Two Books For the Price Of One

Strong Cowboys, Strong Women, Strong Love! 

Great Authors

 

FIRST BOOK:  GIVE ME A TEXAS OUTLAW

The Touch of An Outlaw by Jodi Thomas

First is a story of an outlaw; Michael Hughes and a young woman pregnant and unwed, Cozette Camanez; both have never known love. Fate has a forever love in their future as these two find the love of a lifetime.

Between Michael’s three bumbling outlaw Uncles, a marriage of convenience to hide the fact she is pregnant, and Cozette’s evil Uncle this is a wonderful story of love, evil conquered and two people forming a family unit with the bumbling Uncles.

The Uncles added so much to this story as Michael tries to keep them on the straight and narrow. I was intrigued by the story from the first page. Ms. Thomas has a way with humor and knows how to hook you from the beginning of the story to the last page.

The pacing of the story was good and the plot well planned. The story never lagged and I never lost interest; I had to know what was happening next. Don’t miss this one.

 

 

Trouble in Petticoats by Linda Broday

Larissa Patrick’s ten-year-old sister is kidnapped. Her father has hired an outlaw, Johnny Diamond to get her back. What follows is, a race by Larissa and Johnny to save her sister, fall in love and face many dangerous situations. Ms. Broday set up the story well and kept my interest from the beginning; the story is plotted well and the pacing never lagged as we watch Johnny and Larissa characters grow; Johnny’s emotions were red hot for Larissa and Ms. Broday brought out his true character as a good strong dependable man. I loved this sweet story.

 

 

Texas Flame by Miranda Phyliss

This is the story of the lawman, Ethan Kimble and red-headed Anna Parker, the bank-robbing outlaw; they grew up together and once upon a time were friends. He’s found her in a canyon with a young man, Dakota who is not quite all there; he is very child like and simple.

Ethan’s been chasing her for six hundred miles; finally the showdown has come or as Anna puts it, “her day of reckoning had come”. Ms. Phyliss intrigues the reader with a mystery about Anna and the young childlike young man she has under her care; Dakota’s story you will not want to miss, what a surprise it was to me.

The mystery involving Dakota Ms. Phyliss did not reveal for some time. Evil is tracking Dakota and Anna and it will come to a head in the Canyon. The pacing was good and never lagged; I never lost interest. I had to find out about Anna’s mystery, how did she become an outlaw with the handsome Texas Ranger after her.

Ms. Phyliss filled the story with mystery, fear, attraction, love; a lot of emotion. The love between Ethan and Anna was portrayed so sweetly. Ms. Phyliss ended this story with an epilogue that will make you smile and it will give you insight into Anna, Ethan, and Dakota’s life after the canyon. You will enjoy this story very much.

 

 

Most Wanted by Dewanna Pace

Any story that starts with a quote from John Wayne has to be a good story. Shadow Rivers was a gun for hire, aka a shootist. Ms. Pace portrayed the life of a hired gun very well, I could feel Shadows regret at the life he had led working both sides of the law; he knew someone would always be looking for him, trying to out draw the best.

A jailbreak (from an unlocked cell) by a damsel in distress Odessa Kilmore, and a request for help from said damsel; Ms. Pace must have a good sense of humor as I laughed and laughed when Odessa roped the wrong man and in so many other places in this story.

I love a story with humor. I could also feel the pain of Odessa living a life in which the good people of the community set a double standard. Ms. Pace gave the gunslinger a way to repay the Sheriff for redeeming him from a life of crime; Shadow begins a journey he will never regret with Odessa.

This book ran the range of emotions from sadness, heartache, and regret, to compassion and happiness. Ms. Pace created a story that is well worth reading.

I found her writing style well done, the pacing was good, and it kept my interest from the John Wayne quote to the last page. The story never lagged. This was an enjoyable read.

 

 

SECOND BOOK:  GIVE ME A COW BOY

Silent Partner by Jodi Thomas

Rowdy Darnell is an ex-con, convicted unfairly at fifteen years old to prison where he worked with horses and cattle. Laurel Hayes is the eldest of three daughters and she is plain and has old maid written across her forehead; her sisters are prissy, silly, and beautiful.

Laurel keeps her fathers books and he is marrying her off to a prim, stuck-up twerp who expects her to continue working for her father, daily in his bank and in her spare time do the washing, cooking, and cleaning, oh and have babies. Laurel wants a way out.

Rowdy wants the cattle up for grabs at the rodeo. Rowdy and Laurel make a deal, she backs half the entry money in the Kasota rodeo and becomes his silent partner; this will be her way out-of-town.

