Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Her Wyoming Man by Cheryl St. John
Historical Western Romance published by Harlequin Historical 21 Jun 11

A new Cheryl St. John Harlequin Historical tends to be a cause for celebration for me.  She is a marvelously consistent writer.  She’s delivered enough times (for me at any rate) that when I settle into one of her stories, I know my chances are very good that it’s going to give me exactly what I expect it to.  Her Wyoming Man is no exception to this rule, well at least until the ending.  But more on that in a moment.

Ella Reed was raised to be a courtesan. Her mother was a prostitute, and Ella was a beautiful child. So the madam of the brothel spent a lot of time and money investing into Ella. She speaks fluent French. She plays an exquisite piano. She knows how to make a man happy. And that’s her job, to make one man very happy. One man has exclusive rights to Ella because he’s very wealthy. So while the other girls in the brothel get knocked around by cowboys and outlaws, Ella is the hothouse flower. Until one night when her man tells her he’s moving back East with his family. There will be no one there to protect her anymore. But the man in question does give her money and the advice that she should run away, while she still has her looks. When one of the girls shows her a clipping from a newspaper about mail-order brides wanted in Wyoming? Ella sees it as her chance for something she’s never had – a normal life.

Nathan Lantry is a widower with three young children. He’s well enough off that he has hired help, so he’s not terribly hot to trot to remarry – except that he has political ambitions. Having a lovely wife on his arm certainly isn’t going to be a determent. He’s not interested in any of the potential brides that have just landed in Sweetwater, Wyoming until he sees Ella. She’s breathtakingly lovely.  Smart, accomplished, so what if she’s not much of a cook and isn’t terribly familiar with children. She’ll learn in time, plus – he has hired help. Before you can say Big Secret, these two are tying the knot. But what will happen when Ella’s past comes calling?

What I like about St. John’s westerns is that it is typically the heroine with the Big Secret. Some part of her past that serves as the conflict. The hero tends to be a nice guy who is blindsided when the truth comes to light. The courtesan angle is a good one and allows our heroine to still be somewhat innocent. She’s lived her whole life preparing for one goal – to be a kept woman. She’s traded that in for being a married woman – but her new husband gives her the freedom that she never had living in the brothel. Little things that other women might take for granted. Every day is a day of new discoveries.

The romance here is gentle and sweet, with enough sensual longing that it’s really fantastic when these two finally succumb. Granted, I found it slightly odd that Nathan doesn’t really question Ella’s lack of innocence in this area until after the Big Secret is revealed – but hey, he’s a guy falling love. You can overlook a lot when you’re falling in love. What I can’t quite overlook here is the ending.  It’s very sugary, and frankly, I find it unbelievable.  Maybe if Nathan and Ella live out in the middle of nowhere – but they’re in an established town.  A civilized, established town that earlier in the book had snubbed a “fallen woman,” and Ella witnessed said snubbing.

However, while the resolution to the conflict doesn’t work for me on the grand scale – the romance, in general, does.  I like Ella.  I like Nathan.  I like that they find each other and are together.  It doesn’t light my world on fire, but it is a very pleasant read, a gentle way to entertain myself while stuck on an airplane.  That’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Courtesan Ella Reed escapes dangerous city life to rural Wyoming and says “I do” to a marriage of convenience! But she may not live the life of a respectable woman for long if she can’t keep her past—and her heart—under lock and key.

For a self-made man with political aspirations, love is trivial in a paper marriage. Nathan Lantry needs a wife to secure his election and manage his rowdy little boys. Yet he can’t stop wanting more from his irresistible new bride. Then her secrets start to unravel….

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Western Winter Wedding Bells by Cheryl St. John, Jenna Kernan & Charlene Sands
Historical western romance anthology published by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 10

I love Harlequin Historical for their willingness to publish a variety of settings, but I gotta be honest – I’m mostly in it for the westerns.  And lucky me, they’ve had a tradition the last couple of years of publishing a western anthology just in time for the holidays.  Three Christmas-themed westerns in one book?  Merry Christmas to Wendy!

Christmas in Red Willow by Cheryl St. John

I think I might have mentioned a time or two (or three….) that Cheryl St. John is one of my very favorite authors.  So it was with some disappointment that I was…well…disappointed in this story.  Chloe Hanley’s grandfather was the town preacher, and after he passed, the beautiful church fell into disrepair.  Now the town council wants to tear it down and build a hotel in its place!  However, if she gets the place spruced up in time for Christmas services, they’ll abandon the idea.  For help she turns to carpenter Owen Reardon – the brother of the man leading the charge to tear down the church.

This is a nice, inspirational story with a strong Christmas message that didn’t dissolve into preachiness.  Chloe is a determined young lady and Owen continues the fine tradition of wonderful St. John Beta heroes.  However, I couldn’t get past the lack of backstory.  Red Willow is a close-knit town, with many neighborly, god-fearing residents.  When Chloe puts out the call for help, a lot of people answer.  Which begs the questions – why was the church in such disrepair in the first place?  Why was it allowed to deteriorate?  What led the members of the congregation (still meeting, mind you, even without a preacher!) to move services to the schoolhouse?  Why?  It’s not having those answers that annoyed me and keeps me from getting behind this story wholeheartedly.

Grade: C

The Sheriff’s Housekeeper Bride by Jenna Kernan

Eliza Flannery boards the train without a ticket because she’s wanted for a crime she didn’t commit.  When it’s discovered she has no ticket, she’s on the run again – but this time it’s straight into the arms of Trent Foerster.  Before you can say Big Misunderstanding, he’s thinking she’s the new housekeeper he’s hired and she’s happily going along with the charade if only to save her skin.  However, she’s really in the soup now.  Trent not only as a young daughter he’s raising on his own, he’s also a former Texas Ranger!  Oh, not to mention that Eliza can’t cook with a darn.

These types of plots tend to annoy in full-length novels, but are easier for me to swallow in short stories.  That said, Eliza still gets nailed (and not in a good way) for failing to spill the beans to Trent, even though she has oodles of time to do so.  Naturally he doesn’t take kindly to her deception since he was done wrong by his baby’s mama (well, of course, he was!).  Quibbles aside, though, Eliza’s backstory, coupled with Trent’s daughter (who plucked at my heart-strings, I’ll admit it!) and the sense of doom surrounding the Big Mis kept me eagerly flipping the pages.  I wasn’t wow’ed, but I was hooked.

Grade: B-

Wearing the Rancher’s Ring by Charlene Sands

Sands tends to be hit or miss for me, but this story mostly works.  Cooper Garnett is tracking the man who murdered his family when he’s robbed and shot in the back on widow Rachel Bodine’s land.  She nurses him back to health, and he kick-starts her libido.  But what will happen when she learns the man she’s falling for has vengeance in his heart?

This is the most emotional story in the bunch.  I love that both Cooper and Rachel loved their dead spouses, and I adore the fact that neither wallowed in guilt over their mutual attraction.  The conflict mostly revolves around Cooper’s plans and Rachel’s disapproval of them.  That said, with vengeance such a focal theme in the story, it’s disappointing that it’s largely wrapped up “off page.”  I’ll also admit that it did give me pause that Cooper’s wife and son had only been dead for six months.  However, this a good, solid story with good, solid western themes, which mostly worked for me.

Grade: B-

Anthologies can be tricky business, but this one largely works.  I wasn’t blown away by any of these entries, but they did succeed in giving me that warm, fuzzy holiday feeling dressed up with some western flavor.  If you’re looking for some heartwarming, and quick, holiday stories to squeeze in around the craziness of your reality?  This collection may fit the bill.

Overall Grade: B-

Summary:

Small town Christmas—Three big proposals!

Christmas in Red Willow by Cheryl St. John
Chloe Hanley must save the town church. But only if she can convince reclusive carpenter Owen Reardon to help repair the broken heart of the community and open his own up again— in time for Christmas!

The Sheriff’s Housekeeper Bride by Jenna Kernan
Running from her past and a crime she didn’t commit, Eliza Flannery bumps into her future—all rugged six-foot sheriff of him! Single father Trent Foerster mistakes her for his housekeeper, but there’s no mistaking his desire for a mistletoe kiss from this mysterious miss….

Wearing the Rancher’s Ring by Charlene Sands
Cooper Garnett is shot and left for dead near Double J Ranch when widow Rachel Bodine comes to his aid. Could his unexpected arrival be the best Christmas gift ever— a second-chance family for Rachel and her little son?

Read an excerpt (St. John story only)

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Wedding Night With The Ranger by Lauri Robinson
Historical western romance short story ebook  released by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Feb 2010

I’ve been known to whine about the fact that the historical western sub genre is flourishing in the Christian/Inspirational market, while in secular corners it’s still an endangered species.  What was it that struck me most about Lauri Robinson’s short story, the first western to be published by Harlequin Historical Undone?  How “un-inspirational” it was.  I mean, hello?  A man of the cloth is the villain!

Former Texas Ranger, now rancher, Colt Severson, has just gotten himself married to Annalee Sapp, a young lady he’s been half in love with for the past three years.  He never came calling because of the belief that he’s not “good enough” for the likes of her.  Her entire life seems to be wrapped up in helping the local townspeople, along with the pious reverend.  Then, thanks to her scheming Daddy, Colt gets his fondest wish granted.  He and Annalee marry, and wanting to give her some time to adjust to the idea, he heads off to the local saloon for a drink.  He was prepared for her not being all that happy with this turn of events, but he sure as heck didn’t think she’d barge into the saloon brandishing a shotgun!

Annalee has been desperately in love with Colt for the past three years.  However, she is trapped.  Trapped under the thumb of the pious reverend, and trapped in the knowledge that she doesn’t have a chance in Hell of catching the eye of Dodge City’s most eligible bachelor.  Now her Daddy has interfered and Colt is forced to marry her!  Yes, it’s what she’s always wanted, but she is sick with the knowledge that Colt only married her because he “had to.”

What follows is a classic Big Misunderstanding.  Both Annalee and Colt are crazy for each other, but both of them think they forced the other one into marriage.  This part of the conflict is actually wrapped up fairly quickly, and it’s nice that this was a short story, because this aspect isn’t dragged out ad nauseam.

On the other hand, the short story format gives the rest of this tale a half-finished feel.  Annalee’s father actually plays a healthy role in this story – entirely off-page.  We never meet the man!  Then there is the local reverend, who serves as the villain.  He has an obligatory appearance, but he’s all bark, with no bite.  It gives credence to this reader’s theory that this may have started out as a longer novella, and was chopped down to fit the word count of the Undone line.

I was most surprised by the tone of the story, which gives us a reverend villain, and a heroine who is desperate to escape the dull existence of endless charity work.  A heroine who hates charity work!  Granted, this makes her seem a tinch selfish, but dang, it was kind of refreshing to read about a romance heroine who wants her own life, and not be at the constant beck-and-call of others.

This is a quick, decent read, that kept me entertained on my lunch break.  The prose definitely tends to run purple during the love scenes, and while the short format hindered the role of the heroine’s father and villain, there was enough here to keep me turning the pages.  It didn’t light my world on fire, but there was enough memorable here for me to consider reading more Lauri Robinson in the future.

Grade: C+

Summary:

Dodge City, Kansas. 1880.

Texas Ranger-turned-rancher Colt Severson received plenty of advice on how to handle his wife on their wedding night—but not on what to do if she pointed a shotgun at him!

For Annalee Sapp, becoming Colt’s bride was both a nightmare and a dream come true. The handsome rancher was the perfect husband, if only he hadn’t been tricked into marrying her! He’d be stunned to learn of all the scandalous thoughts she had about him….. But once their wedding night arrives, it’s only a matter of time before their passion explodes…and the truth about their impulsive marriage is revealed!

No excerpt found.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Her Colorado Man by Cheryl St. John
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Dec 2009

Cheryl St. John is, hands down, my number one comfort author.  Her books are the equivalent of a cold winter night, snow falling outside, wrapped in a blanket, cuddled up on the sofa, drinking a mug of hot cocoa.  There is just something about her stories that rich deep down and strike an emotional cord in me.  Her Colorado Man continues that tradition, although I will admit it took me some time to wrap my mind around the jaw-dropping conflict.

When Mariah was 18-years-old she found herself pregnant.  The only soul she told was her grandfather, who promptly suggested she go to Chicago to attend “school.”  She lived there for a year, and when she returned home with young John James, she discovered grandfather, as a way to protect her and his new grandson, had concocted a make-believe husband.  He had a friend, Otto, working as a postmaster in Alaska, and asked him to come up with a name.  In return, Otto would write the occasional letter “home” to keep up appearances.  It’s an elaborate lie, but one Mariah agrees to.  The truth isn’t an option, so she agrees to become Mrs. Wesley Burrows.

Unknown to them is that there really is a Wesley Burrows.  He went to Alaska looking for gold, but quickly learned that delivering mail was a more reliable way to make money.  After an accident leaves him confined to bed, his backlog of personal mail is delivered to him.  Otto is no longer around to intercept them, so among his mail are letters from young John James.  Reading those letters, from a young boy who desperately needs a father, causes something to break for Wes.  He gets better and writes a letter to Mariah’s grandfather.  He’s coming to Colorado to be the father that John James wants and needs.

As one can imagine, this news is a bit upsetting to Mariah.  She had no idea Wesley Burrows was “real,” and the idea of welcoming a stranger into her life is unacceptable.  Yes, using his name was wrong, but what does he want?  What are his motives?  She doesn’t know this guy from Adam, how can she possibly trust him?  Why is he really doing this?

That’s the rub, of course – and it’s easy for the reader to understand how Mariah feels, because Wes’ decision is pretty fantastical.  Not just any man would drop his whole life to become a father just because a boy needs one.  However the author makes it work by explaining more about Wes.  What his life has been like, the accident, and how those letters from John James gave him so much comfort that he wanted to comfort the boy in return.  Admittedly he doesn’t think this plan all the way through.  He thinks, “I can be this boy’s father.” He doesn’t think, “Um, but what about the boy’s mother?” That’s ultimately what gets sorted out over the course of the story.

How willing the reader is to buy into this conflict will determine how well the book will work for them.  It worked fairly well for me because St. John sells it so well.  It also worked thanks to how fresh and lively this setting felt to me.  This is no run of the mill western. Mariah’s family is a large, lively, close-knit German clan that happens to run their own brewery.  Mariah works there, as does almost every single family member.  The brewery atmosphere, the trip to Denver the family takes for business, made this story feel so fresh and different compared to some of the other historical romances I’ve read this year.

At the end of the day, this story delivers exactly what I’ve come to expect from a Cheryl St. John book.  Good, hard-working characters who aren’t prone to hysterics, compelling conflict, and a tenderness that runs through the romance.  The plot and conflict of this story are a bit of a stretch at times, but it’s to the author’s credit that even this cynical skeptic ended up swallowing the idea.  I finished the final page thinking to myself, “Sure, that could have happened.  Hey, maybe it did happen?  And ::sigh::, what a nice story.”

Grade: B

Summary:

When eighteen-year-old Mariah found herself pregnant and unmarried in her small Colorado town, she disappeared. One year later, she returned with a baby—though minus the “husband” who had conveniently ventured off to Alaska’s gold fields to seek his fortune….

But now, with handsome adventurer Wes Burrows turning up and claiming to be the husband she had invented, Mariah’s lies become flesh and blood—and her wildest dreams a reality!

