jjares reviewed on 11/22/2020 + 3274 more book reviews

With Catherine Anderson (a favorite author) leading the pack, I thought this would be a great anthology to try. There are three stories, all newly published in this offering. Until I started the third story, I was unaware it was a time-travel tale. WHO PUTS TIME TRAVEL STORIES IN WESTERN SHORT STORIES?

SHOTGUN BRIDE (Catherine Anderson) -- 5 stars
This is a very satisfying read from a great author. Charlotte Masterson, the preacher's only daughter, drives near Joshua Slade's ranch when her mare bolts and throws Charlotte out of the wagon and into the mounting snow of a growing blizzard. Joshua is a rancher with a bad gun reputation; he hasn't made friends and has is rather stand-offish. However, he finds Charlotte and pops her shoulder back in its socket. By the time she returns to town, her reputation is ruined. This is a great story that is satisfying on so many levels. The wisdom of Charlotte's father (versus Joshua's father) was great.

WILD TEXAS ROSE (Christina Dodd) -- 2 stars
Rose Corey raises horses for sale and lives alone. Thorn Maxwell went away to prison and, eight-years later arrives in time for the local dance. He makes a point of asking Rose to dance. Rose is losing horses and is so worried that she writes and asks for a Texas Ranger to be sent to her for help.

This story started off fine but quickly devolved into a repetitious (just how many times did the author need to tell us that Thorn went away to prison?), boring story. The author pulled up all the Texas cliches she could roundup and foisted them on the reader. Of course, the two main characters stopped looking for the horse thieves long enough to have sex (out on the trail, of course). This was awful; I skip-read to finish this miserable mess.

ONE RIOT, ONE RANGER (Susan Sizemore) -- 1 STAR
Why would any publisher put a time-travel story in with historical fiction? I ordered this book without seeing the cover; just looking at the wonderful rating (4.7 = overall score on Amazon). I tried to read it but found it to be absolute rubbish.

Miss Marty Rose is the newly appointed sheriff of Loon, TX. Because her uncle has recently been killed and there is lots of lawless activity, she sends for a Texas Ranger. Instead, she gets Chris Parris who usually rides a Harley (but who miraculously knows how to ride a horse although he's never been on one). Give me a break. I threw this book at the wall.

**
This purchase has taught me to be much more careful about reading all the info about a potential purchase before ordering.

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