Category: American Historical

The Cowboy’s Honor by Amy Sandas

On By TracyIn American Historical, Historical Western Romance, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Cowboy's Honor (Runaway Brides, #2)The Cowboy’s Honor by Amy Sandas

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Runaway Brides, #2

Release Date: February 26, 2019

When Courtney Adams flees her wedding and heads west to find her friend Alexandra, the last thing she ever expected was to find herself mistaken for a mail order bride and married to a very grumpy and extremely handsome cattle rancher!

Dean Lawton has had enough of his younger brother Randall’s interference in his life, he tells Randall point blank to butt out, but when he arrives in town to pick up supplies and stops by the post office to collect a “very important” package for Randall – he assumes the beautiful woman in the wedding dress at the post office is Randall’s “package” and feels honor bound to marry her – but doesn’t bother to inform her of that fact.

Courtney is grateful to the cowboy for helping her, but is confused why he insists on taking her to see the local judge and has her witness a wedding. It isn’t until they get back to his ranch that she learns the truth – she didn’t witness a wedding – she got married! Once Dean realizes his horrific error, he promises to fix it – but the judge isn’t easily swayed – he insists that they live together for a month before he will even consider dissolving their marriage.

Dean is extremely unhappy about this – Courtney makes him feel things that he has no time or desire to feel. He has his hands full with his ranch and trying to find out who is slaughtering his cattle. Besides, Courtney is a city girl, she will never be happy as a rancher’s wife – she is spoiled and pampered and totally unprepared for life on the range.

He is 100% right, Courtney is spoiled and pampered – but he completely underestimates his temporary wife, because besides being spoiled and pampered, she is smart, determined and possesses an optimistic outlook on life. So no, ending up married to a grumpy cowboy wasn’t her plan, but she will make the best of it. Instead of pouting and expecting to be waited on, she learns to cook and care for the house and slowly worms her way into her cowboy’s heart. Dean acknowledges that Courtney is not what he believed and a bit of hope blossoms as they grow closer and eventually become intimate.

But a partially overheard conversation, a deranged lunatic and past heartache may prevent them from ever having their HEA.

This was a wonderful story, well written and filled with great characters, steamy love scenes, a bit of laughter, a little drama and a dash of angst to keep it interesting. While I did want to smack Dean a time or ten, he completely redeems himself at the end. My only complaint is the book ends a little abruptly and really could have benefited from an epilogue, but even without that, it is a fantastic read and I am happy to recommend it!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publister.*

A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe

On By TracyIn America's Gilded Age (1870-1900), American Historical, Tracy's Reviews1 Comment

A Notorious Vow (The Four Hundred, #3)A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe

Tracy’s rating: 4/4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Four Hundred, #3

Release Date: September 25, 2018

I thought this was a solid 4 star read, maybe even 4.5 stars…

Lady Christina Barclay is in in New York City with her parents, who have left England under a cloud of scandal and unpaid debts. Her parents want to marry her off to a rich man as soon as possible and have gotten an “in” to NY society via her mother’s cousin. Christina is meek and painfully shy, she hates crowds and escapes to the solitude of her cousin’s reclusive neighbor’s garden whenever she gets a chance. On this day, she is taken by surprise by a very large dog, the dog knocks her down and she is knocked out and ultimately rescued by the reclusive neighbor, Oliver Hawkes.

Oliver Hawkes never intended to be a recluse, but after losing his hearing at 13 and trying to fit into society, he decided he would rather not subject himself to cruel, ignorant people and has made a life for himself alone, he is filthy rich and incredibly smart. He uses both of those resources for his experiments and inventions. He is not happy to find a trespasser in his garden, but he is honorable and takes her in and sends for a doctor. When Christina wakes, she is embarrassed and scared, when the butler, Gill explains that Oliver is deaf, but can read lips, she forces herself to look at him while thanking him. They talk, with Gill acting as a translator. Later she learns that he can speak, but he choses not to, he makes an exception for Christina and even teaches her a few words in sign language, but then he tells her she is not welcome in his garden, he wants to be left alone. She leaves.

Days later, he sees her in the garden again, he brings her inside and they talk, she again asks if she can walk in the gardens and this time, he agrees. She watches him work and he teaches her a few more words before she leaves. She really likes Oliver and feels comfortable with him, but he has made it clear, he wants to be alone.

When her parents try to marry her off to a vile old man, Mr. Van Peet, she runs to Oliver for advice. Her parents are truly awful people, her father is self absorbed and her mother is emotionally and verbally abusive. They don’t care what Christina wants, they need money and she is just a means to an end for them. When Van Peet does something that terrifies Christina, she again runs to Oliver, knowing her parents would do nothing to help her. Oliver is appalled and agrees to help her run away. But before they can form a plan, her parents burst in and insist that Oliver marry her. He refuses at first, but then changes his mind and insist they marry immediately. What he doesn’t tell Christina is that it will be a temporary marriage in name only.

At least that was Oliver’s plan, but as the days pass and he gets to know her, he begins to think that maybe they could have a real marriage. But there are those who will do anything to keep them apart and when his greedy cousin Milton has him declared insane, Christina will have to put all her fears aside to save the man she loves.

I really enjoyed this story and found it a refreshing change from the more traditional historical romances I generally read. It was well written, steamy, fast paced and interesting. There are cameos from Nora, Julius and the rakish lawyer Frank Tripp and well as some wonderful secondary characters and some really nasty villains. I would have given the book 5 stars, I could understand why Christina was timid, but I never really understood why she had so many fears and why she was so shy. I also never learned what the scandal that drove them from London was or why everyone kept saying how strong she was, because she ran away and cried a lot, she wouldn’t stand up for herself and even at the end needed to be almost forced to speak on Oliver’s behalf in public. These things along with some timeline errors kept this from being a 5 star read for me, but I would absolutely read the book again and would happily recommend it. It is the third book in the series, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by Edelweiss and the publisher.*