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Cowboy Christmas by Carol Finch, Elizabeth Lane & Pam Crooks
Historical romance anthology released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 09

Holiday time means two things.  1) Harlequin starts churning out the Christmas-themed books and 2) Wendy’s wallet starts quietly sobbing.  It doesn’t help matters that Harlequin has a habit of offering up a western historical anthology.  So I started Cowboy Christmas with some anticipation, settling in for what I hoped would be a solid, heartwarming collection.  Unfortunately, none of the stories inspired more than just an “Meh, it’s OK” reaction from me.

A Husband For Christmas by Carol Finch

Victoria “Tori” Thurston enjoys her life in a tiny west Texas town where she runs her own bakery.  Her parents are major movers in Fort Worth society, which means they have the perfect potential husband picked out for her.  Naturally Tori isn’t overeager to abandon her business to wed some stuffed shirt, so she tells her parents it’s too late, she’s already married to local marshal, Logan Daniels.  However now she’s really in the soup.  Her parents expect her home for Christmas and they want to meet this mysterious husband.  Now all she has to do is convince Logan to play her husband for a quick holiday visit home.  Surely that won’t be too difficult.

This is the humorous story in the anthology, and Finch does a nice job keeping the proceedings fairly light and fluffy.  Unfortunately she skims over a lot of the sticker details in order to achieve that goal.  Tori has always played second fiddle to her gorgeous older sister.  She has a good relationship with The Chosen One, but her parents, while not mean-spirited, are offhandedly neglectful of the more enterprising Tori.  None of this family baggage is really addressed, other than for Tori to realize that her sister’s life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I also was disappointed there wasn’t more than a passing western flavor to this tale.  Honestly the author could have plucked these characters up and dropped them anywhere else in time or place and the story wouldn’t have changed all that much.

Grade = C







The Homecoming by Elizabeth Lane

Clay McAllister has spent the last three years in prison because of his reckless, stupid younger brother.  All he wants is to return to his ranch, his wife Elise and their young son.  When he arrives though, he discovers the ranch in disrepair and Elise less than happy to see him.  Why had Buck never returned home, delivering the money they made on their last cattle drive together like Clay had begged him to?

I love holiday stories that center around redemption and forgiveness.  However, this one hinges on one of the more insulting plot devices around – The Character Who Won’t Read Letters That Explain Everything.  Yep, you guessed it.  Clay wrote his wife faithfully from prison and she marked them all Return To Sender without reading them.  So naturally while she thinks she knows what happened, she really doesn’t.  Honestly, who the hell does this?  It makes absolutely no sense.  Also, while there is more than enough conflict to keep this story chugging along, there’s really too much conflict to keep this story chugging along.  If ever a story was begging for a full-length treatment, this one is it.

Grade = C







The Cattleman’s Christmas Bride by Pam Crooks

Allethaire “Allie” Gibson is returning to Montana in disgrace.  She’s been accused of embezzling money from a fundraiser she was spearheading back in Minneapolis, and she needs to see her father in Montana to explain her innocence.  That’s when the train is held up by outlaws and they find a whole wad of cash in her trunk!  But she’s innocent!  Before the authorities on the train can take her in for questioning, she’s saved by local rancher,Mikolas “Mick” Vasco who was nearby when he heard the train stop in the middle of the tracks.  He spirits Allie away, determined to help her clear her name.  There’s one small wrinkle though – a few years back Mick was one of the men who kidnapped Allie for ransom!

This is a sequel of sorts to the author’s previous book, The Cattleman’s Unsuitable Wife.  If you haven’t read that story, this one is a bit rocky.  Mostly because the majority of the conflict is a holdover from that book.  Once the author catches the reader up to speed, it sails along at a smoother clip, but too much is glossed over.  Namely the heroine’s compulsion for drinking brandy in secret and the small matter of the stolen money, which is apparently going to be fodder for a future book.  Which ultimately makes this story nothing but a placeholder between books.  If you’re a fan, you’ll likely want to read this one.  Otherwise, there’s not a whole lot here for newcomers.

Grade = C

All in all these stories never rated above OK for me.  This anthology was a quick pleasant read, but it didn’t set my world on fire.  If you’re hooked on Crooks’ series, this one is probably worth a look.  Otherwise, while it’s a decent diversion, it didn’t have a whole lot of staying power.

Overall Grade: C

Summary:

Twelve days of Christmas—three heartwarming romances!

A Husband for Christmas by Carol Finch

To reassure her overprotective parents, Victoria Thurston must convince the town marshal to be her “holiday husband.” But the magical, festive air—and Tori’s luminous green eyes—make it very difficult for Logan Daniels to keep to their marriage in name only!

The Homecoming by Elizabeth Lane

Brooding rancher Clay McAllister paid his reckless brother’s dues in a tough Kansas jail. Now Clay must win back his beautiful wife, Elise. And, after three years apart, some yuletide passion is just what Clay and Elise need to reignite the fire that still smolders between them….

The Cattleman’s Christmas Bride by Pam Crooks

With her reputation cruelly slandered, Allethaire Gibson is forced to flee to the snowy Montana mountains. There the dazzling socialite unexpectedly finds a Christmas romance with a man who has fought for respect just as she has—rugged cattleman Mikolas Vasco!

Read an excerpt – Finch Story, Lane Story, no excerpt found for Crooks story

Other books in this series:

Sybil’s review of Never Love a Lawman by Jo Goodman
Historical Western Romance from Zebra 1 Sep 09

I often speak of my love of historical western romance, almost as much as I talk about how much I adore Jo Goodman’s books.  So when I hear the title of her next book was Never Love a Lawman – I squuee’ed.  Could she be really be writing a western?  Turns out that, yes, Jo Goodman was taking us to Reidsville, Colorado in September 1882.  Two of my favorite things were about to come together again, so of course, then I started to worry…

I tend to fall into that trap, where you want something so much, you expect the book to be great, grand and wonderful – it is almost unfair to the author. Who can live up to that? And I find I get annoyed at little things I wouldn’t normally because this is  “WONDERFUL AUTHOR”.

So when the ARC arrived for Never Love a Lawman, I rushed to read it and then stopped and worried. I admit it. Totally silly because at the end of the day, it is just a book and if I don’t like it ::shrug::. Jo Goodman isn’t going to be upset over it. Readers will still love it or hate it. But I was worried for me… I am selfish like that. Turns out I was worried over nothing…

Never Love a Lawman opens in complete confusion, the reader really doesn’t know what is going on or why, and this doesn’t become clear until later in the book.  It is handled wonderfully, if not frustratingly, and I might have been okay with that because I have faith in the author.  All you know is something is wrong, she has to leave, doesn’t want to go and someone in the bed doesn’t want her to go but knows she must.

We pick up with Rachel Bailey having been a member of the Reidsville community for about a year; she is a seamstress and keeps to herself.  I love her character.  And once again we are seeing her through someone else’s eyes.

This time it is the hero, Wyatt, who is keeping watch.  He is another one of Jo Goodman’s complex hero’s and is a mix of alpha, beta and a dash of whiskey to taste.  As sheriff he keeps a pretty close eye on the town, much closer than Miss Bailey gives him credit for and would often like.  The fact that he did it from the balcony of the town’s only whorehouse might have something to do with her drawing some of her conclusions as well.  It soon comes to play that there was rhyme and reason for Miss Baily to be ‘directed’ to Reidsville, Colorado.  And Wyatt turns out to be much more than Rachel first took him to be.

The pacing could be a bit slow for some readers, so do keep that in mind and do read at least two or three chapters before tossing this one aside. Because going in blind I would have tossed it with the prologue – well if it wasn’t a western and wasn’t Goodman.  This isn’t my favorite Goodman but would be my favorite American historical of her I have read, so far .

Jo Goodman is not a ‘fast read’ but a book to relax and enjoy.  She is a true wordsmith who is a pleasure to read and creates characters that are a joy to spend time with, along with a town that comes alive and becomes a character in and of itself.  It was a delight to learn her next book will take place in the same town because when I closed the book, I reread it, because I wasn’t ready to let go.

Grade: A

Summary:

Rachel Bailey may seem like just a beautiful newcomer to most of Reidsville, Colorado, but Sheriff Wyatt Cooper knows she’s much more. Through a twist of fate, Rachel is the inheritor of a very valuable commodity: control of the railway that keeps the isolated mining town connected to the world. That is, she will be, if she agrees to the surprising stipulation in her benefactor’s will-that she marry Wyatt.

Rachel has no choice: refusing the marriage could put all of Reidsville in the hands of an outsider, and not just any outsider but the cruel tyrant she has come here to escape. Yet living with Wyatt will be her greatest challenge. For he has a tempting way about him that makes Rachel forget theirs is a marriage in name only- until her frightening past shows up to remind them exactly how much they have at stake…

Read an excerpt here.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Texas Wedding For Their Baby’s Sake by Kathryn Albright
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Sep 09

As readers, oftentimes when we read a book we love, we immediately hope for a sequel.  Sometimes those sequels are just as good, and sometimes it’s a case of be careful what you wish for.  I loved the first book in this series, The Rebel And The Lady, and gave it a glowing review last year.  I really and truly adored it.  So naturally, I was looking forward to this follow-up romance, featuring the wayward Brandon Dumont, who left behind a sweetheart in South Carolina to join the fight for Texas’ independence.  I wish I could say this story worked just as well for me, and I loved it just as much.  Sadly, I cannot.

 Five months ago Brandon Dumont arrived in Texas to join the fight for independence.  He ended up getting captured and was ultimately rescued from a Mexican prison camp by his older brother, Jake.  A doctor, Santa Anna only kept him alive to tend to the hundreds of wounded Mexican troops.  He walked away from the ordeal bitter, scarred, with a bum leg, and a serious case of post-traumatic stress.  Brandon is completely out of sorts, treading water, with no plans for his future.  The only thing on his agenda is the impending arrival of Franklin, the family hired hand from Charleston, who is making the trip for Jake’s upcoming wedding to his fiancee’, Victoria.  Imagine their surprise when Franklin arrives with the lovely Miss Caroline Benet in tow.

Caroline and Brandon were sweethearts that were planning to marry.  However, a failure to communicate, and a kiss shared between Caroline and Jake (oopsie!) sent Brandon running off to Texas.  Since he hasn’t returned to Charleston, she decides to take matters into her own hands and go to Texas to find him.  See, the poor gal is pregnant with his baby, and she’s determined to let him know he’s going to be a daddy.  It does come as a shock to her though that the Brandon she finds in Texas is completely different from the Brandon she fell in love with in Charleston.

This story requires an extreme amount of patience on the part of the reader, and it was only my love for the first book that had me persevering through to the grand finale.  Brandon and Caroline are “torn apart” because they’re both two stupid kids who won’t talk to each other.  My profuse apologies to all the Regency romance couples I maligned over the years for “not talking to each other.”  Turns out romantic couples from the American South also suffer from the affliction.

When Brandon isn’t having a pity party for himself, he’s pushing Caroline away for “her own good.”  No, they can’t be together.  He’s too damaged.  He’s no good.  Besides that, she done him wrong.  Caroline starts out equally as shaky: a prim Southern belle who’s sole purpose in life is to look pretty, smile and do needlepoint.  She’s a bit of a stuck-up snob once she lands in Texas, simply horrified that Brandon would want to live like this rather than returning to South Carolina.  But do you think she tells him about the baby right away?  Of course not!  That revelation doesn’t come out until after they fall into each others’ arms again and Jake finally notices that she’s got a baby bump.

Adding to my annoyance was the fact that Jake, the wonderful hero from The Rebel And The Lady, who I adored, was an insufferable jackass for about three-quarters of this book.

Still, I kept reading – and I was rewarded for it, because the story did get better for me.  Brandon keeps up his noble, sending-away-the-woman-I-love-for-her-own-good nonsense pretty much until the bitter end – but Jake stops being an ass and glory be, Caroline grows up.  The girl reaches deep down and finds her spine.  She starts giving it to Brandon with both barrels and when she actually calls him a coward (to his face!) I wanted to reach through the pages and kiss the girl.  Truly.

It took some patience on my part, but I found the ending of this story ultimately rewarding.  Unfortunately I had to slog through the first half of this novel to get to that point, and there really wasn’t a whole lot I liked there.  In the end, I found it a disappointing follow-up to one of my favorite historicals from last year.  Bummer.

Grade: C-

Summary:

Brandon Dumont is not the man he was. Embittered by war, he’s now a rugged survivor, a broken hero. Certain he’s not fit for society, he finds his lonely self-imposed exile shattered by the arrival of the woman he once bedded and left behind.

Since her fiancé went to war, social butterfly Caroline Benét has had to grow up fast. She’s held up a stagecoach at gunpoint and left the safety of Charleston for wild Texas territory—all to find a man she no longer knows…for the sake of their unborn child….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Five years later…

it is like crossing the great divide you are AWED and AMAZED you made it to the otherside

Or we can say it is in honor of KristieJ’s nifty guest post up at Sue Grimshaw’s TrueRomance Blog.

Regardless… Cheryl St.John is just happy she can stop asking me where the winners are…

Petticoats and Pistols give-away these winners were picked from US commenters on any ‘Great Western Drive’ post on Wendy’s, Kristie’s or TGTBTU. Since I took so amazingly long to do this I will be sending emails today as well, err if I can find an email for the winner that is…

Emily is the winner of

HIS SUBSTITUTE BRIDE by Elizabeth Lane

Mandy is the winner of

CATTLEMAN’S UNSUITABLE WIFE by Pam Crooks

Lusty Reader is the winner of

TOUCHED BY LOVE by Tracy Garrett

Missy is the winner of

COWBOY CHRISTMAS by Mary Connealy

Cecile is the winner of

TAMING THE TEXAN by Charlene Sands

Mageela is the winner of

IN A MOTHER’S ARMS by Victoria Bylin

Leslie is the winner of

SOARING EAGLE’S EMBRACE by Karen Kay

Lori is the winner of
MOUNTAIN WILD by Stacey Kayne

AztecLady is the winner of

NOTORIOUS by Patricia Potter

Barbara is the winner of

HER MONTANA MAN by Cheryl St.John

Patricia Barraclough is the winner of

MARRYING MINDA by Tanya Hansen

Please email your address to redwyne @ gmail dot com and I will send it to the author.  That way I know it has been rec’ed.

I have Tucker’s Claim and will announce that winner today as well but first sleep… and then maybe I will post the other two books I have to give away. It could happen.

Audrey And The Maverick is Elaine Levine follow up her debut novel Rachel and the Hired Gun.

I enjoyed the first book, which I wasn’t too sure I would because ‘ranch wars’ are often not a good read for me.

But I found this one surprisingly entertaining. I loved the heroine. Rachel is fab and unlike Kristie J, (read her review here) I didn’t have issue with not getting a description of what the hero/heroine looked like. In fact I didn’t notice. You can read an excerpt for Rachel and the Hired Gun here.

Audrey and The Maverick

comes out February 2010

In Elaine Levine’s stunning novel of the American West, a proud rancher and a determined young woman are drawn together in the lawless town of Defiance.

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Virginia financier Julian McCaid has put his troubled past behind him. His plans for the future don’t include Audrey Sheridan, the extraordinary frontier woman he met just once. But it’s because of her that he’s come to the Dakota Territory to investigate problems at his ranch. And it’s all the more surprising when he discovers she isn’t the innocent he believed. Now nothing but her complete surrender will purge her from his soul.