Ms. Thomas filled this story with emotion; I could feel Laurels pain, and horror at being married off without even being ask, her pain of being left to fend for herself by her sisters, and her emotional pain of being the plain ugly sister and never being loved.

I could feel the evilness of her father. I could feel Rowdy’s pain of never being good enough for the good folks of the town, an ex con not good enough for Laurel, and his desire for more. Ms. Thomas developed these characters expertly.

I ran the gauntlet of emotions reading this story from extreme sadness to extreme happiness as I watched Laurel and Rowdy dance around each other in the dance of love. I wanted to slap her father into kingdom come, what a piece of work Ms. Thomas created in that man.

Ms. Thomas paced the story well, the plot was very interesting, and Rowdy and Laurel were perfect for each other; Ms. Thomas created two wounded people who needed each other. The epilogue was wonderful, and as I read the last sentence it was so sweet, I cried.

This is was a wonderfully entertaining story, it was a joy to review.

 

 

 Luck of the Draw by Dewanna Pace

Dally Angelo is a bull rider in 1890 Texas. A bull called Bone Buster killed Dally’s father and Dally sworn to ride him in revenge; he’s in Kasota Springs, Texas to take that bull down during the Rodeo. That decision had a great impact on his life as he lost the one true love of his life, Augusta Garrison.

Augusta refused to stay with him as long as he intended to ride Bone Crusher. She gave him back his ring and left town after his Dally’s father’s funeral.

Augusta, aka Gus, has secrets; secrets she must hide from Dally. But secrets have a way of eating at your soul.   Ms. Pace did a good job of setting up the story and pacing the story.

Augusta’s secrets added mystery to the story, and kept the interest in the story at a high peak. The love between these two was hot and deep. However, this story did not have the feel of an 1890’s western to me as Gus is a rodeo clown, and in the 1890’s I couldn’t imagine a woman would be allowed to take part in that profession in any capacity. I think would have been off-limits.

Gus and Dally have a rough road ahead of them, but Ms. Pace brought all the threads of the story together, revealed the secrets and provided a sweet love story.

 

 

Texas Tempest By Linda Broday

McKenna Smith aka the Guardian of Justice, rides into Kasota Springs, Texas and the first thing he sees is a beautiful woman patting 5 headstones in the cemetery. This is Tempest LeDoux our heroine of this story.

McKenna has spent his life dodging bullets and in hard living, undertakers even has his measurements ready for the time he’s not fast enough with his gun. What a hero Ms. Broday created for this story. He will make your blood pressure rise.

He is immediately attracted to Tempest and the attraction is mutual. Tempest lives by her own rules regardless of what society thinks. She is just the heroine for McKenna; she’s strong, bossy, independent, all woman, and on the prowl for a new husband.

Ms. Broday’s creation includes, bank robbers, chases, hot attraction, strip poker, betting on anything and everything in town, potions, and romance. This is a tale you won’t want to miss as Tempest chases her man.

The story was humorous, plotted well, and the red-hot attraction was well written. You will love this story.

 

 

Roping the Wind by Miranda Phyliss

We are back in Kasota Springs, Texas and our story continues with Morgan Payne as he arrives in town dressed as a dandy. Unfortunately he is immediately shot with an arrow in a every delicate place and as an undercover Pinkerton Agent he doesn’t have his guns on his hip!

This is the entry of our heroine of this story, Alaine LaDoux, daughter of Tempest LeDoux. Remember Tempest is the widow that has had five husbands and was looking again in the previous story.

McKenna Smith the famous gunman, called the Guardian of Justice, is still in town and part of this story. Ms. Phyliss filled this story with strong characters, robberies, attempted kidnappings, adventure, mystery, cattle rustling, two women and cowboys who find their forever love and lots of action.

Oh my, the wild cow-milking contest was hilarious.

It took strong men and women to settle the west and this story has them in spades. The plotting was good and the pacing was spot on. You will love this story as well.

 

Recommendation:

Each story in this book is great and the joint length of the stories are a total of 670 pages. I enjoyed each book and salute the authors as their creations gave me a respite from my days and transported me to the old west. Each author is seasoned and talented.  I would recommend this book to anyone that like western romances that are well written and enjoyable.

Books reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion;  book reviews on line under my name are my opinion.

 

Link To Authors Websites Or Facebook Page

Linda Broday

Miranda Phyliss

Dewanna Pace

Jodi Thomas