bottom of this page.

Move around (so I did).

I think I did laugh a few times, and definitely smiled at least a few times.

"Maisey Yates

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit.

In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. Since then it's been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world." From the book's "About the Author" section on its Amazon sales page.

Please see the "further comments" section, near the bottom of this page.

Please see the "further comments" section, near the bottom of this page.

I borrowed this book from my local library. It was nice to have a large print book available. I was with someone else who was in a hurry so I just picked this off the featured titles shelf and didn't actually read the description first.

Based on the cover, I was expecting a rowdy historical romance. It's actually a modern romance, although there is a historical component through the historical diary of Mae Tanner, a brave woman who risked everything to come west in the hopes of adventure and true love. Her diary entries headed up each chapter and I liked that feature.

I also liked how the diary and some related historical letters were central to the resolution of the story.

I liked Carson and Perry (aka Periwinkle) and Carson's family. I liked the rival family and the town.

I have a writing mentor who would label this story as "too dumb to live" ... it's literally one of the things he says to never write about (two people whose problems could be resolved if they only talked about the issue). Once I realized this, I almost just returned it without reading it, but I have been in a mellow reading mood so figured I'd give it a try.

Despite there being no surprise (once they finally actually shared their real feelings and resolved their emotional hangups, there was a happily ever after), I did enjoy the book. I would like for it to have been tighter and shorter, but it was an enjoyable story.

As usual, I skipped the sex scenes (I don't read them for personal reasons), though I'm guessing they were pretty spicy.

I really loved the good childhood memories that they shared.

One of my favorite quotes was near the end: "There were so many beautiful. wonderful things, and also so much tragedy. So many opportunities to hold onto pain forever, or ... let it go so you could experience something new."

I had no idea that this was the second book in a series until the older brother's happy marriage was mentioned so much (then I got a suspicion). On the library version there's no mention of this anywhere that I noticed. Definitely not on the front or back cover. But on the Amazon page it says it's book two of three.

I have no desire to go back and read the first book, but if I get in the mood for another slow, emotional kind of story, I might read the next one. I am interested in Carson's sister Cassidy's story, and maybe even his younger brothers' stories.

Would I recommend this book? Only if you are looking for an emotional, relatively slow read.

I know the price of the book is high, but that's because it's a library hardcpver. The ebook is part of the Kindle Unlimited program at the moment that I am writing this review, on January 24, 2026, so if you have that, you can read it for "free."

The print length is 500 pages.

THe current Amazon "Best Sellers Rank: #4,024,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

#16,897 in Romance (Books)
#34,330 in Literature & Fiction (Books)"

And the current ratings are 4.2 on Amazon and 3.6 on Good Reads.

I thought the setting was very nice, the plot not really much to write home about (the diary mystery was better than the actual hero - heroine "mystery"), but I did like the characters a lot and wanted them to be happy and achieve their dreams.

As for Rach's Reading challenge here, this could fit into several categories: it has purple on the cover, the diary element definitely involves a book, and maybe it could fit into other categories too. If you read this in 2027, it should be on the list of books read in the previous year.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Outlaw Lake: Rustler Mountain (Center Point Platinum Romance (Large Print))   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jan 24, 2026 at 5:04pm • Submit your own review...