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If it weren’t for the children she cares for in her makeshift orphanage, Audrey would have left Defiance long ago. Now the sheriff is blackmailing her to distract the man who might derail his corrupt schemes—a man who can offer Audrey not just protection, but a passion bold enough to make them claim their place in this harsh and beautiful land…

I can’t find an excerpt. And this is shallow but I ADORE the cover.

Really don’t you agree?

The trilogy ends with Leah and the Avenger

A vigilante hired to clean up the corrupt and rapidly dying town of Defiance, Jace Gage never expected to fall for a violence-hating, violet-eyed tomboy, Leah Morgan.

Limecello’s review of Heartless by Diana Palmer
Contemporary western romance released by HQN Books 26 May 09

I was pleasantly surprised by Diana Palmer’s newest book. If you’re new here… Hi, my name is Limcello, and I read Ms. Palmer’s books. If you’re a regular at the pond, you know I’m addicted to the crack. There’s something about Ms. Palmer’s books that keep me coming back for more. Even though, like most people say, her books are pretty much the same, and there’s something about her characters that make you want to smack them. But the rest of it – well… every so often, a story is magic. And I feel that it hit here, with Heartless.

Gracie is your typical Diana Palmer heroine, but I felt that she was a bit more self-actualized. Yes, she has a tragic past (honestly, check out some of my other Diana Palmer reviews [here] for context if you haven’t read her before). Gracie’s had a lot to deal with – and it’s rather incredible. Almost ludicrous, but you get over it. It’s so twisted, yet so much a part of who she is.

Nevertheless, Gracie does get to assert her independence, and I loved that. She’s a sweet girl who is spunky, and definitely more optimistic than I could ever be. Yes, Gracie’s ridiculously naïve – unbelievably so-  but her saving grace is that she’s not too stupid to live. This is a key factor in what saves Diana Palmer books for me. While Gracie is clueless as to any number of things, including interpersonal relationships, and sex, she’s not about to run into the middle of a gunfight on some misguided notion of asserting herself.

Jason is your quintessential old school romance hero. He’s rich, a bit rough around the edges, totally emotionally stupid, makes a lot of mistakes, and is madly – madly- in love with the heroine. He just doesn’t have the social skills or aptitude to tell her. Instead, Jason suffers from what he believes to be unrequited love for a number of years, and then lashes out. It’d be comical, if it wasn’t so sad. Jason is a good guy, and seems to get swept along for much of the book. Although Jason is an ass for much of the novel, the fact that he comes to his senses- and is generally abused by almost all the other characters, make forgiving him acceptable.

I really liked that Ms. Palmer allowed more of the story to progress. I felt that Gracie was a much more developed heroine then normal, and someone who grew throughout the course of the book. Ms. Palmer manages to pack in an extraordinary amount of plot in a relatively short book. I actually wish it was longer, and some of the side stories more developed. I definitely was never bored at any point while reading Heartless.

Yes, this book, and Ms. Palmer’s books in general are formulaic, but it’s what is within the plot, the characters, and their stories – that indescribable, intangible something that keeps me coming back for more. I feel for the characters. I become emotionally invested, and involved. I remember many of their names and experiences – even more than a number of other books, even with books I may have liked better.

I have to say… I did fervently hope that more would come of General Machado and Gracie. Ms. Palmer’s heroines are too often the beaten down, defeated woman, while the hero is someone women absolutely go mad over. I’ve also mentioned before, that Ms. Palmer appeals to me because she makes her heroes suffer what I consider to be an adequate and satisfying amount. (Generally they go through soul searing agony and the threat of absolute loss – yet without becoming annoying or excessive.)

What did bother me, because I knew Heartless was connected to other books (like 50 of them) – that I had some trouble remembering specifics about the previous book[s]. Or at least, what I felt would be relevant. Also, at this point I believe I’ve read nearly 100 of Ms. Palmers books, if not more, and it’s incredibly difficult to keep them all organized and distinct in my head. Especially since the vast majority of them are linked. Although, I will give Ms. Palmer props for the fact that each of her books are stand alone. You get a better and deeper sense of characterizations and community, or perhaps a few inside jokes if you’ve read the others, but each one can be read by itself. And that is incredibly impressive. It’s definitely one aspect of the “old school writing” that I wish would be revived.

I don’t know if I let that affect my opinion – and I generally try not to, but a number of people suggest approaching a Diana Palmer book differently than you would other books. While I generally agree, I will say I don’t think Heartless necessarily needs that caveat. Ms. Palmer’s books have been reprinted countless of times, so a new reader might pick up a book originally published in the 1970s, read it today, and be furious. Gracie and Jason’s story may require some suspended belief for the plot, but the characterizations (aside from Gracie’s ignorance about sex), and the way their relationship finally comes about is believable, and enjoyable.

If you’re considering a Diana Palmer book, I suggest this one, whether you’re a fan, or a new Diana Palmer reader.

Grade: B-

Summary:
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As a teenager, Gracie worshiped her stepbrother, Jason, a strong, silent young cowboy who left home early to seek his fortune. Though Gracie hadn’t seen him in years, when her mother passed away, Jason ensured that Gracie would be cared for. Now the wealthy owner of Comanche Wells ranch, Jason has finally come back home, and discovered that the little girl he knew is all grown up.
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When a moment of unbridled passion results in a kiss, Jason realizes that he’s falling for Gracie. But Gracie harbors a shameful secret that makes her deeply afraid to love.
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Read an excerpt here.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Cowboy Comes Back by Jeannie Watt
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 14 July 2009

When someone asks me why I like to read category romance I tell them it’s because of the strong focus on the romance. When the author is working with shorter word counts, they don’t have the time or space to delve into multiple character story arcs and secondary plot threads. Every single word counts, and those words have to be used towards building the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine. All that being said, one of the reasons I enjoy the Harlequin SuperRomance line is that it is one of the longer category romance lines. Authors can introduce some secondary characters and maybe a secondary plot thread. Unfortunately when it came to Cowboy Comes Back, I felt the author tried to juggle one too many balls and the romance ended up suffering.

Kade Danning and Libby Hale were childhood sweethearts. They had a lot in common – Kade living with an abusive single father and Libby with two parents more concerned with slowly drinking themselves to death than with her. They were young and in love. Until Libby told Kade that she didn’t think she was ready to get married. He translated this into rejection (because he’s a moron) and then proceeded to knock up the next available woman that came along. He married his first wife, they had a daughter, he made a name for himself on the rodeo circuit. Then it all went to hell when he found out his financial man swindled him, the IRS came calling, his wife divorced him, and Kade fell into the nearest bottle.

Kade’s come crawling back home now that his asshole Daddy is dead. He has settled his debt with the IRS, but his rodeo career is finished and he needs money to move closer to his ex-wife and daughter. He’s home only long enough to fix up the family ranch and sell it. Then he’s out of there. Which frankly, suits Libby just fine. Kade’s betrayal still stings and she’s nursing a serious grudge. It doesn’t help matters that Kade’s daughter has also been in town visiting her father. So not only does Libby have to see Kade’s handsome face, she also gets to be smacked up side the head with the evidence of his infidelity.

The conflict between Kade and Lily is pretty serious stuff. It’s certainly serious enough to sustain the entire length of a Harlequin SuperRomance novel, especially since Lily had every right to 1) skin Kade alive and 2) slice off his Mr. Happy. Instead, the author keeps the romance dangling on the line for entirely too long. Lily and Kade don’t really spend much time together, on the same page, until almost half way through the story. Instead the author introduces a mountain of secondary conflict – such as Lily’s evil bitch of a boss, Kade’s job search, a wealthy man who is unhappy about a herd of wild mustangs grazing on his land, and Kade’s horse, Blue, who he let loose in the wild after he left home. All of it is marginally interesting, and certainly the stuff about the mustangs and ranching add a lot local color to the setting of the story…..but none of it was the romance. And that’s why the reader is there. For the romance!

Because so much time is used to set up other aspects of the plot, I never really got on board with the happily ever after. This is probably because I thought Lily had every right to be majorly pissed off, and towards the end the author turns it around so she has to take some of the blame for their initial break-up all those years ago. Look, Lily had cold feet. She was unsure of herself. Kade was the one who couldn’t keep Mr. Happy in his Wrangler jeans. While certainly most break-ups take two people, and it’s usually not just one person’s fault – I didn’t see that here. Frankly, Kade’s lucky Lily didn’t gut him with a steak knife.

All this being said, this is a well-written story, and the characters were all interesting people that I could get behind. I just felt the pacing was off, and the time spent on other aspects of the plot made for a weaker romantic storyline. Which isn’t necessarily good in any kind of romance novel, but it’s really detrimental in a category length one.

Grade: C+

Summary:
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Now that his rodeo career is over, Kade Danning has nowhere else to crawl but back home. He wishes he could just keep his head down, fix up his father’s abandoned ranch and then sell it so he can afford to spend more time with his daughter. Move back, then move on—quickly. Unfortunately, after ten long years he can’t avoid Libby Hale.
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Kade has loved Libby all his life and he’d give his championship titles never to have hurt her. But he did. And convincing her to forgive him is the hardest challenge he’s ever faced—in or out of the arena.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Sierra Bride by Jenna Kernan
Historical western romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Aug 09

It’s really no secret that most romance readers have a weakness for a hunky hero. I’m a bit of an odd duck in that I tend to always gravitate toward heroines. I’m certainly not one to turn my nose up at a suitably attractive romance hero, but if the heroine has all the charm of a limp dish rag? There’s no plotting imaginative enough, no hero hunky enough, and no dialogue sparkling enough to save the book for me. I need the heroine. Which is why I generally love Jenna Kernan’s stories. She has a knack for writing fantastic heroines.

Sam Pickett is in the process of getting robbed and beaten up in one of Sacramento’s back alleys. Kate Wells is walking home after working another late night at the milliner’s shop. The only thing her late, unlamented husband ever gave her that she found remotely useful is a pearl-handled Derringer. When she passes the alley and notices two men and a woman attacking Sam? She screams for help and proceeds to whip out the pistol, saving Sam from further beating. Then, just as quickly as she rode to his rescue, she vanishes into the night.

Sam is one of the wealthiest men in Sacramento, having made his fortune in mining. Now he wants to bring the railroad through the Cascade Mountains, effectively conquering them once and for all. However he finds himself distracted by the pretty slip of a girl who rescued him. He has to find out who she is, and make her his mistress. Sam has no use for family and even less use for children, but even he’s in for shock when he tracks down Kate. She’s not only a widow (which suits his purposes for her quite amiably), but she’s taking care of a blind sister and elderly aunt. Bother! Not only that? Turns out her late, unlamented husband was a no-good scoundrel con man who found himself shot when he swindled the wrong miner.

What follows is Sam offering Kate the job of mistress, and her flatly refusing. That is, until her aunt’s home is threatened with bank foreclosure. This time though Kate vows that if she’s going to sell herself to a man, she won’t go cheaply.

I’ll be blunt, this is a hard book to get invested in during the early chapters. Kate follows a long tradition of self-sacrificing heroines, but generally speaking I emphasized with her. More often than not, she found herself pushed up against a wall, and pushing back meant taking what very few avenues were open to women in the mid-19th century. Sam was much harder to “like” since for a good portion of the story he’s nothing more than a horny guy pursuing a woman only because 1) she sure is pretty and 2) she doesn’t want a thing to do with him. When these two do finally come to an agreement, of sorts, I still had issues with Sam, who was treading a very similar path to Kate’s odious first husband.

For patient readers, the emotional pay-off comes during the latter half of the story when Kate and Sam begin opening up to each other physically as well as emotionally. They quickly learn that they have a lot in common, and that the attraction between them is more than just skin deep. It helps to sow the seeds for the happily-ever-after, and it also helps the reader buy into the turn-around both of these characters experience.

I’ve admire Kernan’s work for Harlequin Historical for the last several years, because she has a way with characters and setting. This is another enjoyable read, but most definitely a second-half book. Also, while it is firmly connected to Outlaw Bride, it stands alone reasonably well and shouldn’t confuse or confound newcomers to her work. All in all, while I didn’t enjoy it as some of her other work, it’s still not a bad show.

Grade: B-

Summary:
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Powerful Sam Pickett is used to getting his way. So he is baffled when Kate Wells, a feisty little hellion who steps between him and a bullet in the back, isn’t remotely interested in becoming his latest plaything—despite the fact she’s poor, with an aunt and blind sister to support!
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Sam’s life is transformed by this compassionate, hardworking woman—who is strangely cynical for one so young. He fully intends to make Kate his bride, but that could prove to be the greatest challenge of his life!
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Mountain Wild (Wild Series, Book 3) by Stacey Kayne
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Jul 09

Life must be really great for Regency historical and paranormal fans. If they hit on a book by an author that doesn’t move them, they have the luxury of saying “Well, that author didn’t work for me” and move on. But if you’re a western historical lover? Yeah, authors tend to get second, third and in some cases, fourth chances. Why? Have you seen how many western historicals get published these days? Yeah, not many. I’ve previously read one book by Stacey Kayne, and didn’t really care for it. I thought she was a fine enough writer, but her characters drove me batty. But I love westerns, and Lord knows the pickins’ are slim these days. So Kayne landed on my Give Her Another Shot list, and in this instance, I’m glad I gave her another look. Mountain Wild is a dandy read.

This being the third book in the author’s Wild series, readers will recognize hero Garret Daines as Skylar Daines’ baby brother from Mustang Wild. Garret is all grown up now, and boy howdy did he grow up to be a mighty fine man! He now owns a cattle ranch in Wyoming, near his sister and her family, and is neck deep in a range war. Seems someone is chasing off (and in some cases killing off) neighboring ranchers, and rustling cattle. Garret is barely staying afloat, with the local Cattleman’s Association literally gouging him for the privilege of bringing his cattle to market. Still, he wasn’t expecting to get knocked out cold while traveling through the mountains looking for his missing partner. He’s unconscious and buried in a snow bank when Mad Mag finds him.

Everyone in town calls her Mad Mag. Maggie Grace is a hermit, living in the mountains, making her way as a trapper. She’s a bitter old hag, nasty as can be, and she doesn’t smell too good. Well, that’s what they think. Maggie is actually young, pretty, fond of floral soaps and knows how to needlepoint. She learned the hard way that people can’t be trusted, and she likes her solitude. She knows who Garret is. His ranch isn’t too far from her isolated cabin. Trust doesn’t come easy to Maggie, but she also can’t leave a wounded man to die in a snow storm.

What follows is a very fine romance about two very fine characters. Garret is a picture perfect Gamma hero. He embodies the best qualities of an Alpha and a Beta hero. He’s charming, sweet, and willing to wait Maggie out. But he’s also a hard working rancher who will skin any man alive who says one unkind word about his woman, and he’ll fight to the death for what is right. I was half in love with this guy by the end of the first chapter.

Maggie is one of my favorite types of western heroines. The girl has gumption, and she’s no shrinking violet. Her childhood and family taught her that appearances aren’t what they seem, and the man who rescued her from that life taught her how to take care of herself. However in that time she also learned to hide, which is what she’s been doing ever since.

There is a villain in this story, and unfortunately he is the weak link. He has unfinished business with both Garret and Maggie, stopping at nothing to run them to ground. His main motivation is greed, and that’s really all the depth the author goes into. Certainly greed is a compelling enough motive, but in this instance I really wanted more insight into his psychology. All I really took away from his character was that he was a “bad man.”

While the third book in a trilogy, Mountain Wild stands alone very well. Readers who have to know every drop of back story by the end of the first chapter will have to practice some patience. Maggie has had dealings with Garret’s family in previous books, and while the author does eventually fill in those details, she does so in later chapters. I kept up just fine, and never felt like I was missing any pieces to the puzzle.

