GRR Reviews Beth by Kay P Dawson

Beth and her family are forever hounded by the Barlows, who are not above using force to take the women they wanted, and leaving insults in their wake. They are known by their wealth and brutality. The only one who stood up against the Barlows is the sheriff Nate Dixon, who's fair and just. Beth took up a job to help Nate with paperwork, determined to not be a burden on her family... But soon, Susan arrived, summoned by Nate as a potential mail order bride. She's gorgeous, and obviously not built for the frontier life, but Nate is putting up with her... // Nate has his own beef with the Barlows, and he didn't anticipate falling for Beth before he sent the letter that brought Susan. But when Susan, when fighting off the young Barlow's attack, knocked him off and the young Barlow cracked his head against a rock and died, Nate is forced to arrest Beth pending a "murder trial", when the older Barlow threatened vigilante justice...

Somehow, the Barlows just come of as really shallow and sociopathic, which is pretty lame for a villain. In the end, it's "he's totally mad" ending. Argh. The secrets are also pretty lame.

Category: Historical Western

Overall Rating: 2.5/5 (rounded up)

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

GRR Reviews A Drifter's Fortune (Love's A Gamble Boo by Kay P. Dawson

A Drifter's Fortune is an interesting western historical romance, with an interesting twist at the end, but that's more of a deus ex machina.

Harrison needed a bride fast... The ranch's owner died, but instead of picking an heir, he declared a contest instead: whoever among the ranchhands and foremen marry and keep a bride married for 6 months win the deed to the whole ranch. Harrison sent off for a mail order bride... no questions asked. He hoped to convince her to stay six months... // Patience and her brother had been brought up by a family that hated them and exploited them since they were small. Their only way out was for her to answer a mail order bride and go west to marry a stranger... // Patience arrived in town, at the Last Chance Ranch, and Harrison is handsome and kind. But Harrison has a surname that attracted golddiggers (even when he has no money) and there are evil folks in town who wanted Harrison to fail... badly. Patience also kept some secrets from Harrison...

Let's just say Patience's parents were not who they say they are. It's a good adventure, but romance is merely mediocre.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: Man needs a mail-order bride to win the ranch, got a young woman and her brother with problems of their own

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

SPOILER-SORTA -- why would her parents want to chase her down? Trip ain't cheap.

GRR Reviews A Lawman's Reward (Love's a Gamble Bo by Kay P. Dawson

A Lawman's Reward is is a Western Historical Romance set in Abilene Kansas, and is the third book of the series, and features continuing characters. Lydia the sister and Lewis the sheriff are the main characters this time, having been introduced in book 1 as secondary characters.

Lydia had gone off to get her teacher's credentials, and she's heading back to Abilene, Kansas to her family and her town, and to the only man she pined for... Lewis Kincaid, the local sheriff, even though she believed she had nothing to offer to a man. Lydia is physically handicapped having been dumped from a horse when young and the legs never set correctly, and a teaching job seems to be ideal for her, and going home was the logical choice when the last teacher didn't last long. But Abilene now has some unsavory characters and Lewis promised to keep an eye out for her... What Lewis didn't say was he had his eyes on her for a long time... But Lewis has his own problems, when his ex rolled into town on the stagecoach, intending to resume their relationship (after she ran off on him first to chase her own dreams), then after finally getting rid of her, after making certain she understood that he had ZERO interest in resuming that part of his life, his parents rolled into town, trying every which way to force him to go back east and be the rich heir of the family fortune... Can Lewis and Lydia's love survive these trials?

The twist ending was exactly what I expected, but that didn't make it any less delightful. The darkest hour was suitable, and the solution puts the perfect comeuppance on the person who created the darkest hour. It was a delight to read.

Category: Historical western

Primary Plot: Disabled teacher is going home; she and the sheriff have had unrequited love on each other for a while; can they be together despite his ex and his family arriving, and she believed she had nothing to offer him as a wife?

Tropes: disabled, law enforcement, evil ex, family pressure

Overall Rating:  4/5