Rustler Mountain by Maisey Yates
Contemporary Romance
February 25, 2025 by Kensington

Review by Angela

I feel like contemporary romance hasn’t really been my thing lately, but I saw a Threads post for this release, and it mentioned things like “bad boy hero who likes the library” and “good girl librarian” and also hinted at sexy library loving and I realized that maybe I should jump back on the contemporary wagon again with this opposites attract, enemies to lovers, small town romance.

This is the story of a small Oregon town, Rustler Mountain, who’s history is rich with tales of the wild west, shootouts, outlaws and lawmen, and those stories continue to influence the current resident’s everyday lives. It all started with the Talbots and the Wilders, one a lawman and one an outlaw.

Millie Talbot is the town’s librarian and a direct descendant of the original sheriff of Rustler’s Mountain. She is quiet, steadfast in her beliefs, and perhaps a bit mousy. She needs help with her plans for Rustler Mountain’s Gold Rush Days and reestablishing the history museum, she just requires one more vote at the council meeting and she can secure the funding needed. The only outstanding vote she can think of is Austin Wilder, who is a member of a founding family. So, she heads up to his ranch, ready to ask for his assistance.

Austin Wilder is tired of his family being shunned for the illegal actions of his ancestors, but the Wilders are still considered the villains and outlaws of the town. After reading his ancestor’s, and namesake, journal he’s convinced that the town’s history isn’t completely correct and there is more to the story that has been passed down through the years. When Millie comes calling, asking for his vote, his first reaction is to say no, but the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes this might be his opportunity to get his hands on documents and artifacts that might prove his theory true.

First thing I want to say is that while I did have some nitpicky issues with redundancy of certain words and phrases, I read this book cover to cover last night. Not only was I drawn into the romance between Millie and Austin, but I was also quite taken with the history of the town itself and getting to know all of the characters, both main and secondary. Millie and Austin are enemies only in that her ancestor killed his in a shootout all those years ago. They don’t really know each other, but Millie is the town librarian, and Austin is an avid reader, and by his book choices Millie knows there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the town bad boy.

As they become partners in the planning of Gold Rush Days and reopening the town museum, they begin to unearth new information about town’s history and their ancestor’s legacies. Which threatens to crumble the foundation of both Millie and Austin’s ideas about their identities. There is tremendous growth in both of their character arcs as they work through figuring out who they are without the preconceived notions, and who they want to be going forward. There are a lot of themes that come up throughout this story- people being a product of their upbringing and environment, how hard it is to break free of other people’s boxes and labels, and that not all “good” people are actually good, some just want the appearance of being good. I really enjoyed reading the journal entries at the start of every chapter as Millie and Austin slowly begin to uncover the truth of the town’s history and their ancestor’s place in it.

I liked the romance and the spice level. There is definitely no insta-love, but there is insta-attraction and yes, I can report that there is a sexy library scene. I’m absolutely interested in reading more stories in this world. I think the set-up for the other Wilder sibling’s stories is well done. The next book in the series will feature Perry and Carson, which makes me happy, but I’m also kind of fascinated by Cassidy and Flynn. I feel like I have an idea of who their love interests will be in future books, but I could be wrong.

I quite enjoyed this romance and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Final grade- B

Content notes- FMC’s fiancé cheated on her in past, mentions of historical violence and prejudice, mentions of secondary character’s wife’s sudden death