Mountain Wild is an entertaining western romance featuring two extremely likable protagonists. I’m glad I gave Stacey Kayne a second chance.

Grade: B-

Summary:
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Fourteen years ago a terrified young Maggie Grace fled into the wilderness of the Wyoming mountains, where she has lived alone, fighting for survival, ever since. Until she finds cowboy Garret Daines lying unconscious in a blizzard.
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Snowbound in Maggie’s cabin, sharing the only bed with this beautiful, wild woman, brings Garret’s body—and guarded heart—pulsing back to life.
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Garret is the only man ever to show Maggie any kindness, and the walls around her heart begin to crumble. But this wildcat won’t let herself be easily tamed….
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Once An Outlaw by Debbi Rawlins
Time travel historical western released by Harlequin Blaze 1 Mar 09

No one can accuse the folks at Harlequin Blaze of playing it safe, that’s for darn sure. Fast on the heels of their latest foray into historical settings, they’re now offering up readers a time travel. And not just any time travel, Debbi Rawlins’ latest is a time travel that takes place in Deadwood, South Dakota. Yep, you read that right – it’s a western! Well, y’all know as a diehard western fan that I just had to give this one a shot.

Dr. Reese Winslow is the daughter of two bonafide Hollywood movie stars. Her parents weren’t necessarily neglectful, more like indifferent. So Reese decided a long time ago that her brains were her ticket to personal self-worth. She’s now a respected doctor making the media rounds. However, she had to take time out from her busy schedule to accompany her sister to Deadwood, South Dakota. Their beloved grandmother has passed away, and they need to clean out her old Victorian house because the realtor finally has an interested buyer.

It’s while in the attic that Reese and her sister discover an old wedding gown. It looks to be about Reese’s size, so as a lark she tries it on. While her sister runs down to the car to get her camera, Reese discovers an old photograph of a man named Sam Keegan , propped up in a coffin. Seems the man was a horse thief and was hanged in 1876. This is when the funny stuff happens. Next thing she knows, Sam in the photograph is opening his eyes and starring at her! Then she stumbles, falls, hits her head – and voila! She wakes up in a brothel in 1876 Deadwood wearing a wedding dress and everyone thinks she’s the new whore. She high-tails it out of there lickety-split, and runs into a knight in shining armor. None other than the doomed man, Sam Keegan, who happens to own the livery in town.

What follows is Reese trying to get her bearings (darn, she wishes she’d paid more attention in history class!), and trying to discover a way to get back home to the 21st century. In the meantime, she’s helping the local doctor (who has problem with whiskey) patch up the local residents (mostly from gunshot and knife wounds) and trying to ignore the fact the Sam is the sexiest man she’s ever seen. She also has to figure out why she’s traveled back in time. Was it to save the doomed Sam? To bring modern medical techniques to backwards Deadwood?

Sam is a haunted man with a tragic past. He stays as far away from the law as he can, and that suits him just fine. Unfortunately Reese brings with her unwanted attention. The local madam, Margaret, isn’t pleased that her new whore has run off, and the sheriff is sniffing around the livery. Now there are rumors that a woman is playing doctor. He also can’t seem to keep his hands and eyes off Reese. She certainly has peculiar notions, but damn if she’s isn’t a sexy little thing.

It takes a while for this story to get going. Time travels can be a little tedious with the details (Oh my gosh, I can’t possibly have traveled through time? Can I?), and with the shorter format of the Blaze line this is kept, blessedly, to a minimum. That said, it takes a while for Reese and Sam to get on the same page together and actually talk to each other. Mostly because Sam seems determined to avoid her as much as possible. Luckily, right around the time these two finally get naked together, they also finally start talking.

The second half of the story really picks up. Unfortunately by this point the page count is dwindling and the ending is really abrupt. No mistake, it ends happily, but there’s a pretty big plot hole. Without spoiling it too much, the past has not been put to bed and could certainly rear it’s ugly head. Also, there’s the small matter of Reese’s sister, who isn’t really addressed at all. The author does have a another time travel book coming out in May 2009, Once A Rebel, and one assumes that will be Ellie’s story. Although it’s hard to know for sure since the author’s web site (at the time this review was written) is lost in cyberspace.

Even though the ending didn’t tie things up in an entirely satisfactory manner, this was still a pleasant read with a handful of steamy love scenes. Sadly, for fans, the paranormal boom has not correlated into a time travel boom. While it’s not perfect, it’s sure to please hungry time travel fans in need of a fix.

Grade: C+

Summary:

In the rough-and-tumble town of Deadwood in 1876, cowboy Sam Keegan is about as hard as they get. Considered a real sexy piece of man by the local womenfolk, Sam runs the town livery stable. And he was last seen in the company of a pretty gal in a wedding dress, Reese Winslow…who escaped one of the local brothels!

The little lady claims to be a doctor—from the future, no less! Beware of her, as she’s causing no end of problems. Mostly for Sam, who is real skittish about the law. But trouble or not, the man can’t seem to stop himself from wanting Reese…and learnin’ firsthand what women from the future like to do with hot, hard cowboys!

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series.  Maybe?:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Wanted In Alaska by Kate Bridges
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Feb 09

One of the reasons I love westerns is because they tend to feature themes that flip my proverbial switch. Those of redemption, second chances, and the desire of many to better their lot in life. Certainly the United States has more than it’s fair share of faults, but it’s always been the land of opportunity. Where a nobody can become a somebody; and nothing optimizes this quite like Alaska. It was the last frontier, and once gold was discovered? Forget about it. I imagine this is why Kate Bridges continues to mine the Alaskan landscape for her Harlequin Historicals . There really are endless possibilities, like her latest story which introduces readers to a heroine with dreams of owning her own business and a hero wrongly accused of being an outlaw.

Autumn MacNeil came to Alaska after her grandparents passed away to make a future for herself. But unlike so many who are rushing out looking for gold, she’s singing in the most respectable hotel in Skagway. She has a beautiful voice, but her dreams are bigger than that. Our girl wants to buy the hotel. The problem is that the man who owns it, her boss, can’t seem to get over the fact that she has boobs. He’s not about to sell to a mere woman, but that doesn’t stop Autumn from trying. In the meantime, she’s enjoying a local masquerade ball – where she and her best friend, Victoria, a local nurse, decide to go in costume…as each other.

Quinn Rowlan is a man on the run, his wanted poster plastered all over Alaska. The worst of it is that he’s an innocent man. He finds himself in Skagway looking for a nurse. His younger brother was stabbed during an altercation, and the knife wound is festering. Quinn would do anything to save his brother, and that means kidnapping a nurse. Several of the locals point out Victoria to him, he gets her alone, and carries her off to the cabin where he’s stashed his brother. He gets away clean. Of course little does he know that he’s kidnapped the wrong woman, so convincing was Autumn’s and Victoria’s masquerade.

This story starts off with a bang. Poor Autumn really is in a bind. All she knows is that she’s been kidnapped by a gang of men, and she’s not sure what to do. If she blurts out that she’s not a nurse, will they shoot her (or worse) and leave her for dead? If she claims to be Victoria and Quinn’s brother dies because she’s inept at nursing – then what? Yeah, she could end up dead (or worse). Then there’s the fact that Quinn, despite his kidnapping her, really seems like a decent fellow. That really confuses her! Luckily the author doesn’t drag out this adventure in mistaken identity for the whole story. It’s wrapped up rather quickly, and the story moves on to Quinn’s quest to prove his innocence, which ultimately leads to him hiding in plain sight.

The story moves along at a good clip, and Autumn and Quinn have sizzling chemistry. Given that she was still wrestling with her trust issues, I did think she jumped into his arms a little quickly, but it’s hard to fault when the love scenes are so nice and spicy. No, the main issue here is the conclusion of the external conflict and Quinn’s innocence. The author jumps from Point A to Point C, without really stopping at Point B. People go from believing Quinn is an outlaw to believing he’s innocent without a whole lot of “proof” flashed in front of their faces. A little more hand-holding through the resolution would have made this a stronger story during the second half.

All that said, this is a nice adventure driven romance featuring two characters that share a palpable chemistry together. It didn’t change my life, but it certainly was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Outlaws, even innocent ones, just can’t risk doctors’ visits. But Quinn Rowlan desperately needs a nurse for his injured brother. Kidnapping is the only answer.

Except Quinn snatches the wrong woman from a masquerade! Autumn MacNeil is a singer dressed as a nurse for the costume ball. She doesn’t know the first thing about knife wounds!

Still, there’s no way he can let her go now—and, to make matters worse, Quinn realizes he’s falling for his curvy, blond hostage….

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Borrowed Bride by Elizabeth Lane
Historical western romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Nov 08

In the sake of full disclosure, it should probably be noted that I normally loathe love triangles. This is mostly because I like the characters to at least know their own minds, and love triangle plots have a way of rendering them indecisive, weak, and spineless. Just make a decision cupcake, and stick with it. So when I first read the plot description of Elizabeth Lane’s newest Harlequin Historical western I was naturally skeptical. However, having enjoyed her work in the past, I figured I owed it to her to at least give The Borrowed Bride a shot; and I’m glad I did. While not perfect, it certainly is one emotional read.

Hannah Gustavson has loved Quint Seavers since they were children. It’s a foregone conclusion that they’ll settle down, get married, and have a horde of children. However, Quint has other ideas. He’s a young man itching for adventure, but he’s been tied down to his family’s ranch. Now that his older brother Judd is coming home, wounded in the Spanish-American War, Quint can finally shake off the dust of their tiny Colorado town and head for the Klondike gold rush.

As if pining away and missing Quint wasn’t enough, Hannah discovers some months later that she’s pregnant. That one fumbling moment in the hayloft, in her foolish hopes of keeping Quint home, has resulted in a baby. Worse still, nobody has heard from Quint. Her letters, and the letters his family writes, are going unanswered. When Judd learns that Hannah is pregnant, he only sees one solution. He’ll marry her, give Quint’s baby a name, and when Quint returns (if he returns), he’ll readily sign divorce papers. Until then, he and Hannah will live as brother and sister.

But as the months continue to crawl by, with still no word or news about Quint – Judd’s good intentions are becoming harder to swallow. He’s falling in love with his brother’s girl, and she is developing feelings for him.

This story starts out with Quint happily boarding a train out of town, and the emotional roller coaster doesn’t stop from there. Hannah finds herself married to Judd, mostly because her only other option is scandal. It’s not an easy decision to come by though. While the Gustavson household is poor and hardworking, it’s a home filled with love. The Seavers family consists of a bitter, sickly mother; Judd haunted by the war and nursing his wounds; and Gretel a stern German housekeeper. It’s like walking out of the sunshine, only to find yourself in a tomb.

The romance between Judd and Hannah develops at a believable pace, and as tragedies strike their family; it also draws them closer together. They’re also harboring a ton of guilt over their developing romance, because Quint’s ghost looms large over their home. Judd even goes above and beyond trying to find the lad, only to get confronted by the harsh reality that the boy has dropped off the face of the Earth.

My main quibble with this story is that Hannah comes off a little too good to be true. I wanted her to be angry. She deserved to be angry, and instead she foolishly holds out hope, continues writing letters she know will go unanswered, and stays in limbo. Unplanned pregnancy and baby aside, Quint happily runs off and expects her to happily sit on the shelf and wait for him. Add the burden and stress of a baby? Yeah, I wanted her to be spitting nails. Even when the reader learns of Quint’s fate, she still fails to rally some spunk in dealing with the fallout.

The Borrowed Bride is an emotional read, and Judd is just the ticket for readers who adore haunted, wounded heroes. While I would have liked to have seen Hannah exhibit a bit more fire, this is a page-turning read that keeps readers glued to the emotional turmoil the characters are going through.

Grade: B-

Summary:

“We’re going to have a child. You need to come home so we can get married.”

So wrote Hannah Gustavson to her childhood sweetheart, the father of her baby. But with no response, she was forced to marry another man…her lover’s brother.

Tall, handsome and honorable, Judd Seavers could make any woman’s heart race. Hannah was no exception, and she was awed by the ex-soldier who gave her his name.

A forbidden love as grand as the Rockies crested between them. But a shadow loomed. Would the baby’s father come home? And if he did, would Judd return his borrowed bride?

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Magic of Christmas by Carolyn Davidson, Victoria Bylin & Cheryl St.John
Historical romance anthology released by Harlequin Historical 1 Oct 08

Sometimes I think Harlequin delights in separating me from my money, and The Magic Of Christmas anthology could be Exhibit A in my bankruptcy hearing. It’s an anthology, a western, and all of the stories are centered around Christmas. How could I possibly resist that? What I’m happy to report is that even though one story completely failed me, the other two were real standouts.

A Christmas Child by Carolyn Davidson

I know a lot of readers who consider Davidson’s Harlequin Historical books comfort reads, so I’m sad to report that this story didn’t work for me at all. Marianne Winters’ parents die from typhoid, but not before her mama gives birth to a baby boy. Looking for a fresh start she heads to Walnut Grove, Missouri, where help is in short supply until she meets widowed preacher, David McDermott.

Marianne is described as “barely able to care for herself” and “a girl, for she was not yet a woman.” Even though the reader finds out later in the story that she’s 18, I couldn’t get the image of a prepubescent waif out of my head. Couple her with the older, wiser, and worldly David who is pushing her towards the altar in two days? Yeah, major ick. The stilted dialogue didn’t help matters either.

Grade: D+

Marianne Winters has no one in the world but her baby brother and, with Christmas approaching, she needs somewhere warm to stay. Will she find her home, and a loving heart, with the lonely pastor, David McDermott?

Read an Excerpt.

The Christmas Dove by Victoria Bylin

One of the reoccurring themes I enjoy in westerns is second chances. Bylin mines this plot device for excellent effect in the story of former bratty rich girl, Maddie Cutler. Maddie ran off with a gambler who promised adventure. Now she’s come home to Crystal River, Wyoming wearing a red dress and her infant daughter, Cora, in tow. Gamblers have a way of turning respectable girls into “fallen women,” a lesson Maddie learned the hard way. She’s totally unsure if her father will welcome her home, but she has to try. When she arrives in town, she runs into Dylan McCall, the man whose affections she once spurned. He agrees to take her home, only to have a blizzard strand them at his cabin.

What I loved about this story was that both Maddie and Dylan thought they weren’t good enough for the other. Also, Maddie has a lot of amends to make. Both are carrying around emotional baggage, but soon realize that they’re perfect for each other. The ending is a bit too tidy when it concerns Maddie’s homecoming with her father, but this story is inspirational, uplifting, and a really good read.

Grade: B+

Maddie Cutler once snubbed bad boy Dylan McCall, but with nowhere else to turn she has come back to town-with a babe in arms. Dylan is a reformed man, and on seeing Maddie again he longs to heal her hurt-and claim her once and for all!

A Baby Blue Christmas by Cheryl St.John

I’m a huge Cheryl St.John fan, and her story closes out the anthology on a high note. Gabby traveled to Ruby Creek, Colorado to talk some sense into her idiot cousin. Willow fell in love with an outlaw, got pregnant, and when the man left her, she decided to chase after him. Gabby knows Willow’s going to pop any day now, so she’s desperate to find her. Instead she finds Willow’s twins in the local livery with the angry owner. Turner Price finds two newborn baby boys in his stable and when Gabby shows up shortly there after he figures she’s the mama. She does some fast-talking, and soon she and the boys are staying in the house Turner has all but abandoned.

