Rating: 
Summary: A Roller Coaster Ride Set in the Late 1800's
Review: Readers of Sandra Dallas' previous books will delight in this fast paced novel filled with all sorts of twists and turns, revenge and mistaken identities. Nothing and no one is exactly the way they appear and readers are held spellbound till the last pages.Addie French is a woman who has led a varied and interesting life. Once a con artist, Addie becomes the well-known owner of a chili stand in San Antonio, Texas earning the title of The Chili Queen. But making chili isn't enough for addie so with an eye to making more money, Addie travels to Naglitas, New Mexico where she works in a brothel and eventually buys the house when the owner retires. Through all of her experiences, Addie remains good-hearted and good-natured. Returning from a meeting with one of her men friends, she makes the acquaintance of a young woman Emma who is deposited in the seat next to her by her brother. With a warning to obey her husband, Emma's brother vanishes. Emma, a prim and proper lady soon tells Addie that her marriage has been arranged and her reluctance to wed an unknown man has met with anger on her brother's part. When she finally arrives at the station, there is no man to meet Emma and she eventually makes her way to Addie's brothel, where Addie takes her in. But as I said nothing is what it seems and both Addie and Emma are now on a course of intricate plotting, double crossing antics and general good roller coaster ride of a book which keeps guessing till the bitter end. As Sandra Dallas did in her earlier book, The Persian Pickle Club, the author does a fine job of depicting the late 1800's in both New Mexico and Colorado. We read about the landscape, small towns and feel the wide, open spaces and sweet smelling air. And not only does the author present us with two memorable characters, Addie and Emma but several others which include Ned, Addie's, lover and an outlaw and Emma's brother who eventually journeys to Naglitas to find his jilted sister. Finally there is Welcome, a black woman and Addie's maid, who in my opinion is the most intriguing character of all. I do suggest reading this book, which is both mysterious and also funny at times.
Rating: 
Summary: Shades of O. Henry in this stew
Review: Reading Sandra Dallas novels is like "being there" in a slice of life of the past. This is true of each of her previous novels, all of which I have read and recommended to others, and it is true of "The Chili Queen". This time, we are immersed in the West of Nalgitas, New Mexico, and in the four main characters, starting with a very tolerant Madame, the Chili Queen herself, Addie. It is the book on Addie that sets the stage for the whole plot. For there we learn of homely, worn-out Emma and her abusive brother, John Roby, and we engage Addie's two remaining whores, her customers, and her black servant, Welcome. Finally, we meet her lover and friend, the outlaw bank robber, Ned Partner. One gets the idea that Addie's book is just the set up of plot twists to come. And, not to be disappointed, when Addie's book finishes, and Ned's begins, the reader realizes that the weave of the four main characters' stories gives progression to a subterfuge of schemes, not untypical of an O. Henry short story. This is an enjoyable read, with characters that would translate beautifully to the screen, a la the cast of the modern version "Maverick" with Jodie Foster, James Garner, and Mel Gibson. The wit of Dallas' characterization and the situational ironies make for a fast and entertaining read. It is hard not to jump ahead to the resolution, but worth the wait, no matter what the reader may guess will happen. "The Chili Queen" makes for believable and entertaining recreational reading, with suspense, romance, and a sense of the real characters of the later years of the Old West. I highly recommend this little book.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of O. Henry in this stew
Review: Reading Sandra Dallas novels is like "being there" in a slice of life of the past. This is true of each of her previous novels, all of which I have read and recommended to others, and it is true of "The Chili Queen". This time, we are immersed in the West of Nalgitas, New Mexico, and in the four main characters, starting with a very tolerant Madame, the Chili Queen herself, Addie. It is the book on Addie that sets the stage for the whole plot. For there we learn of homely, worn-out Emma and her abusive brother, John Roby, and we engage Addie's two remaining whores, her customers, and her black servant, Welcome. Finally, we meet her lover and friend, the outlaw bank robber, Ned Partner. One gets the idea that Addie's book is just the set up of plot twists to come. And, not to be disappointed, when Addie's book finishes, and Ned's begins, the reader realizes that the weave of the four main characters' stories gives progression to a subterfuge of schemes, not untypical of an O. Henry short story. This is an enjoyable read, with characters that would translate beautifully to the screen, a la the cast of the modern version "Maverick" with Jodie Foster, James Garner, and Mel Gibson. The wit of Dallas' characterization and the situational ironies make for a fast and entertaining read. It is hard not to jump ahead to the resolution, but worth the wait, no matter what the reader may guess will happen. "The Chili Queen" makes for believable and entertaining recreational reading, with suspense, romance, and a sense of the real characters of the later years of the Old West. I highly recommend this little book.
