Review: BIG SKY by Kitty Thomas

Big Sky
by Kitty Thomas

Publisher: Burlesque Press
Release Date: October 1, 2012

Veronica Cason lives in a small apartment with no clear view of the sky. It’s uncertain which might crush her first: her debt or the buildings squeezed in so tight that they surround her like ominous sentinels. She can’t breathe in the city. Her success is a lie, and her debt is coming to collect her—unless someone else gets there first.

When a stranger offers her a job at a ranch, it feels like salvation, but it could also mean her death if his motives aren’t pure. Which door has the tiger behind it? The claustrophobia of the city or ranch life under an open sky?

NOTE: Big Sky is dark, literary erotica and is intended for a mature adult audience.

Veronica Cason is drowning in credit card debt. Unable to keep up the rent on her New York City penthouse, she has had to downsize to a much smaller apartment in a less than desirable part of town. Her mountain of debt rises higher each day and soon she is faced with eviction and is fired from her job as an advertisement executive. She is forced out of her apartment and moves into a motel. One day a stranger notices her and makes her an offer to move to his ranch to work for food and board. Veronica is distrustful of this tall and handsome cowboy. She doesn’t know what to make of his strange offer and why does he want to help her anyway?

Luke Granger is in New York while taking some time off from his ranch. He spots Veronica one day as she is on her way into a coffee shop. He stares at her openly throughout this first encounter. Soon after finally being evicted and losing her job she meets up with Luke again in a park. He tries again to convince her to move to Vermont to work at his ranch. Ronnie goes back and forth on whether go or not. Luke soon gives up and starts walking back to his truck but then suddenly heads back to take Ronnie against her will. Tied up in the truck, Ronnie doesn’t know how much longer she has to live.

The writing in Big Sky is fantastic as always and I liked the dark elements. Ronnie was a feisty, strong willed woman and I liked her snarky attitude. I wanted to love this novel but my main issue is that I didn’t like Luke. I tried really hard to like him but I just couldn’t get past his creepy desire for Ronnie to become his dead ex girlfriend. That freaked me out more than him and his ranch hands turning Ronnie into their own personal milk maid. A lot of bizarre things happen to Ronnie on the ranch and I thoroughly enjoyed all the deviant scenes. The wild and crazy interactions between her and Luke, her and the ranch hands and one other character held my interest and kept me captivated to the very end.

I don’t know that there was a happy ending for Ronnie. But she was out of debt, had a roof over her head and someone to take care of her. I think in the end she was content. This is definitely a story that had me thinking for a few days after reading it. Big Sky was a good dark erotic story by Kitty Thomas and I think one of the darkest ones that she has written. I highly recommend Big Sky to all fans of dark erotica.