Book Review: Cloaked by Rachel Kovaciny (A Western Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood)

I confess to having read this book a year or so ago and, to my shame, never got around to reviewing it. But I know Rachel is working feverishly on her next book in the series, a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses called Dancing and Doughnuts.

Anyway, here we go, jumping into the first review I've written in many, many months.

Cloaked is an endearing jump to a simpler time, when westerns ruled the world. Sadly, Hollywood doesn't really dish out decent westerns anymore, but Rachel has captured the look, the feel, and the characters that used to run rampant through the western towns of America, at least to hear Hollywood tell of it.

This book is precisely what it claims to be, a western retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. You have the innocent heroine, Mary Rose, who is blossoming into a lovely young woman, taking a journey to meet her grandmother living in Wyoming Territory, a woman she's never met.

While on her journey, Mary Rose encounters a man named Mr. Linden who knows her grandmother and is trusted by her, but Mary Rose simply can't shrug off the sensation that Mr. Linden gives her the creeps. Something isn't quite right about him, and she doesn't know why, at least, not yet.

I've always been partial to Little Red Riding Hood, ever since I watched the Faerie Tale Theatre version with Mary Steenburgen as the heroine. But I never really imagined one in a western setting until Rachel began publishing her retellings. There's no magic here and no actual wolf eating granny. Which makes the villain a little more terrifying because he's simply a man yielding to his wicked tendencies.

An entertaining read, Cloaked is diverting for fans of westerns, particularly those who don't mind a little Christian faith tossed into the mix. Light entertainment, the book is an enchanting experience that I now intend to hand off to my mother who is a western aficionado, both in literature and film!

If you want to follow Rachel on her writing adventure, try her FACEBOOK or her WEBSITE.