My only quibble with this story is that I expected Turner to be a little bit smarter. The babies are so newly born they haven’t even been cleaned up properly. When Gabby shows up at the stable she does not look like a woman who just gave birth to twins minutes before. Yet, he buys her story that she’s the mother. Happily this deception does not go on for long, and the story moves along at a fast clip as Gabby and the boys heal Turner’s wounded heart and Willow’s story gets some closure.

Grade: B

Turner Price hasn’t been the same since he lost his wife and child. But when he finds a young woman and newborn twin babies in his stable, he realizes this may be his second chance to be a loving husband and father, just in time for Christmas!

Read an Excerpt.

After a rocky start with the Davidson story, this Christmas anthology finishes on a high note thanks to Bylin and St.John. Their stories especially would make lovely Christmas Eve reads while you’re relaxing by the fire and waiting for Santa.

Overall Grade: B-

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Rebel And The Lady by Kathryn Albright
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Sep 08

I’ve made no secret of my love for Harlequin Historical westerns. They’re my comfort read. The books I keep coming back to time and again. Earlier this year I read Kathryn Albright’s debut novel for TGTBTU, and I liked it. It didn’t knock my socks off, but it was a pleasant read and I thought it was a decent debut. Little did I know that the author would take that “pleasant” debut and follow it up with an epic.

Victoria Torrez’s land along the Rio Grande has been in her family for generations. Her blue-blooded lineage can be traced all the way back to Spain. However she soon finds her land and legacy threatened when Santa Anna rolls into town looking to quell the rebellion to liberate Texas from Mexico. Victoria does not want to leave her parents, but her father tells her she must travel to her cousin’s home near San Antonio. Not only will Juan keep her safe, but she can also warn him that the Mexican Army is heading right towards the Alamo.

Victoria makes it to Juan’s home only to become increasingly frustrated by the Texians. They are not heeding the warnings, and very little is being done in preparation for the arrival of the invading army. It’s during these frustrating times when she meets Jake Dumont, a southerner from Charleston who has only come to Texas to look for his wayward younger brother.

The fight between the Texians and Santa Anna isn’t Jake’s fight. In fact, Jake has fought for very little over the course of his entire life. He’s a loner. The kind of man who leaves when the going gets tough, and the kind of man who does not get roped into lost causes. But when Santa Anna arrives, he finds himself spiriting Victoria behind the walls of the Alamo. And when he has a chance to leave, he finds he can’t, because he’s too drawn to a woman well above his station in life, and one that is surely going to be the death of him.

I was awed by the scope and depth of Albright’s story. This one has all the makings of a good, old-fashioned, sweeping historical epic. Victoria is a woman of standing, with family pride, and the tenacity to fight for that legacy. Loyalty is everything to her, and she’s not about to back down from a fight.

By contrast, Jake is a man with a wandering spirit. Life has taught him to not get too close to anyone, because inevitably he’s always disappointed. His father didn’t love him, his mother abandoned him, and when a woman drove a wedge between them, his brother took off. However, Jake makes a promise to that woman to find Brandon and bring him home, and finally realizing that his brother is all he has left, he intends to do just that.

As much as I adored this novel, I can see it not working for all readers. Albright has a lot going on in this story and because of that the romance has a tendency to land in the back seat. Also, the couple does spend quite a bit of time apart from each other in the latter half of the story. I felt it worked in the context of this particular book given the sheer scope of the conflict, but it may not work for readers who want the romantic couple to spend every waking moment together. Also, Jake falls into the old habit that befalls many romantic heroes – he thinks Victoria betrays him when she really doesn’t.  While I tend to have little patience for this sort of thing, I did think it worked well here because the author uses it to ratchet up the emotional intensity between the romantic couple.

My only regret is that this story wasn’t longer. I think Albright does an amazing job given the scope of the external conflict, and the word count she had to adhere to for the Harlequin Historical line. However, if ever a story begged for the revival of the big, meaty historical romance heyday of the 1970s, this one is it. And generally speaking, as a reader who doesn’t get all that excited over “big books,” that’s truly saying something.

The author dedicated this book to her husband by saying, “Here’s your western honey.” Boy howdy, does she deliver. I cannot recommend this one strongly enough to western fans and those historical readers who lament the rise of the wallpaper historical. Do not miss this book.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Two weeks before the eventful day at the Alamo in San Antonio de Béxar, Victoria’s land on the Rio Grande is overrun by the Mexican army. She heads north to warn the Texians unaware that the very person who has helped her escape is now using her to spy on the Alamo’s defenses.

Jake Dumont is good with a gun, but he doesn’t care one whit about the fight for freedom happening in the Texas territory. He just wants to find his foolish brother and haul him back home. Yet when he meets the beautiful señorita, Victoria, and steals a kiss, he’s rocked to the core. Here is a woman who will lay her life on the line for what she believes. Finally he’s found something worth fighting for. How can he leave when protecting her suddenly means more to him than protecting his heart?

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Sam’s Creed (Hell’s Eight, Book 2) by Sarah McCarty
Historical Western Romance published by Harlequin Spice 24 Jun 08

I love alpha men in my romances. Really alpha. The kind that take what they want when they want and know how to love a woman like she’s never been loved before. Of course, another part of my loving these alphas in my romances is seeing them fall for the one woman who stands up to them, makes them shiver with a touch, pulls the emotion from them while never letting them be less than the men they are. Sarah McCarty is doing all that and then some in her Hell’s Eight series. The men of Hell’s Eight grew up together after suffering the loss of their loved ones during a massacre, all feeling guilty about not being able to help save their families and all vowing to never love again to keep the pain of loss at bay. In the intervening years Sam has become a Texas Ranger and is a hard man, a man who kills with no remorse, a man who knows he’s best alone. His loyalty lies with his Hell’s Eight family and he’s content enough with that. Until he meets an Hispanic spitfire by the name of Isabella at the wrong end of a pistol.

She’s bossy. She’s been gently reared, a princess who needs pampering. But she’s also as sexy as all get-out and he’d love to have his hands all over her. But he knows she deserves better, so he’s not about to take her innocence, even though she throws herself at him at every turn. She’s running scared and even his assurances that he won’t let Tejala, the local bandito who everyone fears, get anywhere near her again don’t pacify her. Her answer to her problem is to give her virginity to Sam so Tejala won’t want her any longer. As much as Sam would like that, he just can’t let himself ruin this woman who fascinates, irritates, and tempts him with her fiery nature.

Isabella does her best, however, to push Sam over that sensual, sexual edge. I have to give Sam credit for the length of time he does hold out against her semi-clumsy, innocent wiles. Finally he’s at the end of his rope and there’s no going back for either of them when he snaps. Isabella even pushes him so far for him to lose his control, to show her the true passion between a man and a woman, not the slow and easy foreplay that Sam wants to give her. Isabella is a great match for Sam.

She doesn’t take any guff from him, but she also learns to follow his instructions when danger seeks them out, which happens quite a bit. Although she does save his bacon a couple of times when she ignores his dictates. That pisses him off to no end, but at least he’s still breathing to give her a good talkin’ to.

The quick and snappy banter between these two is a lot of fun. We meet up again with Tucker, another Hell’s Eight brother, and we’re set up nicely for the next book, Tucker’s Claim, due out in April of next year. The only thing that I didn’t get and would have really liked was a visit with Caine and Desi from the previous book, Caine’s Reckoning.

I know the storyline doesn’t allow for that, but I still would have liked it somehow anyway. For most of this book the only two characters we get are Sam and Isabella, which you’d think would get a little boring after a while, but that never happens. Ms. McCarty has a way with these characters and they keep the pages turning as fast as you can flip them.

Grade: A

Summary:

Known for making up his own rules of right and wrong. Texas Ranger Sam “Wildcard” MacGregor takes what he wants when he wants it, especially when it comes to women. But seduction is the last thing on his mind the moment he stumbles across an Hispanic beauty racked with grief crouched beside a burned out wagon. And it doesn’t take long before he realizes the woman the townsfolk call “cursed” is hiding secrets too dangerous to face alone.

Isabella may look feminine and unassuming, but she’s hell in a bodice, with gun-slinging skills to match any man’s. But though she knows not to give Sam her heart as readily as she offers him her lush body, Isabella is certain she sees in Sam what he can barely glimpse in himself— a virtuous man dropped deep into a hard country bent on breaking him. A man who, under it all, craves a passionate woman willing to risk everything…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Caine’s Reckoning (Hell’s Eight, Book 1) by Sarah McCarty
Historical Romance released by Harlequin Spice 1 Nov 07

I loved this book. I absolutely loved everything about it. The characters are very true to life, good or bad.

Caine Allen is a Texas Ranger and head of Hell’s Eight, a spread nearly the size of Texas where he and other men who have lost loved ones in Indian massacres have found a home and a family of sorts. Caine is a hard man because of the hard life he’s led living in a hard land during hard times. He’s also a good and honest man, a man who looks out for those under his protection and for those who have a place in his heart. He and two of his men, Sam and Tracker, have been hired to rescue a town’s kidnapped women. When they come upon the kidnappers and their victims, only one woman is fighting back and what a job she is doing on not one, but two of the evil cowards and she wins Caine’s admiration and respect right off the bat.

Desi is a feisty hellcat when she has to be. Most of the time, however, she’s afraid of every sound and movement and doesn’t trust a soul. She’s been held captive since her family was killed by Indians. And it’s not the Indians who have kept her in chains and used her for their own twisted ways. The town’s gambler is Desi’s guardian and that’s the first thing, besides her fear, that bugs Caine about the entire situation when he returns the women to the townsfolk. As determined as he is not to leave her with such lowlifes, Desi herself is more determined to remain free and she even fights Caine for that freedom. But at the end of it all, they end up married so he has the right to take her away from the hell she’s been living in for years.

From this point on this story becomes an emotional ride for Caine, Desi, and the reader. Caine does his best to hold himself in check when he tries to love Desi. He doesn’t know the whole story yet and every time she jumps at his touch or she expects anger from him when she does something “wrong,” he vows to get his hands on the men who abused his wife as horribly as they did. Caine is soft and sensitive to her every need, her every want, her every desire. It’s fascinating the way he comes across on the page being the hard man he is but knowing he has to gently love this injured, scarred, and scared woman.

Desi’s issue is trust. She hasn’t had any for anyone in a lot of years and with every flinch at Caine’s touch, it seems as though her trust is gone forever. What she doesn’t know is that Caine is not about to give up because this woman, his wife, although she deserves better than the likes of him, she is only one for him. Seeing Desi’s trust grow in each and every scene between these two characters is wonderfully done. And when Desi finally truly opens herself to Caine, it’s a scene not to be missed.

The secondary characters are all simply terrific. The other Hell’s Eight men have their own demons to fight and they’re going to be great but hellacious reads as they come along in the series. I’m especially taken with Tracker and Shadow, who are brothers, and look forward to their stories. The villains are also written quite well and are characters who you love to hate. James, the aforementioned gambler, is a complete but terrifying asshole, along with his cronies, and it’s so nice when their time comes due.

There’s not one thing I didn’t like about this book. I’m just sorry I waited so long to read it after everything I heard about it when it was first released. I won’t be doing that with the newest edition in the series, Sam’s Creed, which was released just last month. I will be reading it very, very soon.

Grade: A

Read other reviews by clicking on the Caine’s Reckoning tag.

Summary:

Caine Allen is a hardened Texas Ranger, definitely not the marrying kind. But when he rescues a kidnapped woman and returns her to town, the preacher calls in a favor. One Caine’s honor won’t let him refuse.

From the moment he beds Desi, Caine knows turmoil will follow. Desi might have the face of a temptress, but she also has a will of iron and while she needs his protection, she’s determined that no man will control her again. They establish an uneasy bond, but it still isn’t enough for Caine. He wants all Desi has to offer. He wants her screams, her moans, her demands…everything. Yet there’s still a bounty on Desi’s head and keeping her satisfied is proving easier than keeping her alive.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Shannon C.’s review of Hell for Leather by Beth Williamson
Historical erotic romance ebook released by Samhain 17 Jun 08

I understand that Beth Williamson is a popular author over at Samhain, and that she has written a lot of westerns. This book was my first exposure to her books, and while I found it a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, I’m not sure I’m a convert yet.

My problem with this book was largely compounded by the fact that I’ve been having the same problem with the last few westerns I’ve tried. Namely, I find former gunslingers angsting about their pasts extremely *unsexy*, and in this case, the whining also included a fair bit of petulance which irritated me.

Cade Brody has moved to New Mexico to bury his past. (Literally, as it turns out.) Unfortunately, solitude isn’t as easy as he’d like it to be. He seems to have an unwelcome visitor leaving him surprises outside his cabin, the townsfolk seem to regard him with suspicion, and he’s way too attracted to Sabrina, the local storekeeper. Sabrina, who tends the store and also lives with her painfully shy sister, is drawn immediately to Cade, and is driven to uncover the secrets of his past–secrets he doesn’t want to share with her.

I’ll start with Sabrina. I liked her. She was a widow, and so she knew what she wanted from Cade. She could have been a martyr, but I just never got that vibe from her. Also, it’s Sabrina who does a lot of the pursuing of Cade, which I really enjoyed.

Cade… Oh, Cade. I suspect he would not have bothered me nearly as much as he did were it not for the fact that he makes the third whiny gunslinger I’ve run across in my reading lately. He needed a good shaking, and while, of the three gunslingers I’ve read about, he’s got the far more convincingly rough past, I thought he stomped around and acted more like a [pouty teenager than a grown adult one too many times]. Thankfully, a few of the characters call him on this, which makes me feel better.

The secondary characters worked well. I really like Bernice, a young woman Cade befriends, and Antonio, the saloon keeper, was also fun. Some of the rest of the town seem destined to being sequel baits, but the characters whose stories I would read were all female, so I wasn’t really as bothered by that.

The plot was good, with action that kept me reading. I had a few questions about some things that didn’t seem entirely historically plausible, and there’s a random paranormal element that seems kind of jarring, but the romance was pleasant. Also, I kept wondering what was up with this title as it seems like a cliche from the book of western phrases just inserted there randomly. (That’s a nitpick, I know, but still… I did wonder why nobody was actually riding hell for leather anywhere.)

Overall, this was a fun read. Probably not one I’d recommend going out of your way to acquire, but definitely a quick, amusing read.

Grade: C

Summary:
Exile…or love. Life…or death. His demons will force him to choose.

Gunslinger Kincaid has traded his black clothes and pistols for a homespun shirt and trousers. Now he’s Cade Brody, a man with dark hair, dark eyes and an even darker past. The blood money he’s earned bought him a small piece of property in New Mexico territory, at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. But it can’t buy him peace.

Sabrina Edmonds, a tough, no-nonsense widow, runs the post office and store in the small town of Eustace. She’s made her way in life with an independent streak a mile wide. Sabrina doesn’t want to get involved with Cade, but she finds herself drawn to the dark stranger who hides in his mountain retreat.

Cade wants nothing more than to be left alone, but an elusive wild child who delights in tormenting him, and a town full of people determined to befriend him, conspire to intrude upon his self-imposed exile. Then there’s Sabrina, who should be afraid of him—but isn’t.

Not even when the deadly demons of his past catch up with him.

Warning: This title contains lots of smart-ass remarks, a kick-ass heroine, a dark hero and some kickin’ hot sex.

