Tag Archives: western

Dec 26 2020

Trish Milburn’s “Her Cowboy Prince” review

For readers who want an up to date romance about courtship, then this book merits your attention.

Modern romances are often more about sex than the “getting to know you” that dominated romances in previous decades. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for the first kiss to be followed by sexual fulfillment, and that often happens a third of the way through the narrative. Thus, many modern romances are about the sexual relationship, not about courtship. Her Cowboy Prince is old fashioned, but it is a recent publication, and I liked it very much for that reason. Another reviewer called it “clean” and that’s fair, I suppose. All too often, I’ve downloaded a romance with a recent publication date, only to find references to commonalities from decades ago, such as cassette tapes or pay phones. It may be fun to read an author’s backlist, but please don’t re-release books that are decades old and pretend they are new! In Her Cowboy Prince, the neighbor disturbs Melody by playing video games at all hours; the heroine up cycles items she purchases at thrift stores using techniques she garnered from watching HGTV; the resort uses its website to attract customers for their newest events, and so forth. Yep, this story’s not recycled material, which is refreshing.

Her Cowboy Prince has a cute title and stock cover cute guy on the cover, but the plot is a bit more serious. Melody Shaw is a housekeeper at a spa/resort in Montana, but she is there because she has had to go into witness protection after she testified against her stepmother, who had her father killed and managed to deprive Melody of ownership of the pharmaceutical company that he founded. Oh, and for good measure, Melody’s step-sister tried to have her murdered, so Melody has reasons to keep a very low profile. The housekeeper job across the country from her former home in Atlanta should be safe, but Melody can’t quite keep from looking over her shoulder at everyone.

Justin McQueen, a newly eligible bachelor since he figured out that his latest fiancée was a gold digger out to get everything he owned, runs the resort where Melody works. Before long, the attractive and way too smart for her job housekeeper attracts his attention. The author could have them jump each other’s bones in one of the guest rooms, but she restrains her characters. They plan events for the resort. They run into each other at a local cafe. She rescues his dad from a highway accident. As he takes her home from work, he stops to show her the stars. In short, they develop a romantic relationship. However, Justin is aware that there’s something mysterious in her reluctance to enjoy his company, while Melody is continually afraid of breaking her cover and inviting her troubled past into her new digs in Montana.

Author Trish Milburn does a better than average job using her settings, scenic Montana and metro Atlanta, to help create an interesting story. While the plot is somewhat predictable, there are no jarring moments when the reader just can’t suspend disbelief. The characters are mostly engaging, from the ever suspicious heroine and the diligent hero, to the displaced southern thrift shop owner and the poor but proud video game playing neighbor whom Melody befriends. The villains are mostly off stage, but the threat is sufficient to provide suspense for the reader, along with Melody and Justin.

For readers who want to experience vicarious sex, this book would not be appropriate, but for readers who want an up to date romance, about courtship, then this book merits your attention.

BTW, I am reviewing the book because I liked it, not because I got a free copy for review purposes.

Jun 20 2019

A romance from the grave

Texas FreeRecently, I updated my credentials to virtually check out books from my local library. Free is a good price, right? Unfortunately, apparently, there is little demand for science fiction at my library, so I looked at titles in the romance genre.

When I first read romance novels, I had a list of authors who were my “go to” writers. One of them was Janet Dailey. Generally, she did a good job of integrating setting, plot, and character, and that’s no easy task, because romance writers are under a lot of pressure to produce, produce, produce. Romance readers seem to be perpetually thirsty for new novels, and I saw a new series by Janet Dailey, so I checked out Texas Free,  copyright 2018.

The opening states that the events happened in 1985, which would have been at Dailey’s peak, in terms of both popularity and proliferation. The story is actually a good one, if a bit formulaic. Rose Landro returns to her childhood home in Texas, on the run from a Mexican drug cartel. Unsure of her welcome, but desperate, she stakes her claim on land that should have been hers, as it belonged to her grandfather who had intended to deed it to her before his untimely demise. As the land is an access point to water for cattle, her stake is controversial, and the reader follows the twists and turns of the plot, wondering if Rose will succeed in establishing a homestead, and if any of her neighbors will assist her in her quest.

Janet Dailey has penned a great many books, but the copyright page indicates that this one belongs to a “Revocable Trust” created by some folks who share the same last name. So, is this “Tylers of Texas” series a repackaged group of novels from earlier, or are her heirs using a ghost writer? I suspect the latter, as Janet Dailey died in 2013.

Ghost writing has been around a long time, and there are sometimes very good reasons for using the process. Celebrities who are good at something else often write books, but the more honest ones have a “with so and so” under the author line. Both Tom Clancy’s and Robert Ludlum’s publishing careers have gone on without the author as other, named writers, do the work, but these ghost writers are a least named in the fine print. As I have the eBook version of Texas Free checked out, I might not be seeing it, but if there is an acknowledged ghost writer I didn’t find it. On the other hand, authors I know have reprinted their books with new titles to “up date” them. I kinda think that is cheating a bit, but reputable writers do it.

As I have a back list title that I republished as an eBook (Trinity on Tylos) I am not complaining about republishing, but unless there is a dusty old manuscript, or computer file somewhere, a back list title should be just that. A novel written by someone other than the named author breaks the contract between a publisher and the reader. If I see an author’s name, I expect that the author wrote the book, and I doubt that I am alone in that expectation.

The entire Tylers of Texas series has publication dates after 2013. FYI.

Aug 3 2015

The Missing— a brief film review

Film, The MissingWhen I was growing up, I loved westerns. There was much to like about them: horses, good guys in white hats, horses, bad guys in black hats, horses, guns, horses, beautiful settings, more horses…. you get the picture, I am sure. My early favorites were “Fury” which was a show about a horse, “My Friend Flicka” which was about a horse, and the Roy Rogers show, which was mostly about the horse named Trigger. At least, that is how I remember it.

Then, I grew up and westerns were not in favor in Hollywood anymore. My early love of science fiction is all intertwined with my love of westerns. Once, I was amazed by a very intelligent woman who said she despised Star Wars. I laughed, and said, “It’s just a western!” As she gaped at me, I went on to explain that Star Wars owes much to westerns, from the bar scene (just a saloon) the greenhorn (Luke Skywalker) being guided by an older and wiser mentor, the gunslinger (Han Solo) and the Millennium Falcon, which doesn’t have much on a good horse.

Westerns have never been as popular as they were in my youth, but they have grown up. Recently, hubby and I were looking for something on Netflix that we hadn’t seen, and “The Missing” with Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett caught my eye. The description reminded me of an oldie but goodie, “The Searchers,” so we we popped some corn and got involved in Ron Howard’s take on the quest to foil white slavers in the old west. We enjoyed this suspenseful tale. The film has some fabulous scenery, very wicked bad guys, a very heroic mother (Blanchett) and too much mysticism for my taste. Oh, and there were several horses, but lately, filmmakers seem to think they are like cars or motorcycles, just transportation.

This plot could have been told in a science fiction setting, with space ships instead of horses, but it works reasonably well as a western. Check it out on Netflix streaming.