Bailey Wilde is the oldest sister--and the one who takes care of everyone else in her family. But after her sisters marry and move away, her little homestead becomes bleak and lonely, especially during the long winter months. In a moment of weakness, Bailey agrees to a wild plan concocted by her neighbor, Gage Coulter.
Gage is an honest man, but he didn't make his fortune by being weak. He won't break the law, but he'll push as hard as he can within it. Five thousand acres of excellent grazing land is lost to him because Bailey's homestead is located right across the entrance to a canyon full of lush grass. Gage has to regain access to this land--and he's got to go through Bailey to do it. So he makes a proposal...
Can these two independent, life-toughened homesteaders finally loosen up enough to earn each other's respect--and maybe find love in the process?
My thoughts: Mary Connealy crafts entertaining stories that have comedic flavor bordering on downright silly in some scenes. She uses quaint, funny phrases and side remarks by the characters to wallop a punch to the reader’s funny bone.
In Fire and Ice, she concludes the story of the three young women who are homesteading and who had previously been soldiers in the Civil War. Of course, they had to dress as men because women simply were not soldiers back then. But their ornery father wanted sons, so the girls had to go to war as his sons.
In this the third book in the series, Bailey has centered her homestead right in the only entrance to another rancher's land. This causes quite a rift between the two – Gage and Bailey. She wants to winter her cattle on that land and won’t allow Gage’s cattle to trespass on her land to enter the valley.
There is more mischief afoot when someone tries to cause deadly harm to Gage.
Winter comes and Bailey is alone in her cabin and having a rough time tending her cattle and dealing with the isolation. And then…. Well more would actually spoil this Wild West story and I certainly don’t want to spoil it for you. Read it. Laugh a heap. And have a bit of relaxing fun.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House a division of Baker Publishing Group to facilitate this review. Opinions are my own, alone. I was not compensated for this review.
I just checked this book out at the library for my wife. I hope to get time to read it also.
ReplyDeleteBe sure to come back and tell us how she likes it. Prepare to laugh a bit
DeleteThis looks like a fun series, and I absolutely love the cover! Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday!
ReplyDeleteTina