You can read an excerpt here

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Angel and the Outlaw by Kathryn Albright
Historical western romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Dec 2007

As a fan of American-settings and western romances, I’ve often wondered why authors/publishers don’t use the state of California more often. It really is a locale that offers a wealth of possibilities – from the gold rush, to the mountains, to the coast-line, to the desert, to large cities, to the middle of nowhere – California in the 19th century was a fascinating place. This was the main reason why I was so drawn to Kathryn Albright’s debut. She sets this story near San Diego, along the southern California coast line, and gives the troubled hero the job of maintaining the local lighthouse.

Rachel Houston has heard the rumors and whispers about light keeper Stuart Taylor. He lives out at the lighthouse with his mute daughter, only venturing into town when absolutely necessary. The man keeps to himself, and likes it that way. Rachel figures the man can do as he pleases, but not when it’s harming his young daughter, Hannah. The girl doesn’t speak, but that doesn’t mean she’s deaf or stupid. The girl needs an education and she needs to develop social skills. Plus, as the local school teacher, Rachel feels it’s her duty to get every child into her classroom.

Stuart would rather eat worms that subject Hannah to school. He’s has nothing against education, just the idea of forcing his daughter into the company of the “good” townsfolk who whisper behind their backs. Plus there’s the small matter of his past. Stuart is in hiding, and doesn’t want to be found. The less attention they receive the better. However, he’s intrigued by the independent-minded Rachel, so he strikes a bargain with her. She’ll come to the lighthouse and tutor Hannah privately, and he’ll help straighten out her increasingly rebellious teenage brother, Caleb.

The main issue with this story is one that befalls quite a few debut novels – the pacing is a bit off. The author has a number of secondary characters, and several different sources of conflict – including Caleb’s antics, Stuart’s past, Hannah’s inability to speak, Rachel’s unwanted suitor, and Stuart’s reputation with the townsfolk. It’s a little bit too much for a story the length of a Harlequin Historical, which means while the author is setting the wheels in motion, readers have to wait on the romance.

The largest bit of conflict involves Stuart’s past, and the fact that people are looking for him. What I never quite figured out was why he never left the state of California (if you have to live near the coast, there’s always the east coast), and why he didn’t get more imaginative with changing his name. Hey, changing your name was as easy as changing your underwear back in the good old days. One would think he could have come up with something better than Stuart Taylor, when his real name is Matthew Stuart Taylor. Geez.

Other than these quibbles, this is a fast, easy read. Rachel is my kind of heroine, strong, independent, and one who will stand up to those who try to run roughshod over her. Hannah is cute and precocious without being obnoxious and Caleb is your typical teenage boy – all gangly limbs and eager to make mischief. Stuart and Rachel set off the necessary sparks one expects from a romantic couple, and the final chapter is a nice touch. A pleasant debut read, and a nice beginning for a new author.

Grade: B-

Summary: He wants her as his bride – but the law wants him!

No one asks the dark, brooding stranger about his past. People gossip, but daren’t question. He and his young daughter live alone – and that’s the way Stuart Taylor wants…needs it to stay.

When the spirited new schoolteacher, Rachel Houston, is touched by Stuart’s shy little girl, who’s never uttered a word, everything starts to change. Stuart’s surly manner doesn’t worry Rachel – she can see the vulnerability hidden in the depths of his blue eyes. She’s convinced there’s more to the rugged, handsome stranger’s story. But when the truth comes out, has Rachel the courage to stand by her man?

Read an excerpt.

I you missed Wendy’s review of Outlaw Bride by Jenna Kernan yesterday… quick go read it.

And then come back and learn about what Jenna is up to now…

Jenna Kernan’s next Harlequin Historical is in such an early stage it doesn’t have a title or a release date yet. But she did share that this info about it

Kate Wells sold herself in marriage once and will be damned if she’ll do it again, but when her family’s home is threatened she is left with a choice between betray the man she’s come to love or enduring the shame of becoming his mistress.

As well as she shared that she is currently working on a…. Nocturne that sound very interesting!

DREAM STALKER
Silhouette Nocturne
Release date TBA

A Native American healer thinks her escalating nightmares signal madness but the truth is far worse. Her dreams are real. She is being stalked by the ruler of the ghosts and the only thing standing between her and destruction is a savagely beautiful shape-shifter who can change from a grizzly to man. But is he willing to defend a wounded human from death, himself?

Just in case you are worried like I was, Jenna has no plans to leave HH, or was just afraid to admit that too me.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Outlaw Bride by Jenna Kernan
Historical western romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Feb 08

Every romance in my keeper stash has a moment I call the “emotional sucker punch.” That moment in the story where the author takes all the fear, desperation, emotional intensity, wraps it around her characters, and then slams it straight into the readers’ gut. Jenna Kernan seems particularly skilled at this, and her most recent Harlequin Historical western is no exception. This book has everything I look for in a romance.

Bridget Callaghan left her family up in the Cascade Mountains determined to get help. Through sheer stubbornness, and a bit of luck, she makes it to Sacramento, only to find help in short supply. No one is crazy enough to go up into the mountains in the dead of winter – except for maybe Cole Ellis. Unfortunately for Bridget, Cole is sitting in prison waiting for a date with the hangman’s noose because he took it in his head to steal the mayor’s horse.

Cole Ellis is in prison because he wants to die. He has lost everything because of the mountains, and has given up on life. Then in waltzes Bridget, full of fire, desperation and just crazy enough to break him out of prison. No doubt about it, despite his desire to die, he admires her gumption. He makes a promise to try and save her family.

What follows is a fantastic frontier style western where hero and heroine must battle the elements to survive. The Cascade Mountains are like a secondary character to this story, fighting Cole and Bridget at every turn. Along the way secrets are revealed, desires felt, and passion ignited.

To borrow an old expression, Kernan’s heroine has “sand.” There’s a grit and determination to her that is beyond admirable. This is no flighty little miss who cowers in a corner and waits for the man to rescue her. Oh no! She knows she needs Cole Ellis to save her family, and he’s going to help her even if she has the break the law in order to get it.

It’s what these characters have been through, and what they must overcome, to achieve their happily-ever-after that makes this story so remarkable. Certainly it’s a romance. It’s a story of love, devotion and family. But it’s also a story of survival. Of one woman’s grit, stubbornness, and tenacity to fight for everything she holds dear. And that dear readers is what romance is all about. These characters earn their happily ever after, and the author wrings every last drop of emotion out of the reader in order for them to get it. Brava!

Grade: A

Summary:Breaking him out of prison was the easy part . . .

Bridget Callaghan was willing to do anything to save her family, stranded in the Cascade Mountains. The only man who could attempt such a treacherous rescue mission was Cole Ellis, but he was behind bars – and condemned to hang!

Bridget’s boldness in breaking him out of jail was the jolt Cole needed to give his life purpose again. But with a posse at their heels and the mountain looming, she couldn’t help but wonder if putting her trust in this tough, life-hardened man wasn’t the biggest danger of all . . .
Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Western Weddings by Jillian Hart, Kate Bridges & Charlene Sands
Historical romance anthology released by Harlequin Historical 1 May 08

Many readers don’t care for anthologies because they can be wildly uneven affairs. I tend to think of them as my comfort reads. I find anthologies just the ticket for when my brain is mush, my attention span is on par with the life cycle of a fruit fly, and the mere thought of any story over 100 pages causes my blood pressure to spike. Couple that with my love affair for Harlequin Historical westerns, and it’s no wonder that I plowed through Western Weddings in record time.

Rocky Mountain Bride by Jillian Hart

This features the well-worn plot device of the mail-order bride that the “groom” knows nothing about, but Hart makes it fresh by writing a fabulous heroine. Savannah Knowles is a nice Southern girl with nothing left. The Civil War took everything, and after the death of her beloved grandmother, she is without any kin of her own. So she decides to become a mail-order bride, corresponding with Nate Brooks for a year, falling in love with him and his boisterous family, before agreeing to travel to his home in Montana Territory. Too bad Nate had nothing to do with those letters, and the whole thing was orchestrated by his well-meaning, albeit meddling, parents.

This story works well because Savannah has gumption. While she was technically courted by Nate’s parents, she quickly realizes that she actually did fall in love with the real him. Now to convince him of that fact, and salvage what is left of her pride.

Grade: B+

Shotgun Vows by Kate Bridges

Fans of Bridges’ Klondike/Mountie series will recognize characters Milly Thornbottom and Mountie Weston Williams, who get their own romance in this story. Milly used to have a horrible crush on Weston, but is fed up with him treating her like a little girl. So she attends the annual Spring Fever dance in hopes of catching another beau’s eye. Unfortunately, she soon finds herself standing before a preacher after her daddy catches her in an embrace with Weston. Faster than you can say shotgun wedding, these two are married. Now to make the best of it amid the swilling gossip.

I suspect fans of Bridges’ series will get more enjoyment out of this tale than the casual reader. It’s a pleasant enough read, but I felt the conflict was a little too big for an anthology story – and frankly, I wanted Milly to stay hopping mad at her daddy for a good long time.

Grade: C+

Springville Wife by Charlene Sands

Sands’ entry features one of my least favorite plot devices – the precocious child who works overtime to find her daddy a wife. Grace Lander is a widow still haunted by the death of her husband and unborn baby. She returns home to Texas to become the new school teacher, only to run into her childhood nemesis Caleb Matlock. Caleb is the most eligible bachelor in town, but hasn’t remarried even though he’s raising his niece. Sparks fly, and besides the niece, Grace’s darling auntie is determined to have these two hook up.

This story actually worked pretty well for me, even though I tend to dislike precocious matchmaking children. The problem comes later in the story, when the plot morphs into a bad daytime soap opera. Grace’s bereavement is really enough conflict for a story, and the added bit of over-the-top drama left an unsavory taste in my mouth.

Grade: C

I found Western Weddings a pleasant way to spend a lazy afternoon. The stories flew by at a nice clip, were well-written, and were the very definition of comfort reads for this western lover. Hart continues to write interesting characters, and the other two stories were fast reads, even with my minor quibbles.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Rocky Mountain Bride by Jillian Hart
Savannah Knowles arrives in Montana expecting to marry Nate Brooks, but he has never heard of her! Can this quiet man find room in his heart for lonely Savannah?

Shotgun Vows by Kate Bridges
Milly Thornbottom has a crush on Mountie Weston Williams, and one stolen kiss changes their lives! After they’re marched straight to the altar, can her crush possibly develop into more?

Springville Wife by Charlene Sands

Grace Lander returns to Springville to pick up the pieces of her life and become the town’s schoolmarm. Single father Caleb Matlock’s kiss may be just what Grace needs to mend her heart and make a home!

Read excerpts: Jillian Hart, Kate Bridges.

Western Weddings is an anthology coming from Harlequin Historical in May. It features Rocky Mountain Bride by Jillian Hart, Shotgun Vows by Kate Bridges, and Springville Wife by Charlene Sands.

We have had Jillian Hart guest and Kate Bridges told us all about her gold rush ways. Today’s guest is the third author from the delightful western anthology Western Weddings, Charlene Sands, who will tell us a bit more about the western hero @ 11 am.

Until then have a read of an excerpt from Springville Wife (just in case you missed it in April )

blockquote> Springville Wife by Charlene Sands

Grace Lander returns to Springville to pick up the pieces of her life and become the town’s schoolmarm. Single father Caleb’s Matlock’s kiss may be just what Grace needs to mend her heart and make a home.

Springville, Texas

1888

CHAPTER ONE

Grace Lander dusted off her sapphire blue traveling suit as she stepped down from the stagecoach. She hadn’t journeyed by stage since the horrendous robbery that claimed her husband’s life one year ago. Shivers of the fear she’d lived with during her stage ride from the rail station in Fort Worth, slowly ebbed and she found herself taking her first easy breath. Yet, the painful memory and the guilt she felt over Harrison’s untimely death were always with her.

But she was here in Springville now, her childhood home and hoping to carve out a new life as a schoolmarm to a full brood of eager children.

“You made it, deary!” Her spry rosy-cheeked aunt came rushing forth, a silly violet-feathered hat bobbing on her head.

“Aunt Enid, it’s good to see you.” She embraced the aunt she hadn’t seen since her visit to Boston some six years ago — her favorite aunt, if Grace were being truly honest.

“It’s about time you came back to your only livin’ kin.”

“Only kin? Aunt Enid, you know darn well, Aunt Flo and Auntie Roberta are still alive.”

“Alive, deary, but not livin’.”

Grace chuckled and relief washed over her. She put aside any doubts she’d had about her return to Springville. Her Aunt Enid, who ran the Springville Boardinghouse, would be sure to keep Grace on her toes.

With somber eyes, Aunt Enid grasped her hands and squeezed gently. “Are you ready to start your living again, honey?”

The connection and the love flowing between them warmed her through and through. She gazed down the street to see familiar shops: McKenzie’s Dry Goods, Springville Bank and Trust, Shorty’s Longhorn Saloon, the marshal’s office and Spring’s Diner. Not too much had changed in thirteen years. Grace found great comfort in the small thriving town where she’d grown up. Springville was different than Boston, in ways too abundant to name. Even the May sky seemed clearer, the air crisper and the sunshine brighter.

Was she ready to start living again?

On a shaky breath, Grace nodded. “I think so, Aunt Enid. I’m ready.”

“Good.” She released her hands and looked over at the young depot operator. “Chuckie, send over Miss Lander’s bags to the boardinghouse, as soon as you can, boy. There’ll be a warmed slice of cherry pie waiting for you.

“Yes, ma’am!”

Aunt Enid’s wide smile took twenty years off her aged face. “Ready to settle in?”

“I am, but I’m eager to visit the schoolhouse. To see if it’s how I remembered it. It’s all that’s kept me sane these past few months.”

Her aunt nodded in understanding. “Then go on.” She winked. “You know where it is.”

“Won’t you come along?”

“No, deary. You go revisit those memories by yourself. I think you’ll like what you see.”

Grace kissed her aunt’s cheek. “Thank you, Aunt Enid. I’ll be along soon.”

Grace picked up her silk skirt and walked briskly toward the opposite end of town where the schoolhouse stood, the light brown paint appearing fresh and new, though the white of the window frames were slightly faded. She approached the school slowly, as good memories flooded in. She’d gone to school here until her family moved away when she was twelve, her father’s venture into ranching proved unsuccessful and they’d left town to move in with their family to the east.

But Grace always believed herself a small town girl. And she’d loved learning. School meant getting away from grueling chores at the failing ranch. It meant being acknowledged and encouraged by schoolmaster Mobley for her thirst for knowledge. And presently, she hoped it meant a way to forget the heartache that plagued her daily.

“Oh, Harrison,” she uttered, standing just outside the school gate. “I’m so sorry.”

She entered the schoolyard and closed the gate behind her. Stepping on overgrown bluebonnets lacing the path to the schoolhouse, she made a mental list of work she’d have to do on the grounds. But most importantly, she’d start the school up again. Mr. Mobley’s sudden death had left the town unprepared and the children hadn’t had instruction in over three months.

When she reached the front door, she tried the latch. The door didn’t budge. She walked over to the side window and peered inside, glad to find the desks in order, set up in rows of four just like when she attended school. A side bookshelf contained McGuffey Readers and the potbelly stove that billowed smoke on cold winter days, still claimed the back corner of the room. The black chalkboard centered the front wall and Grace’s mind flooded with all those days she’d stay after class to help Mr. Mobley wipe it clean. One impudent classmate had labeled her “teacher’s pet”, but she’d only held her head up high, proud of the title.

