By relevy

Completed
27 chapters + Epilogue

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BLURB
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Cash Guthrie can hide no longer. The notorious gunslinger and her band of alien misfits plan to rob the biggest Casino in town. It's not about the money for Cash though, it's about Boss and the love they once shared.

Cash Guthrie was once an infamous bounty hunter, but those days are long behind her. Now she's living in self-inflicted exile as the sole purveyor of radioactive moonshine on the planet of al-Sufi.

Now Boss, a former lover, wants Cash's moonshine for Sweetwater Casino. Simple enough, until the business arrangement and reunion are interrupted when Boss's son is kidnapped by Calvera, the smooth-talking skeezy owner of the only other casino in the city of Lead Belly.

To take Calvera and his operation down, Cash must abandon her treasured anonymity, reclaim her fabled identity as The Woman in Black, and return to her gunslinging ways. Using only wits, charm, and lots of Boss' money, she recruits a new crew for one last job. And if she fails, she will lose her only shot at rekindling the long-lost love of her life.

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REVIEW
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A delightful story, wonderfully told, this is a fast-paced novella that has you holding your breath in many places, sprinkled with just the right amount of humour. The setting fits so well with the story, and I love how the unique details and vivid descriptions are incorporated seamlessly into the story, cleverly avoiding boring info-dumps. The author's writing style is utterly hypnotising, and was one of the elements that had me captivated from the start. Every moment and scene is captured perfectly.

The relationships between the characters are simply precious, and they're weaved flawlessly into the story, giving us a few seconds to breathe before jumping back into the excitement of the plot. Each character has a distinct personality that will have you rooting for every single one of them in no time. All their conversations and interactions are so raw and sweet and heartwarming that I was actually swooning, and that's saying something, because I swoon practically... never. I had so much fun reading this, I was honestly sad that it ended, the kind of sad that has you smiling, you know? In short, if you haven't read this book yet, it's a big, fat, definite must.

— KiwiiiiBird

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Review first published in The Writer's Code Issue 2: Lunar. Find it at CoalitionMagazine!