My Favorite Westerns

I wanted to post a list of my favorite westerns for KristieJ's "Great Western Drive" (and Sybil & Wendy too). Okay, I know I'm two weeks late, so sue me.

I love Western Romances because the men and women were so tough, gritty, hard-working and persistent. But they were flawed and sometimes damaged people. I also love all the different characters besides cowboys, ranchers and farmers. There are doctors, gamblers, cavalry and mounties, outlaws, bounty hunters, gunslingers, just to name a few. And the women were the most amazing. They cooked, cleaned, gave birth, raised their children and helped their husbands or ran the ranch themselves, all at the same time. They endured fires, floods, indian raids, starvation, the loss of children and husbands but they were tough and they kept going. Several of my favorite westerns involve women who are desperate to save their farm/ranch and so marry some very shady characters.

The following are my favorites in no particular order. Some of them you may have already heard of and some of them may be hard to find but try PBS if you can't find them on Amazon, or at your local UBS. Most of these are keepers for me.

One Lonely Night by Susan Kay Law
The beginning of this book reminded me very much of Linda Howard's White Out. One night during a raging blizzard a stranger shows up on the doorstep of a lonely spinster and collapses at her feet.




The Wives of Bowie Stone by Maggie Osborne
My review
Heroine marries a condemned man to save him from hanging and help her run the farm.





Joe's Wife by Cheryl St. John
My review
A young widow is afraid she will lose her ranch so she proposes marriage to a war veteran to help her run it. An emotional love story and a real tearjerker.






Prairie Wife by Cheryl St. John
Review
A marriage in trouble story about a couple who have lost a child. Another emotional tearjerker that was very well done.





His Secondhand Wife by Cheryl St. John
My review
A very strong heroine finds out she is pregnant after her husband is killed in a brawl. His half-brother is terribly scarred from injuries suffered when he tangled with some barbed wire at a young age and offers her a home with him. Another wonderful emotional story.



Rainbow Season by Lisa Gregory (aka Candace Camp)
An excellent redemption story with a tortured hero to die for.







A Reason to Live by Maureen McKade
My review
A road romance about a nurse and an ex-gunslinger as they travel from Virginia to Texas in post-Civil War era. Very powerful story.





High Plains Bride by Jenna Kernan
Heroine's twelve year old daughter is kidnapped by the Sioux. She also discovers that her husband let her believe he was dead for years. So she demands his help in rescuing their daughter.





The Horse Soldier by Merline Lovelace
Review (TRR)
Review (AAR)
A woman searching for her husband travels to Fort Laramie Wyoming instead finds the man she secretly married years before ... and who she thought was dead.



The Outlaw by Nicole Jordan
My review.
Romeo and Juliet type story. H/H fall in love even though their families are enemies. They become separated when hero is accused of murder and he runs away. Now he is back and has cleared up the charges against him.

1st book in Rocky Mountain trilogy.


The Heart Breaker by Nicole Jordan
My review.
Marriage of convenience story. A Colorado rancher needs a wife and mother for his infant daughter.

2nd book in the Rocky Mountain "trilogy".

Nicole Jordan keeps promising the 3rd book (Wolf's story) for years but she never completed it. Here is what I found on her website:

I would love to be able to write Book 3, Wolf's story – and in fact I have it all plotted out. But my publisher wants me to wait until the market for Western romances is stronger. So regrettably, it will be a while longer for Wolf.

*sigh* Same old story. You think maybe the "Great Western Drive" may have helped and maybe we'll get Wolf's story? Don't hold your breath.

Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty

COPYRIGHT: 2004
PAGES: 349
SETTING: Historical - American West
TYPE: Straight Romance
SERIES: 1st book in the Promises series
SENSUALITY: Burning Hot (yes!)

REASON FOR READING:
KarenS reviewed Promises Prevail and loved it, but she recommended I start with the first in the series. I'm glad I did since most of the characters in the series are introduced here.

SUMMARY:

1868 Wyoming Territory

Elizabeth Coyote will do anything, anything at all, to save the ranch she loves, including marrying Asa MacIntyre, a broad shouldered, lean hipped silver eyed gunslinger with a ruthless reputation for getting the job done.

Asa dreams of a place of his own, a wife, and the respect that comes with both. Marrying Elizabeth may have started as a means to an end, but nothing in Asa's wildest dreams prepares him for the excitement of unleashing the carnal woman beneath his wife's prim and proper exterior.

THOUGHTS / OPINION:
This was my first book by Sarah McCarty and I was impressed. This book was just the ticket and pushed all my buttons (the good ones). I love westerns and well written erotic love scenes and the marriage of convenience storyline is one of my favorites. Although not perfect, it was a very enjoyable read.

Asa MacIntyre was a wonderful hero, sweet, funny, and very sexy. And very protective of Elizabeth. But Elizabeth was harder to warm up to. She was an independent strong character who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it, but on the other hand I found her rather humorless and prickly or maybe it was just that she was too serious. Asa loved to tease her, but most of the time she was clueless. Asa had a difficult childhood with a prostitute mother but he wasn't scarred by it and had a good sense of humor with a determination to live his dream of a wife and home. He wants a complete marriage but she want to maintain a cool distance. Elizabeth was raised by a brutal father and her skittishness is understandable but I still thought she was a bit annoying. Although their chemistry is hot, she takes quite a long time to admit that she loves him.

Asa and Elizabeth work together to save their ranch from foreclosure. Asa believes her old friend is trying to sabatoge the ranch but Elizabeth has a hard time believing it. The mystery around the sabatoge was just enough to keep the story moving along.

PL had a good plot, great character development, and some very erotic love scenes. The sex on horseback scene is worth the price of the book alone. Now gotta dig out Promises Keep from my TBR mountain. After that Promises Prevail.

GRADE: B+