Badlands Heart (Badlands)

Rating:
Summary: A mediocre read but definitely not the worst written
Review: Dakota Territory 1867-1888

Five-year-old Kitty Conover and her brothers, ten-year-old Gabe and nine-year-old Yale along with their mother, Dorry are left homeless after the death of their grandfather. They and their mother decide to find their father, Clay who they believed to be a lost but alive government hero, but is actually rumored to be an outlaw. Along their wagon odyssey, their mother dies and the children continue on until they reach the little town of Misery. In Misery they meet up with old, lonely and poor Aaron Smiler. Aaron raises the children as his own.

Once the boys are grown and gone, Kitty grows to be an independent headstrong and buckskin clad woman who alone rounds up wild mustangs as their only source of income. Upon one of her round-ups, she discovers a handsome and dying Bo Chandler. Kitty nurses him back to health and he decides to repay her by staying at the Smiler ranch to help her and Aaron do some repairs, cook and clean.

Kitty doesn't recognize her growing like and dependency towards Bo as the beginnings of love. Aaron, Kitty's brothers and the townspeople learn that Bo is a big city lawyer exploring the country and he is soon helping others with his legal expertise. Kitty decides she doesn't care others' caution of Bo possibly swindling her of her love and of her meager possessions, so she gives herself freely to Bo one night inside the barn. She decides she greatly likes the physical act of love and tells Aaron in no uncertain terms she will continue to do so, regardless if he approves or not.

Eventually love prevails and all turns out well.

I found the book to be disjointed and mediocre at best. It began to be unbelievable starting with the children traveling alone surprising easy after the death of their mother. Kitty is portrayed as a strong but naive woman in her twenties but she acts like she's a ten-years-old and quite a simpleton. Bo is just too good to be true as he happily cooks and cleans after Kitty and Aaron as well as handles all the outside chores. Aaron seems to be the only character that is somewhat realistic until he easily condones Kitty and Bo having premarital sex. The book is not dynamic, but it's not the worse one I've ever read either.

Ms. Langan has also written in addition to Badlands Heart, Badlands Law and Badlands Legend. I assume these two books are about Kitty's brothers, Gabe and Yale.