A deep voice from behind the schoolhouse broke into her thoughts. “Tarnation! Damn it! Get away from me, you dang little pests!”

Curious, Grace raced around to the back of the building toward the commotion. She bumped a ladder and brown paint rained down in big clumpy droplets, just missing her head. “Oh!”

She looked up and another “oh” fell silently from her lips. A man stood on the ladder she’d just bumped, his chest bare, broad and bronzed, a black Stetson covering his head as a swarm of bees circled around him. His denims hugged his body below a very trim waist and a narrow line of dark hairs arrowed down beyond his thick leather belt.

Grace squeezed her eyes shut and turned her back on him, but the image remained in her head. Lordy, he was a fine looking man. Her heart pumped hard against her chest at the sight.

Immediate remorse set in. She’d been a widow for a year now, and blamed herself for Harrison’s death. She had no business bearing such lusty thoughts.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” she said softly, opening her eyes. She was the new schoolmarm. She shouldn’t behave like a foolish smitten girl of fifteen.

The man stepped down from the ladder, setting the paint can and brush onto the ground. When he lifted up, she caught another glimpse of his muscled chest. “Suppose I should thank you. I was about to be eaten up by them bees.”

“Those bees,” she corrected automatically. Her face flamed with heat, not so much from the ill-timed correction but by the vision he made.

He studied her for a long moment, his gaze raking her over from head to toe without apology. “By God. You’re Gracie. Little Gracie Greene. Would’ve never guessed except for that uppity tone you take.”

Grace eyed him with caution now. She was certain she’d just been insulted. “Yes, I’m Gracie. I go by Grace Lander now. And you are?”

His quick smirk rekindled a vivid childhood memory. One she’d rather forget. Grace suppressed the urge to crinkle her nose when she recalled her own personal school tormenter. He’d bully her every single day while in class or outside for recess.

They chorused both at the same time.

“Caleb Matlock.”

Caleb cocked a grin her way.

Gracie Greene.

He’d known she’d been hired on in Springville as the new schoolteacher, but he surely hadn’t expected her to look so dang blasted inspiring. The gangly awkward girl he’d teased and tormented in school had grown into a beautiful auburn-haired, amber-eyed woman with pale skin and tiny nose freckles. He assessed her female form and liked what he saw as well. “Gracie, Gracie, green like a frog and just as jumpy.”

She rolled her eyes without granting a smile. Caleb smiled enough for them both recalling his daily taunt.

“I haven’t thought about your silly prose in years.”

Caleb suspected different. She’d been easy to goad and he’d been unmerciful back then. “You never called them prose back then, Gracie.” Caleb reached for his shirt sitting on the fence. He put his arms through the sleeves and began buttoning. “Truth is, you retaliated pretty darn good. Let’s see,” he said, staring deep into her pretty eyes. “As I recall, you called me a big oaf, ugly as a longhorn, smelly as a skunk, stupid as–”

“I don’t recall any such thing,” she hurried out her eyes flitting to his bare chest for a second, before she turned five shades of red when he noticed.

His groin twitched. He hadn’t been so instantly taken by a woman since courting Felicia Holmes eight years back. He’d asked Felicia to marry him and she’d agreed, then she ran away with a traveling tinker the day of their nuptials. Since then, Caleb didn’t have much use for Springville females, Opal, being the exception.

Caleb shrugged off Grace’s denials. “No matter. Just glad you’re here.”

“You are?”

“The school’s been closed for months. Me and some of the others took up getting it ready again.”

She glanced at the work he’d done. The back of the building he’d painted was almost finished. “Thank you for that. Except for cleaning up the yard, it doesn’t look like you’ve left much for me to do.”

“That was the intent,” he said, staring at her. Damn, there wasn’t any one thing about her he didn’t enjoy looking at. Nothing had surprised him more. Little Gracie Greene had developed into a striking woman.

“What?” she asked, her expression filled with question.

“It’s you, Gracie. You’re all grown-up.”

She smiled a little, just enough to shape her mouth prettily. “That’s what happens with time.”

He shook his head. “Usually time only wears on a person. But you, you’ve become a beautiful woman.”

Grace turned away from him. Stark memories of the horrid stagecoach hold-up brought tears to her eyes.

“She’s too beautiful to leave behind, Pa. I’m taking her for myself. And no one’s gonna stop me.”

Grace would never forget her desperate panic that day or the clawing way Gray Bullock held her and groped at her body. She fought him off the best she could, crying for Harrison’s help.

“Get your hands off my wife!”

Her husband rushed toward her armed with only righteous fury and had been gunned down right before her eyes, trying to protect her.

There’d been three other women on that stagecoach, but she’d been the one singled out. She’d been the one widowed that day. The passengers had been saved when a band of gypsy wagons came down the road, scaring off the bandits who’d left her behind and Harrison dead on the ground at her feet.

And since then, there were times when she looked at her image in the mirror and hated the reflection staring back at her. She wasn’t one who wanted undue attention cast upon her, yet since her husband’s death, she’d had three proposals of marriage. All nice men who had promised to care for her, yet she’d seen that same lust in their eyes as that bandit and she knew she wouldn’t marry again. She’d lost her beloved husband that day, but she’d also lost the unborn baby she carried and any chance to be with child every again. So Caleb’s compliment to her beauty meant little to her. It was only a painful reminder of the saddest day in her life.

“Grace?”

She inhaled deep in her chest and blinking tears away, she turned back to him. “I plan on starting classes the first of next week,” she said, straightening her spine. “That’ll give me the rest of the week to work on the weeds.”

“If you need help with that–”

“No,” she cut him off quickly. “I want to do it myself.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Opal.”

“Opal?”

“My niece. She’s my brother’s child. I’ve raised her since she was a babe. Just so you’re not confused, she calls me her Pa.”

“Oh, I see. And Opal wanted to help?”

He grinned. “She’s excited to start school again.”

“I’m glad of that. And you can be sure I’ll give her plenty of chores to do once school commences.”

Caleb nodded. “If you need anything else,” he began, fastening up the last of his shirt buttons “for the school, I mean,” he said with a grin. “I’m three miles out, at the Bar M Ranch.”

“Thank you, but I’ll be just fine on my own.” She tilted her chin up, while she admonished herself for taking that one last glimpse of his chest. “Are you through here?”

Caleb hesitated a moment. Then he closed the paint can and wiped the brush clean. He set them inside a small shed and laid the ladder down next to it. “Seems I am. For today. But, I’ll be back.” He tipped his hat and smiled. His expression brightened in much the same way it had when he spoke of his niece, Opal. “To finish what I started.”

Grace ignored that chest-thumping feeling she got watching Caleb Matlock saunter away in long confident strides.

He was halfway off the grounds when he turned clear around. “You need the key to open the school, you’ll find that at the marshal’s office.”

He kept walking backwards until she acknowledged him. “All … right. Thank … you.”

Then on a nod, he hopped the school fence and was gone.

“Oh my.” Grace put her hand to her chest and leaned her shoulder against the newly painted wall. She shoved away the moment she realized what she’d done.

“Darn you, Caleb Matlock!”

Caleb always managed to get her all jumbled up and now she’d spend her first day home, washing paint stains out of her blue satin riding suit!

“Did you see anything interesting at the school, deary?” Aunt Enid unfolded clothes from Grace’s trunk in the pretty yellow-curtained, nicely furnished room that would now become her new home. Grace worked with her as they put some clothes up in a smooth burl wood armoire and arranged her perfumes and soaps and other such essentials on the dresser before a tall, framed mirror.

“You knew Caleb Matlock would be there, didn’t you?”

Aunt Enid’s eyes crinkled and she smiled. “He’s been working at the school, getting it ready. That man’s been on his own for some years now. Raising little Opal all by himself.”

“That’s commendable.” She offered no other compliment. No need to give Aunt Enid false impressions. Grace had her chance at happiness with a wonderful man. She wasn’t interested in involving herself with anything but her students and their needs. “I’ll look forward to meeting his niece.”

“Caleb’s a good man, Grace.”

Grace scoffed. She had no such thoughts. Why even today, he’d managed to get her flustered enough to nearly destroy her traveling suit.

Aunt Enid hadn’t asked any questions when Grace walked in minutes ago, paint-stained. But she’d insisted Grace change her clothes immediately and her aunt worked on that garment until she got every lick of paint out.

“When I knew him, he was a bully and tormented me no end.” Grace set the silver-handled hairbrush and comb Harrison had given her down onto her small night table, next to a blue-bubbled glass lamp.

“Did he kiss you?”

“Aunt Enid! Of course not! Why would you ask me a thing like that?”

“Paint stains.”

Goodness, her aunt surely was astute. The older woman had an uncanny ability to see far too much. Even though Grace was ashamed of her momentary weakness with Caleb Matlock, she had no intention of ever letting that man close enough to kiss her.

“I just lost my balance, Aunt Enid. And knocked into the painted wall, is all.”

“Pity.” Her aunt’s eyes lit with a faraway look. “If only I was a younger woman.”

“I surely don’t intend to have Caleb or any man, for that matter, ever kiss me. You know where my heart lies.”

“I know how a heart can lie to you. Fool you into thinking you’re through and washed up as a woman.”

“I’ll have a full life in Springville, teaching my students. That’s what I came here for. If I’d wanted a man, I could have remarried back east. But that’s not what I want anymore,” she said softly.

Aunt Enid helped her put the last of her clothes into the armoire then turned to give her a warm smile. Taking her hands in a firm loving grasp, she said with utmost sincerity, “Deary, let me give you a bit of advice. If Caleb Matlock ever wanted to kiss me, I wouldn’t give him my cheek, if you know what I mean.”

Grace tossed her head back and laughed heartily. “Oh, Aunt Enid, I’m so glad I’m here.”

Aunt Enid patted her hands. “I’m glad of it too. Now, you rest up a bit. Dinner is at five every night.”

“I’ll come down to help you.”

“No, not today. You lay your head down and get some sleep. Dream good dreams, Grace.”

And minutes later, Grace laid her head down on the soft goose-down bed and closed her eyes, but instead of her beloved Harrison’s face appearing, as it always had in the past, another face came to mind.

Caleb Matlock.

Grace squeezed her eyes shut even tighter and fought off the image of him, up on that ladder, fighting off bees and looking tastier than honey.

Harlequin Historical is a registered trademark of Harlequin Enterprises Limited. As such all excerpts are copyrighted © and all rights are reserved.

Sandy M’s review of The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride (Bride Series, Book 2) by Stacey Kayne
Historical Western Romance released by Harlequin 1 Jul 08

I reviewed Ms Kayne’s last two books in her Wild series and really enjoyed them, but this latest release is simply her best by far. The emotion is heart felt and starts pulling at you from the very beginning and continues in a variety of ways throughout the book. There’s also humor and action and lots of romance, of course, but you see the difference in her writing at a whole new level just from the emotion alone.

Her characters in this story are much more complex than ever before. Juniper is a man still mired in his past, waiting for it to rear up and destroy him one day. The scene where he leaves his family behind after the relative of a man he’d killed years before has hunted him down is one of the best in the book. You can feel the emotion eminating from the page. His remorse for his past is something that he must face time and again. He literally remembers the face of each and every man who drew against him and was felled by his hand.

When he meets Lily and realizes who she is, you can feel the guilt roil through him; and the same happens when she asks him questions about the night her father died later in the book. But Juniper is also a sensitive man who loves his family, cares about the people he works with and protects in town, and believes in law and order, but he’s also a man who hasn’t become so hardened because of his past that he doesn’t have the capacity to change and to love. When he does love, it’s completely and he would risk everything, including his life, for the woman who makes him whole. His complexity is never ending.

Lily’s life is a direct result of Juniper’s. Her family and home was destroyed the night her father was gunned down; her mother died a few weeks later, giving up her will to live; and Lily was ultimately dragged kicking and screaming to San Francisco where she has lived with her mother’s high-and-mighty family ever since, a family who has never loved her and only tolerated her. Her revenge on the family came when she turned 18 and Lily became a force to be reckoned with in business, being successful at everything she’s done and making millions.

She now does as she pleases when she pleases and thumbs her nose at her greedy relatives. She is just as complex as Juniper. When she learns he is an employee of her newly acquired lumber business, she doesn’t hesitate. She loads her gun, packs up, and heads out to kill him to even the slate. What she finds is a man who is nothing like what she’d ever imagined.

She also finds herself attracted to him, even after reminding herself who he is and how he’s hurt her. Her intelligent mind may understand that, but her heart is another matter and little by little the man Juniper has become slowly tears down the walls she’s built around herself. But her stubbornness and single mindedness gets her in trouble and when she realizes her actions can cause dire consequences when she’s with Juniper, her outlook on how she currently lives begins a serious alteration.

It is always a pleasure to see an author grow and begin to become a major standout in her industry, and Ms. Kayne is now well on her way in that direction. I knew I was going to like this book based on my experience with her prior work, but after reading just the prologue, I knew I was in for one heck of a fabulous read and she did not disappoint me. She can only get better from here on out. The deep level of emotionality combined with everday human complexity gives this book, and this author, a new dimension.

Grade: A-

From the back cover:

She vows to kill him….he’ll risk everything to protect her!

Lily Carrington sees the name of an infamous killer on the payroll of her new lumber company and leaves her cushy San Francisco office to journey into the untamed wilderness and avenge her father’s death. Unprepared for the turmoil of a lumber camp torn apart by financial strain, Lily finds herself at the mercy of lumberjacks willing to do anything to get their pay. A handsome stranger determined to keep the peace becomes her sole protector—the very man she’s sworn to kill.

Juniper Barns has sought out a secluded life to escape the ghosts of his past, men seeking revenge for those he’d killed during his youth as a gunfighter. Realizing his new pretty boss has come with vengeful intentions, Juniper knows his troubles have just begun. As they work together to bring the lumber camp under control, their mutual desire becomes a new threat.

Can they overcome a past built on vengeance to find love in their future?

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Kidnapped By The Cowboy by Pam Crooks
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 June 08

Over the years, I’ve made no secret of my love and devotion for Harlequin Historical westerns. As a general rule, I buy all of them as they become available, and save them in my TBR for when I’m in need of a comfort read. This is how Kidnapped By The Cowboy came to be on my wish list. Unfortunately, after a bang-up prologue, I found myself increasingly annoyed by two characters who didn’t actively use their brains.

T.J. Grier is a man with a ruined reputation. He was once a respected cowboy on the C Bar C ranch, a favorite of owner Carina Lockett. However that all changes the night that Carina’s young son, Danny, is killed in an altercation. T.J. happens upon the scene of the crime after the fact, and desperate to protect someone, takes the blame for young Danny’s death. He’s thrown in jail, but not convicted due to lack of evidence. Now the damage is done, and he’s effectively labeled a child murderer.

Callie Mae Lockett will never forget the night her beloved brother died. She loathes T.J. with every fiber of her being. So imagine her dismay when she learns that her mother gave T.J. some prime land on the family ranch prior to Danny’s death. Callie Mae needs to get that land back because the good townsfolk want to use it for horse racing and other amusements. Callie Mae would rather eat worms. Determined to get back that land, she and her fiancé, Kullen, ride out to T.J.’s spread to talk to him. Naturally, all hell breaks loose.

