ARC Review: Chapel At Ender's Ridge

Thank you to Beckett Krane for allowing me to read an ARC of their debut novel.

Beckett Krane brought the wild west back to life. Chapel At Enders Ridge is told from the point of view of Decker Belmont, a vampire who loathes being a vampire as he runs a saloon in the small town of Enders Ridge - a town blessed to hide the existence of supernatural creatures. Decker lives a fairly simple life - running his saloon with his wife - a relationship in name only to protect the two of them. Things being to change for the worse around the same time a young preacher arrives. 

In the best way possible, this book is a lot. The characters have in depth & interesting back stories. The town of Enders Ridge has a deep backstory that it almost feels like a character of it's own. There is religious trauma and self loathing.  I liked the writing style a lot and as this is a debut, I think Beckett Krane will grow and write an even better book for the sequel.

My main issue is that I wouldn't call this a romance. The book and the series being a romance is mentioned twice in the bit at the end of the synopsis but the romance is not the focus of the book at all. On one hand, I get it because it is a slow burn but to me, with a slow burn romance, the romance is still the focus. I feel like this is a western novel with a small helping of romance at the end. 

Synopsis:

Decker Belmont loathes being a vampire.

Leaving his bloody past behind him, Decker finds refuge in the quiet town of Ender’s Ridge where creatures like him thrive, and strikes up a tenuous balance between survival and sanity.

When a troubled preacher arrives to fix the chapel next door to the saloon, Decker discovers he’s not the only one struggling with his nature. Laurie Lane is eager to start his new life away from seminary, but the town’s history doesn’t favor preachers—neither does Decker, especially when change follows Laurie like a plague.

As the veil protecting Ender’s Ridge cracks, and tensions rise, Decker and Laurie are forced to find peace in who they are and what they mean to each other before Ender’s Ridge succumbs to a disaster of biblical proportions.

If you devour weird west intrigue with vampires, preachers, and curses, and are tempted by the turmoil of self-acceptance, pour a drink and sink your teeth into Chapel at Ender's Ridge, a cis M/M slowburn western romance.

Chapel at Ender's Ridge is the first book in a loosely connected western romance series set in the world of Ender's Ridge. Decker and Laurie's story is completed in Book One.

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