Midnight Silk

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Civil War Romance!
Review: As a Civil War reenactor, I'm always overjoyed to find CW fiction, and this romance doesn't disappoint. Set in a theater of the war often overlooked - Texas - the author simultaneously presents a thrilling western theme, the heartbreaking choices those who fought in the war had to make, and a sexy romance! She clearly knows both the period and the setting, which is a refreshing change from so much of the bad CW fiction currently on the market. Maria is a spunky heroine who'll go to any lengths to get her man, and Bowie, the noble and daring hero, will endear himself to the reader. I look forward to more of this writer's work!

Rating:
Summary: Good romance
Review: Growing up on a Texas plantation, the son of the overseer Bowie Beckett loved the owner's daughter Maria Taylor. However, though she followed him around the spread, he knew she was out of reach.

During the Civil War Bowie runs the northern blockade that enables him to bring cotton to the market and in turn finance the Confederacy. His father feels Bowie is a coward for not joining the military and makes it clear publicly how he feels about his son.

By 1863, Maria is no longer a pampered belle of the south as she keeps the books and even works in the fields. When he learns of the plot that Lance Webster has for Maria to further his own well being, Bowie intercedes. However, the rescue has just begun as the Union Army, Confederate bandits, and their families seek the fleeing duo, who allow their love for one another to surface.

MIDNIGHT SILK is a solid Civil War romance that brings to life the diverse opinions that further divided the Confederate side of the conflict. Bowie's dad Sam cannot see how courageous his son is by supporting the effort in as dangerous an occupation as soldiering. The story line is fast-paced and action packed, but it is the star-crossed lead protagonists that turn on the romance inside a vivid historical tale.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Good romance
Review: Growing up on a Texas plantation, the son of the overseer Bowie Beckett loved the owner's daughter Maria Taylor. However, though she followed him around the spread, he knew she was out of reach.

During the Civil War Bowie runs the northern blockade that enables him to bring cotton to the market and in turn finance the Confederacy. His father feels Bowie is a coward for not joining the military and makes it clear publicly how he feels about his son.

By 1863, Maria is no longer a pampered belle of the south as she keeps the books and even works in the fields. When he learns of the plot that Lance Webster has for Maria to further his own well being, Bowie intercedes. However, the rescue has just begun as the Union Army, Confederate bandits, and their families seek the fleeing duo, who allow their love for one another to surface.

MIDNIGHT SILK is a solid Civil War romance that brings to life the diverse opinions that further divided the Confederate side of the conflict. Bowie's dad Sam cannot see how courageous his son is by supporting the effort in as dangerous an occupation as soldiering. The story line is fast-paced and action packed, but it is the star-crossed lead protagonists that turn on the romance inside a vivid historical tale.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Did I read the same book?
Review: Love civil war era books and to the extent that this includes little known facts about it, such as the cotton wagon trains to shore up funds for the south, and the actual historical accuracies of texas ranches, it is enjoyable. However as a novel, historical romance, I found it extremely lacking on character depth. Our southern belle spends the entire book trying to not-too-subtly get the overseer's son to bed her and wed her. I found her bold and brassy in her efforts. The love interest, bowie beckett, spends the book avoiding her obvious attempts to seduce him because he's "not good enough for her". A real creative story line. It was also short of realism. When has a band of "banditos" attacking a train of 10 wagons been scared off by one woman toting and shooting a gun while riding her mare!
And then our belle shoots the spy/bad guy while sitting a horse with her hands tied. Sorry I just can't buy all this....This was an easy toss.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Civil War western
Review: Reading MIDNIGHT SILK was a true pleasure for me, as I have so little time to read and often look for books out of the ordinary. Bowie's and Maria's journey across Texas, fraught with perils, hidden dangers, became real to me as I rode in the cotton wagons with them every step of the way. I loved how Ms. Grant wove history with fiction in relaying details of the Kenedy Ranch in Texas. Ms. Grant's book makes me clamor for more westerns of a different style, those that are smooth-paced with real history, and immerse one into the Americana culture of yesteryear. Reading books like hers makes me realize how little American history I absorbed in high school, and how much I have picked up simply reading romance. I highly recommend this book for lovers of all historical romances. You could learn something along the way!