Tag: Michelle McLean

Hitched to the Gunslinger by Michelle Mclean

On By TracyIn American Historical, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Western Historical RomanceLeave a comment

Hitched to the GunslingerHitched to the Gunslinger by Michelle McLean

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: August 24, 2021

Gunslinger Gray “Quick Shot” Woodson, is tired and just wants to retire in peace, but that is turning out to be harder than he anticipated. Shaking off the hero-worshiping young man, Jason Sunshine, who has been trying to get Gray to teach him the “trade”, he takes off in search of a place to settle. Someplace where he can nap in peace and where everyone isn’t trying to kill him – but instead he finds himself caught up in an altercation between a feisty woman and some rough-looking men, a situation he plans on ignoring until he is recognized by the men and the woman claims he is her fiancé!

Mercy Douglas shocks herself by claiming the notorious gunfighter is her betrothed, but with her father dead and her neighbor Josiah Banff trying to strong-arm her off her property, she willingly lied when she saw Josiah’s reaction to Gray. Thankfully, Gray plays along and Josiah leaves. Leaving Mercy to deal with her “fiancé” Gray agrees to stick around – but makes it clear, he is not fighting her battles and he is not teaching her how to shoot – he is retired. Mercy agrees to his terms – sorta – but disrupts his peace every chance she gets – including making him take a bath, feeding him semi-edible food, finding the guns he keeps hiding, and making him care – something he never wanted to do – EVER.

Mercy’s antics aside, Gray thinks he will just relax for a bit, letting his reputation keep Mercy’s tormentor at bay, but things don’t go as planned. Not only does Jason show up, but Gray soon finds himself married to Mercy AND the new sheriff of Desolation, and if that isn’t enough – someone has placed a bounty on his head! So much for a quiet retirement – but despite it all, Gray is happy and thinks that maybe he has found a home – but when Mercy gets caught up in an attempt on his life, he realizes that HEA may have been too much to hope for…

This was a well-written, nicely-paced, mostly light-hearted fun story with an amazing cast of characters! I really loved this book, it was such a refreshing change of pace from the typical angst-filled HR books I have been reading lately. I loved that Gray was not a drop-dead Adonis, who sported a six-pack and that Mercy had no qualms about poking fun at him – their banter was priceless making this a truly enjoyable read, one that only got better when Jason Sunshine and the assorted townsfolk were thrown into the mix! The book has laugh-out-loud moments, a wonderful cast of supporting characters, steamyish love scenes, a grumpy hero who just wants a nap, an independent, spirited heroine who can’t cook, a stubborn horse, a great ending in which the villain gets his due and our lovers get their HEA as well as an epilogue! My only complaint about this book is that I have no idea where or when it is set –the town of Desolation is in the very ambiguous “Wild West” with no dates given meaning it could be anytime between 1700 and 1890 and while it isn’t necessary to have that information, it is something I like to know when I am reading. This was my first Western HR by this author, but I can assure you it will not be my last and I would enthusiastically recommend this title and look forward to reading more from this author.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

How To Forgive A Highlander by Michelle McLean

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Middle Ages / Medieval (476-1454), Scottish/HighlanderLeave a comment

How to Forgive a HighlanderBarbara’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The MacGregor Lairds #4
Publication Date: 7/8/19
Number of Pages: 214

This was a fast-paced, action-filled read and I enjoyed it. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series and felt perfectly comfortable with this one. There was a bit of ‘repeat’ of things from previous books, but only to add to the context in this book. I don’t feel as if I missed anything by not having read the earlier books. One thing I have noticed from discussions of the series – the couples are all into bickering. This book takes place at the same time as book #3 – How To Blackmail A Highlander – and features the heroine’s lady’s maid and the cousin to the hero.

Rose Thatcher, lady’s maid to Lady Alice Chivers, loves her lady, England and her life in London. Her family is all there and she loves living in the Chivers household. Yet, she is standing on the dock in Dover watching a ship, with her lady on it, sail away. Her lady has a plan and now Rose has to carry out her part of it. She must return to the family’s lodgings and pretend that Lady Alice is in her room – indisposed. She has to do anything she can to prolong the discovery that Lady Alice is missing.

William MacGregor is also on the docks seeing off his cousin Philip. He has to be very careful not to let anyone see his face and recognize him because he has been deeply embedded in the camp of the MacGregor’s mortal enemy, Ramsey. He’s acting as a spy and feeding information back to the MacGregor’s. Ramsey also has spies everywhere and if one of them spotted him, his life would be forfeit and they would know that Philip had left the area.

As William is surveilling the dock area, he notices a woman – just standing – watching the ship on which Philip just sailed away. Can she be a spy for Ramsey? He can’t afford for anyone to report that Philip has left the area, so, the only option that William can see is to take the woman someplace where he can then question her. That gives Philip time to get further out to sea if she is a spy, and if she isn’t – well – no harm is done. Yes, we all know how that is going to end. In a set of blunders, one after the other, the woman ends up back at Ramsey’s camp with him. Now, he has to keep her protected from the lascivious hoodlums working for Ramsey.

As Ramsey gets word that Lady Alice has flown the coop, he announces that they’ll all be leaving the next day. William must now manage to glean information on Ramsey’s route, manpower and plans as well as keeping Rose protected. They have quite a journey – both on the trail to Scotland and to their HEA.

There were a couple of things that left me wondering. For instance, Will kept dispatching messengers – many of them. Where did he get messengers? He was in the middle of an enemy camp with no friends around anywhere. Also – why would they send for a ‘Reverend’ to perform a marriage ceremony when all of Scotland and England were Catholic at that time?

I think I had a love/hate relationship with the main characters. I loved that each could be protective and caring toward the other. But then… He had to have the lowest of low self-esteem. He blamed himself for everything that went wrong in the world whether he could have prevented or changed it or not. I really got tired of that. For Rose, the constant ‘I must be with my lady’ jus drove me insane.

It is a nice read whether you’ve read the previous books or not.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.