GRR Reviews Texan's Irish Bride by Caroline Clemmons

Dallas McClintock wasn't sure what happened. He knew he rescued a beautiful Irish girl from two bandits who took her. He knew he was shot. Next thing he knew, he was married to the girl while recovering, something about they were discovered in a state of undress. But he's ready to deal with the situation. He is well-off, relatively, for he trains horses and runs an active cattle ranch. But will his family react well to him getting married? How does he deal with his in-laws that he knew very little about? Can he and his staff deal with the rustlers? What about the wagon trainer leader Tom Williams who vowed revenge for stealing "his" woman, the Irish girl Dallas married?

While the adventure bits are nice, the plot doesn't escalate properly. Some of the scenes seems a bit... superfluous. The problems are dealt with in serial, and in the end, Dallas has two superpowers: he's very fast on his gun, and he's rich so he can buy all sorts of things, even though he complains about being "cash poor". Argh. I really do want to like it more, but it's not quite a must-read.

Category: Historical Western / Romantic Suspense

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Brazos Bride: Men of Stone Mountain Tex by Caroline Clemmons

Brazos Bride is an interesting romantic mystery, with the victim doing some of the detective work!

Hope Montoya knew someone is poisoning her. She suspected her mother was poisoned as well. Her father was shot not long ago, and the suspect, Micah Stone, was acquited by a jury. Who wanted to kill her entire family? The one with most to gain would be her uncle and aunt. The ONLY way around this is to get married... and gain control over her family holdings now. And the only one who she can push into a marriage of convenience... Is the man most likely to hate her... Micah Stone. // Micah Stone would love to woo Hope Montoya, but being accused of her father's murder puts a damper on this, and the town did not believe he's innocent, esp. not the sheriff. Micah's ranch is failing as the Montoya ranch blocked him from the river and the water for his cattle. Hope's proposal surprised him... and it may be the ONLY way to save his ranch, as it also gave him access to the river, and some cash for some repairs on the ranch. But Micah doesn't want a marriage of convenience... but the real thing. And in the Montoya household... can anyone be trusted? When Micah called in his two brothers AND two aunts to run the Montoya household, Hope saw it as trying to control her, but when multiple attempts to kill them, from rifles to snakes, many even came close, perhaps some protection would not be so bad...

This historical romantic suspense was a lot of fun to read, even though the "weird will" forcing her to marry to control her estate was really forcing a plot. Still, the mystery was peeled quite nicely. It does get a bit long though.

Category: Historical Western / Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Woman believe someone is out to kill her family... and her, and she needed a fake husband fast...

Tropes: conspiracy, marriage of convenience, protector, woman in peril

Overall Rating:  4/5