Rating: 
Summary: I was extremely disappointed
Review: Sandra Dallas has been one of my all time favorite authors and I have loved all of her previous books. I was very excited to read The Chili Queen and about 25 pages into it, it dawned on me that this was a very corny book. I ended up skipping over most of it and still got all the scams. When the author is so busy being clever that she forfeits depth and quality, I find the book a big joke. There was only a brief few pages where there was an inkling of the *real* Sandra Dallas and that was when she was describing Emma's previous life.
Rating:
Summary: A realistic yet funny historical novel
Review: Sandra Dallas has written a fully entertaining historical novel complete with plots and counter plots. The characters are entertaining and engaging. Oddly enough, there seems to be no antagonist; just protagonists interweaving with each other. I liked that the female characters were presented with alternatives and choices that were consistent with the time the novel was set in. The plot twists and character interaction was delightful. The madam, Addie French, is fully believable, as is the bank robber, Ned Partner. Welcome, Addie's hired help, is a subtle but necessary character of the novel. The distressed heroine, Emma Roby, is delightfully suprising. This book is a wonderful read and may keep you up turning pages past your bedtime!
Rating:
Summary: Just when you think you have it figured out..
Review: THINK AGAIN! The plot twists and turns at the end of the book so many times!I love reading about books from my home state and this
one was such a gripping tale of who is really the "bad guy". Make sure you leave lots of time because once you get into it, you won't want to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Good read about life in the southwest in 1880's
Review: This book starts slow. I really didn't want to finish it at first. But kept reading as I liked Sandra Dallas' other books. This book tells about the lives of people in the southwest in the 1880's. First, Addie, who has had a rough life. She ran away from home after her dad died and her mother remarried a man who made advances towards her when her mother would lock the bedroom door and not let him in. She went to San Antonio, Texas and ran a chili stand...there she became the Chile Queen. Later she ended up in Nalgitas, New Mexico in a brothel, where the madam left and sold the business to Addie. The book starts with Addie getting on a train, from Kansas City to Nalgitas. She had been there to meet a "john". There, she meets Emma. Emma, who has had a rough life herself, is desposited on the train by her "brother", who yells at her and belittles her while telling her not to sit with any men. Then he proceeds to sit her next to Addie. Addie befriends this young woman, who on her way to Nalgitas as a mail order bride. Things don't turn out for Emma as planned and she ends up in Addie's "boarding house". There the plot thickens.....and as I said earlier, it was slow at first. But as you get into the book, with it's twists and turns you will be more entertained. The books also tells of the other character's lives. One is of the life of Ned Partner, who is a lover of Addie and a bank robber;another is of John, who is Emma's brother and comes to Nalgitas to finalize a land deal with Emma, Ned and Addie. It also tells of Welcome, who is Addie's black housekeeper. But nothing is as it seems. The story takes you on horseback through the plains of New Mexico and Colorado as the con men run from the person they swindled. Who is that? Read and find out. And who is the conmen.....only to the last chapter will you find out. And believe me......nothing is as it seems. You will not be disappointed. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it seems to drag on at first. But this "dragging on" had to set the scene for what happens later. Read it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Chili Queen
Review: This is her best novel yet!
Rating:
Summary: An unusual, wonderful read!
Review: This was my first Sandra Dallas book and I just loved it. The twists were surprising, and really had me guessing. I loved the old west setting and the cast of characters. Definately a page turner and very different from the other "thriller/mystery" books I usually read. Reminded me a bit of "Fried Green Tomatoes" meets "Holes", if that makes any sense!
Rating:
Summary: Surprising!!!
Review: Well! What a book! I am a huge fan of Sandra Dallas, but I will say, after getting about half-way through this book, I really wasn't impressed. The stories of Addie and Ned just kind of mosied along, nothing overly exciting, but once the book turned to Emma's tale...wow!! I truly didn't realize just how much everyone was out to screw each other over, and the way everything went down was completly surprising! This really is a great book, I only gave it 4 stars because as I said, the first half was a little slow...but stick with it! The last half will make the pages fly by!
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