Review: Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance Book 1)

By: Peggy L Henderson

Available on: Amazon, Audible, and Barnes and Noble.

Overview:

Blurb: Amiee Donovan is a nurse and avid hiker that finds herself 200 years in the past, thanks to the magical interference of one Mr. Osborne. Thankfully, not long after a rather angry bear helps Amiee take a header off a small cliff in Old Yellowstone, Daniel and his brother happen upon her. And then Amiee’s adventure truly begins!

Trigger Warnings:

Ableism, Bastardization of Culture, Bastardization of Mythology, Blood, Death, Drug Use (Non-Consensual), Drug Use (Prescription), Food, Gun Violence, Infidelity, Murder, Non-Consensual Sex (attempted) Non-Consensual Touching, Off Screen Infidelity, Off Screen Sex, Plot Holes the Size of a Canadian Province, Racism, Sexism, Sexual Assault (mentioned), Sexual Situations, Systemic Racism, Time Period Accurate Racism, Toxic Masculinity, Unsafe Lifestyle, Unsafe Sex, Violence, Violent Imagery

Body Count: 3

The Specs:

  • Series
    • Series Name: Yellowstone Romance
    • Book Number: 1 of 13
  • Genre
    • Technical Genre: American Historical Romance, Time Travel Romance, Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction
    • Theo Genre: Time Travel Fiction, Fluffy Fiction
  • Page count: 263
  • POV: limited 3rd
  • Publication information:
    • Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
    • Language: English
    • ISBN-13: 9781468172355
    • ASIN: B006SS09A4

Other Fun Stuff:

To Read or Not To Read (Again):

Donated, but will be reading more of the series

Rating out of five: 3.5 out of 5

Representation, Morality, and Sexism Tests:

  • Bechdel–Wallace Test:
    • Purpose: to establish actual female characters that act independently of male characters in a story.
      • Do two female characters talk about something other than a male character?
    • Pass or Fail: Pass
  • DuVernay Test:
    • Purpose: to establish characters of color in a story.
      • Are there fully actualized characters of color?
    • Pass or Fail: Pass
  • Ellen Willis Test:
    • Purpose: to show balance in characters regardless of gender.
      • Would two related characters still work to carry the story if their genders were reversed?
    • Pass or Fail: Pass
  • Hays Code Test:
    • Purpose: to ignore outdated and queer-degrading/punishing standards that once were the standard for produced mass media.
    • Part One: outdated moral guidelines
      • Are there any outdated “moral content” rules gloriously kicked in the teeth by this story?
      • Are there people of color allowed a happy ending?
      • Is there an interracial couple?
      • Is there profanity used at all?
      • Is there one or more homicidal acts and/or murder?
    • Part Two: queer representation
      • Are there queer characters that get a happy ending?
      • Is there an illegal or otherwise distasteful age gap between characters, queer or otherwise?
      • Do the queer characters die tragically, violently, or at all?
    • Pass or Fail: Fail
  • Mako Mori Test:
    • Purpose: to assure that in the story there is at least one female character independent of a male character’s story.
      • Is there a female character?
      • Does she get her own arc?
      • Does it do anything other than serve to support a man’s story?
    • Pass or Fail: Pass
  • Sexy Lamp Test:
    • Purpose: to assure that a female character in the story serves as an active protagonist, not just a device to be used by the male main character.
      • Would the plot fall apart if the female character was replaced by a sexy looking lamp?
    • Post-It Note Caveat:
      • Would the character be able to be replaced by a Sexy Lamp with a sticky note on it for information conveyance?
    • Pass or Fail: Pass
  • Tauriel Test:
    • Purpose: to help support the existence of competent, independent female characters regardless of a romantic sub-plot.
      • Is there at least one woman in the story?
      • Is this woman competent in her chosen occupation and not immediately shown up by a newcomer male character?
      • If she has or develops a love interest during the story, either implied or explicitly stated, does she suddenly abandon her job and/or chosen path to support or pursue said love interest?
    • Pass or Fail: Pass
  • Vito Russo Test:
    • Purpose: to establish more characters that are on the SAGA (Sexuality And Gender Acceptance), QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) or LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic/Bigender, Transgender, Queer/Genderqueer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, Pansexual/Panromantic, and others not listed here) spectrum.
      • Is there a character on the queer spectrum?
      • Are they a character beyond their orientation?
      • Do they actually affect the plot?
      • Is the character something beyond a punchline?
    • Pass or Fail: Fail

Overall review:

Thoughts:

All right, it was a cute little story with some delicious eventually-resolves sexual tension. Was it genre-changing? No. But I read it for the joy of reading something light, a snack before bed.

Was it engaging?

Yes

Favorite Character:

Aimee

Review format updated 10 June 2019

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