A Lady of the West

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Summary: Lady of the West
Review: Oh my god, what a great book. I did not want it to end and devoured this book in just a few evenings. The passion and romance were incredible and the heat between the two main characters was scortching hot...I am still coming down from reading it. This is a woman's fantasy book and I loved every minute of reading it.

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Summary: Synopsis doesn't say it right!
Review: Okay, I just wanted to say that the synopsis above doesn't say enough for this book! Yes, it's about a woman sold into a loveless marriage to a ruthless rancher, but that rancher is *not* Jake; he is the ranchhand who, with his brother, was the rightful heirs to the ranch until the current rancher (the husband) killed their parents and tried to kill them as kids. Victoria only married him to provide for her family because the Civil war had ravaged their southern plantation (in other words, her family SOLD her to this rancher). She is resigned to a loveless marriage to someone she comes to find is a ruthless murderer until Jake and his brother take back what is rightfully theirs, and Jake lays claim to Victoria's heart. It's a realistic story, with several tragedies that would have made me cry if I'd been the type, many action sequences that would make a choreographer dance in delight, and (never forget) a heart stopping romance plucked right from the mind of one of the greatest romance writers. :) Believe me, you will like this book. The lady is proper but she has a backbone of iron; you wouldn't want to mess with her! Buy it; you certainly won't regret it. :-)

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Summary: AS MANY STARS AS U CAN COUNT PLEASE !!!
Review: Scorching love scenes, realistic plot, intense dialogue,and to sum it up : extraordinary. This is her first book that I read, and now I'm addicted to anything that says her name on the cover. I just can't compliment this spellbinding novel enough. If U have any romance in your bone, go pick this one up and treasure it !!!

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Summary: Buying "Linda Howard" is almost a guaranteed good read.
Review: She writes so wonderfully and her characters are very human. Although the storyline was intense I didn't find it "dark" at all. Reading is meant to be entertaining and or educational. This was both because the early days in the west WERE not easy. There was some violence and a certain ruthlessness in order to survive.That was the reality of that era just as arranged marriages to acquire property were. Jake and Ben (Sarratt) watched their parents build their "ranching kingdom" and then saw them slaughtered for it. They did whatever they had to to survive and get their land back and revenge against the murderers. The "heros" are filled with anger and hate. Should we expect them to behave like choir boys. I don't think so. Some of their behaviour was totally unacceptable. They sure needed counselling in anger management. But all these was back then to change lives and influence behaviour was understand,love and forgiveness. Fortunately Linda's heroines, who don't have an easy time of it, have those qualities in abundance. So the story works. If you don't like realism you won't like this book. It's not fluffy but it is excellent. I only rated this a 4 because I would have liked the ending to have been a little fuller with the redemption of our heros although LH makes it clear they are on the right path.

Rating:
Summary: Buying "Linda Howard" is almost a guaranteed good read.
Review: She writes so wonderfully and her characters are very human. Although the storyline was intense I didn't find it "dark" at all. Reading is meant to be entertaining and or educational. This was both because the early days in the west WERE not easy. There was some violence and a certain ruthlessness in order to survive.That was the reality of that era just as arranged marriages to acquire property were. Jake and Ben (Sarratt) watched their parents build their "ranching kingdom" and then saw them slaughtered for it. They did whatever they had to to survive and get their land back and revenge against the murderers. The "heros" are filled with anger and hate. Should we expect them to behave like choir boys. I don't think so. Some of their behaviour was totally unacceptable. They sure needed counselling in anger management. But all these was back then to change lives and influence behaviour was understand,love and forgiveness. Fortunately Linda's heroines, who don't have an easy time of it, have those qualities in abundance. So the story works. If you don't like realism you won't like this book. It's not fluffy but it is excellent. I only rated this a 4 because I would have liked the ending to have been a little fuller with the redemption of our heros although LH makes it clear they are on the right path.

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Summary: Filled with action and heat.
Review: Southern born and bred Victoria Waverly was practically sold to her husband so that her family could eat. Despite her coolness, she proves that she can stand up to Jake, the rightful heir of Sarratt's Kingdom. Jake finds himself attracted to the aloof Victoria and decides to have her when his plan to regain his land comes to fruition. The secondary love story between Ben and Victoria's cousin Emma was good, too. The way the author depicted life in the West seemed so real, I felt like I was there. The only part that disturbed me was when Jake found out Victoria was pregnant. He believed it was her dead husband's (who also killed his parents to get the land). When she tried to tell him that the man couldn't perform his husbandly duty, he treats her shabbily. The heroine was a better person than I. I found it hard to get past what Jake did, even though it didn't happen to me. By the end of the book, I was nearly in tears (if you read it, you'll find out why). I hope there will be a sequel about future Sarratts.

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Summary: Disturbing
Review: The first Linda Howard book I read was All The Queen's Men, and since then I have read almost all of her earlier and later work. She writes sensual stories, erotic, passionate, usually great character development. I was disturbed by this book in many ways that I haven't been in reading some of her other work. This hero is abusive, emotionally and physically to the heroine and that I just cannot abide. Many of her characters from other books are certainly flawed, like most real people are, but this I just couldn't take and I couldn't finish it.

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Summary: Linda Howard exceeds my expectations.
Review: The only other Linda Howard book that I really enjoyed was "Angel Creek." "A Lady of the West" is an exceptional book but sometimes I wanted to strangle the hero in the story, Jake. He was violent to the heroine and even struck her while she was carrying his baby. This book was also about hate, and hate was the dominant theme in the book. But all in all, an excellent book.

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Summary: One of the best western romance books ever written.
Review: The other one was Angel Creek. Linda Howard's Alpha male exudes sexuality and both plot and character development on many levels are superior, even to her later books. Angel Creek is an extension of Lady of the West in that a minor character from LOTW emerges as part of the plot in Angel Creek. Howard has multiple relationships ongoing in both books. The story is very satisfying and you hate to see it end. Howard is the best of her genre.

Rating:
Summary: A Lady of the West
Review: This was another great story by Linda Howard and I would recommend it. She doesn't sugar coat her stories, they are very realistic and factual and I count on that when I pick one up. Thank You Linda for giving me a chance to escape to another place and time, keep `em comin!