In the ensuing drama, T.J.’s prize-thoroughbred breaks free. T.J. was counting on that horse to restore his reputation. In the heat of the moment, he kidnaps Callie Mae, and forces her to ride off with him to find the horse. He is also desperate to learn the truth behind Danny’s death, and is determined to show Callie Mae he’s not the monster she thinks he is.

The main issue with this story is the conflict. T.J. is bent out of shape because everyone thinks he’s a child murderer, and he’s stung by the fact that the girl he’s always loved thinks he’s scum. Um, hello?! He confessed to doing it! He said he did it! Of course the dead boy’s sister isn’t going to like you anymore! Geez, get a clue.

Callie Mae doesn’t fare that much better, mainly because it takes her a little too long to see the truth smacking her in the face. The events prior to T.J. kidnapping her should have told her beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was rotten in Denmark. Yet she continually fights it. Even after a large chunk of the truth comes out regarding the night Danny died, she still doesn’t fully admit to herself that everything she thought she knew was all based on lies. After a while I wanted to tell the girl to wake up and smell the coffee already.

There’s some back-story here related to the first book in this series, Untamed Cowboy, but the author does a decent job of bringing the reader up to speed. There were a few moments of series-info-dumping, but these moments were very brief, and on the whole, this story read fast and easy. Fans of the first book will likely enjoy this return visit with past characters, but it never registered above “OK” for this reviewer.

Grade: C

Summary:

TAKEN! Callie Mae Lockett had once trusted TJ Grier, cared for him even, but then her brother was killed and TJ took the blame. Now he wants a chance to clear his name, even if that means kidnapping Callie Mae….

REDEEMED?

Alone in the wilderness with TJ, Callie Mae should feel afraid. Instead, she is attracted to this rugged cowboy and begins to believe in his innocence. But the truth will be dangerous for both of them and, with time running out, can TJ clear his name and claim his woman?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

by Pam Crooks

First off, I have to thank Sybil and her gang for taking Harlequin Historicals under their romance-lovin’ wings and giving us such a wonderful opportunity to talk about our books. We love you, Syb!

Okay – here we go. From the time man learned to climb on a horse, his competitive nature has instilled in him a love for racing. Wagering inevitably followed. Be it the thrill of the game, or the lure of riches in whatever form, and for whatever reason, cowboys all over the world have loved to race.

My hero in Kidnapped By the Cowboy, TJ Grier, is no different. For him, to right a wrong that ruined his reputation, the need for racing consumes him. He’s placed all his hopes and dreams in one horse. He has a point to prove, a new life to make. But when that horse is heartlessly taken from him, he kidnaps Callie Mae Lockett to find him and the truth that has haunted them both.

While I was writing this book, I learned just how much racing and competition was a part of the western culture and a cowboy’s life. Indeed, it has spanned centuries, as early as the Moorish occupation of Spain, and spreading its enthusiasm to Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, and so on, and finally to America. Charros (upper-class horsemen) and vaqueros (working cowboys), gaucho or llanero—it didn’t matter. Cowboys lived and breathed racing, in one form or another.

We all know about bull riding and barrel racing, but I was amazed at some of the um, more unusual racing games they played. Here’s a few:

• The rooster shoot. Despite its name, this one had nothing to do with a rooster. The men lashed their right wrists together with rawhide thongs while mounted in the saddle. At a signal, the horses began to race side by side until one rider pulled the other off his horse. The winner was the man who was the strongest and most able to keep his seat. Yeesh!

• Roping grizzly bears. Oh, my. This one was especially popular in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Several cowboys would lasso the bear around his feet and neck, choking off his air to subdue him. They’d then trail him back to town, taunting him along the way, baiting him to charge. Once in town, they’d find a wild bull and pit them against each other. Spectators cheered to see the bear kill the bulls until he eventually succumbed himself from being gored so many times.

• Chicken pulling. Now I wrote about this game in my book, The Mercenary’s Kiss. Using a rooster, duck or chicken, cowboys would either tie the bird to a tree or–more commonly–bury the chicken in the ground up to its neck. Horsemen would race up to the bird, and whoever plucked it out of the ground was chased by the other riders. The first rider to cross the finish line with the bird in hand was the winner–and got to keep the chicken as his prize. (In Mexico, the vaqueros took the winnings a step further–by grandly presenting the fowl to the woman he most wanted to impress.)

Like I said, these are only a few of the games and contests cowboys enjoyed–some far more violent than others. And quite unusual, eh?

How about you? Are you a racing fan? What do you love to race, either watching or participating? Is there something else that you do that really gets the adrenaline going?

Join in the discussion and be eligible to win an autographed copy of Kidnapped By the Cowboy and a hunky cowboy fan!

Kidnapped by the Cowboy is a follow up to Pam’s Harlequin Historical Untamed Cowboy.

And since I am reading this at the time I am putting this post together, I can tell you, tis grand. Well at least to the halfway point, I will let you know what I think when I am done . For now here is the summary, enjoy an excerpt and we will have Pam Crook’s guest post at 11 am!

Kidnapped by the Cowboy by Pam Crooks

Callie Mae Lockett is betrayed by the man who claims he’s responsible for her young brother’s tragic death. She chooses another to help carry on her precious legacy, the C Bar C Ranch , and he’s the farthest thing from a cowboy she’s ever met.

TJ Grier has always been one of the C Bar C’s best cowboys, but one horrible night destroys all he’s ever known.

Desperate to prove his innocence, he steals Callie Mae away, and together they plunge into danger to solve the secret that has torn them apart.

She’d learned to live in the shadows.

They became her refuge when her mind wouldn’t rest. When the pain reared up like an angry demon to thrash at her insides and make her bleed. Set her heart to pounding and her body shaking and her fears turning hauntingly real.

Like now. Late at night.

The pain always came then. When it was dark and she was alone. Forcing her body to crave the whiskey that was slowly killing her.

But her soul needed comfort, her memories needed numbing.

Her mistakes forgiven, most of all.

Another swig of rotgut helped her breathe, and she leaned her head back against the rough siding of the horse barn. The scent of fresh-cut wood surrounded her, soaked into the fragile threads of her awareness.

The timbers were new. So new they had yet to feel the pelting from a summer rain or be dressed in their first coat of paint. They came together to form a structure the likes she’d never seen, and the new barn, the grandest of gifts, would last a lifetime.

Like the C Bar C ranch and its legacy.

Her gaze lifted to the house sprawled in the distance, perched like a giant beast on the hill. Every window had a light shining through it, and the night carried strains of laughter and music.

A party given by Carina Lockett-McClure and her husband, Penn, to celebrate their daughter’s return from a summer spent in Europe. Folks from all over the Texas Panhandle came to see Callie Mae and welcome her back home, all the while flaunting their money, fancy clothes and high-society ways.

They wouldn’t know about pain and shadows. They wouldn’t need whiskey to help them survive.

She tried to feel contempt and failed. Her mistakes had always been her own.

She lifted the bottle again, but her tongue found only a trickle of liquor left.

It didn’t matter. She had more.

She was careful not to toss aside the empty container, evidence of her addiction. Instead, she tucked the bottle under her arm while using the other to brace herself against the side of the barn, her palm hardly aware of the roughness of the wood. Her gait was steadier this way. More sure. And she easily moved through the darkness toward the back door.

But suddenly, something didn’t feel right.

She froze, her senses sluggish, her mind working to figure out why.

The faint sounds of music and laughter were barely discernible now. She swept an uneasy glance around her, but the silence, the moonlight, revealed nothing.

Only the scent of so much lumber seemed real.

She shook off her unease and knew it was her guilt from the whiskey that made her feel that way. She kept moving down the side of the barn, and rounding the corner, she halted again, this time her attention caught by tiny flickering lights in the distance. A couple of dozen, at least. Torches spread out along a makeshift track.

The C Bar C outfit was indulging in some late-night horse racing, it seemed. This far from the main house, distracted by their guests, Carina and Penn wouldn’t see. If they did, they wouldn’t approve. Racing, drinking and gambling were against the rules. Most likely, the outfit was doing a little of all three.

Their secret would be safe with her. She’d enjoyed the vices a time or two herself in her younger days. Who was she to tell them it was wrong?

She shifted her attention to the door, unlocked as she’d known it would be. She fumbled with the latch. The new hinges squeaked from her pull, and the door swung open.

She slipped inside. The C Bar C horses hadn’t been stabled yet, but lighting a lantern would be a surefire way of alerting someone she was up to no good, and even drunk, she wasn’t that stupid. She knew where to go, the exact place where she’d hidden a brand new bottle of Old Fitz.

She left the door partially open, needing what little moonlight seeped inward to find her way. Gathering her courage, she veered left, down a narrow corridor toward a small apartment tucked behind the last stall. No light shown beneath the closed door, and cautious relief swept through her. She was foolish to be here, doing what she was doing. If anyone saw her, TJ especially . . ..

Behind her, the hinges squeaked again.

She froze.

“TJ? Are you in here?”

Her heartbeat dipped at the young voice calling hesitantly into the darkness. The barn door opened wider. Moonlight spilled in. She pressed back against the wall, deeper into the shadows.

“Hey, TJ?”

Danny McClure, Penn and Carina’s ten-year-old son, stepped inside, holding a lantern. He set the lamp down, then squatted, struck a match, and lit the wick. Golden lamplight flared around him, and he straightened.

He was still dressed in his grey knee pants and coat, white shirt and tie. Which meant he’d come straight from his sister’s party. All the way from the main house.

Alone.

To see TJ?

Her whiskey-numb mind strove to figure it. TJ wouldn’t have asked Danny to come. Not like this. Carina would never have allowed it, besides, even to see one of the best wranglers in her outfit.

Penn wouldn’t, either.

Which meant they didn’t know Danny was here.

“I can take you to him.”

She started at the unexpected voice, and Danny’s dark head whipped toward the sound, a low drawl sliding smooth through the darkness. Footsteps approached. Out of the shadows, a man appeared. Short, wiry. In no hurry.

A shiver of unease crept down her spine.

She knew all the ranch’s cowboys, had cooked for them down at the bunkhouse one time or another. If she didn’t know their names, she knew their faces.

And this one she’d never seen before.

At least, she didn’t think so.

He wore his hat funny. Down over his face. On his nose, almost. Even in the dark.

Her heart began a slow, troubled thud . . . while her whiskey-numb brain churned to place him.

To understand.

Danny cocked his head. “Who are you?”

The man halted. He smiled.

“A friend,” he said.

“Of TJ’s?”

His shoulder lifted in a careless shrug. “Something like that.”

“Where is he?”

“I’m a friend of your father’s, too,” the man said. He smiled again.

She didn’t like the looks of that smile. She’d seen it too often from the men in her life. Men who never meant the things they said. Who only smiled like that when they wanted something.

Something wrong.

She swallowed and tried not to be afraid. For herself. For Danny. She didn’t want to listen to what the nagging voice in her head tried to tell her.

“The lady said he’d be here waiting.” Frowning, Danny took a sideways step, as if to check for himself the shadows behind the stranger.

But the stranger took a step, too. So he couldn’t.

“TJ’s not here,” he purred.

“He’s not?” Danny’s expression turned nervous. “Guess she was wrong, then, huh?”

He was trying to be brave, she realized, but apprehension threaded his words. She could feel his fear, building with her own. Higher with every pulsating second.

She didn’t want him to feel the fear. To see how ugly life could be. Danny McClure was only a child, his world fiercely protected. Filled with love and happiness.

“I’ll take you to him, Danny-boy. We’ll find TJ together.” The stranger reached toward him, slow and easy.

Her heart pounded harder.

The warning voice shouted louder.

Nobody called Danny McClure ‘Danny-boy’. Ever. He despised the nickname. He always had, and every cowboy on the C Bar C–every single one–knew it, honored it, and obeyed that one little rule.

Never call Danny ‘Danny-boy.’

The stranger broke the rule. Because he didn’t know. Because he wasn’t C Bar C. And if she didn’t do something to help Danny, if she didn’t listen to that voice screaming inside her head, insisting there was no one else, no one else, no one else . . ..

Oh, God. Oh, God.

She eased away from the wall, curled her fingers around the tall neck of the whiskey bottle tucked under her arm.

“Come with me,” the man said. “Let’s find TJ, Danny-boy.”

“No!” he shouted and leapt back, but the stranger was bigger, faster, and he grabbed Danny’s arm with a curse.

The rage broke free. She burst from the shadows with a wild shriek. “Leave him alone!”

The stranger whirled toward her.

Danny’s eyes widened in recognition, and if he said anything, if he called out her name, she didn’t hear it, not when she was driven by the raging voice of fear inside her.

“Let him go. Let him go!” She hurtled toward them, her arm lifting, her grip on the bottle desperate. The stranger twisted, shielding himself against her blow, but still she swung, hard, as hard as she could, and the glass crashed against his head. His hat flipped to the ground. He staggered back, and Danny broke free.

“Run, Danny!” she shouted.

The stranger bellowed, and he lunged for the boy, but Danny reacted, swinging the lantern to fend him off. The man’s arm came up, deflecting the blow. The lantern sailed to the ground and shattered.

“Go, Danny!” she yelled, frantic, insistent, and she came at the stranger again, throwing herself at him with all the strength she had. He knew her now, knew that she was there, and he pushed her off easily, as if she weighed nothing at all.

She catapulted to the ground with a jarring thud, but not before the jagged edges of the whiskey bottle still gripped in her fist slashed across his jaw. He blinked, momentarily stunned. The skin fell open, and a long line of crimson streamed down his face.

Flames exploded from the shattered lantern and licked hungrily at the nearest stall, their fiery hunger frenzied, insatiable, for fresh lumber.

She stared, horrified.

Until a flurry of movement pierced the horror. Danny running for the door, and the stranger going after him, snarling his rage.

She scrambled to her feet, flung aside the piece of glass, her fear for Danny tearing through her. She had to save him, or he’d be taken from them all, and she stumbled down the narrow corridor, swathed in firelight, to the small apartment and the shotgun she knew was there.

TJ always kept the only weapon he owned propped in the corner, and she found it easily, her fear building, giving her strength. The flames burned, blinding and fierce, yet somehow she managed her way through to the outside.

She ran until she found them, heading toward the main house. The shadowed shape of the stranger, giving chase to the boy. She’d never learned to shoot, not really, and oh God, it was so dark, but she had to try.

For Danny, she had to make the stranger stop.

She halted, took aim, her eye on the man’s back. Just then, he turned, a quick glance over his shoulder for anyone in pursuit.

Seeing her, his step faltered.

She fired.

* * *

Time ceased to exist.

Her mind had lost its function, the ability to comprehend anything but the terrible mistake she’d made.

It was how TJ found her. Numb and mindless. On her knees in front of the unmoving shape. Guilty of one more wrong in her life.

TJ was the one thing she’d ever managed to get right, but he looked appalled at what she’d done. Stricken with grief.

Fear choked at her insides. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She knew only that she didn’t deserve to live.

From somewhere on the fringes of her comprehension, horses’ hooves thundered. Voices yelled. Flames roared into the sky.

Shadows hid her, but not for long. The darkness would never be her salvation again.

“Let me handle this,” TJ said. He dragged in air, his voice unsteady but his words rough with urgency. “Don’t say anything to anyone. Y’hear me? Don’t say anything.”

She whimpered and tried to understand, to know what he intended to do.

“Go,” he said and gave her a firm nudge. “Get away from here.”

Confusion swirled through her sluggish brain. “But–.”

“Go, damn it.”

The fear in her responded to his command, the need for him to take care of her when she was so weak, and trusting him, like she’d always trusted him, she fled into the night.

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