Recent Read

The Sergeant’s Lady by Susanna Fraser

Why this one: I loved the cover, I heard good things about it and the price, coming from Carina, was excellent.

Steam Level: Nice and Steamy

Blurb: Highborn Anna Arrington has been "following the drum," obeying the wishes of her cold, controlling cavalry officer husband. When he dies, all she wants is to leave life with Wellington's army in Spain behind her and go home to her family's castle in Scotland.

Sergeant Will Atkins ran away from home to join the army in a fit of boyish enthusiasm. He is a natural born soldier, popular with officers and men alike, uncommonly brave and chivalrous, and educated and well-read despite his common birth.

As Anna journeys home with a convoy of wounded soldiers, she forms an unlikely friendship with Will. When the convoy is ambushed and their fellow soldiers captured, they become fugitives—together. The attraction between them is strong—but even if they can escape the threat of death at the hands of the French, is love strong enough to bridge the gap between a viscount's daughter and an innkeeper's son?


My thoughts: There are some similarities with this book to the one I recently read and reviewed, Sing my Name in that the hero and heroine come from different social backgrounds. This is an English Historical rather than a Western, but other than that they were two different stories.

This one starts out with our hero Will, trying to help a friend who’s in labour while on the move in Spain during the English/French war. The heroine, Anna, comes along to offer her assistance, but it’s soon clean she is married to a real jerk when he rides up and orders Anna away from the ‘riffraff of the common soldier. But Anna has spunk and refuses to leave, instead staying to assist Will, even though neither have participated in a birth before. During this time, a bond is established. Anna admires Will and Will admires Anna, at the same time, recognizing that Anna is married to a very difficult man. Though both fully admit to themselves any kind of relationship is impossible, still, neither can forget the either. When Anna’s husband meets his demise, Anna’s plan is to return to her home in the Highlands of Scotland and Will is part of the regiment that escorts her and a number of wounded soldiers to the coast. They are thrown together again when they are captured by the French and then forced to flee. Their attraction grows but even though Anna’s husband is out of the picture, their different stations in life are still a real barrier.

Like Sing my Name, I found this one to be a poignant story of two people who want to be together, who aren’t quite complete without the other, but who are kept apart due to society. Both are people to be admired. Will is a simple man, yet one to be admired. He entered the army in his youth to seek out adventure and has been quite happy doing what he’s doing. He’s a rifleman in the army and of course while reading I kept thinking of Sean Ben in Sharpe’s Rifles, not a bad picture to keep in mind.

For her part Anna is also a good heroine. She realizes fairly early into her marriage that she has made a huge mistake, but she is doing the best that she can. She is compassionate to others, brave when called for. As with Sing My Name, there is a bit of a road story when Anna and Will are travelling back to his regiment. When they reach it and are forced to remain apart, there is such palpable longing in each of them for the other. If I had any wishes, it would just be that it was longer. I hated to finish this one so soon. But I hasten to add that it was because I was enjoying it; not that I felt it was lacking in any way.


This book was a treat to read and I hope the author has more books coming.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Recent Read

Sunrise over Texas by MJ Fredrick

Publisher: Carina Press

Genre: Western

Why this one: Have you ever just kind of surfed the net and notice a book that made you sit up and take notice? Silly question, of course you have. We all have and that's why our TBR piles are so large. Anyway, I was on Twitter not long ago and Jane tweeted about her page of upcoming books for September. I noticed one in particular. As it was a historical Western, I sat up and took notice. When I clicked on the cover, I really took notice. Long story short, I just finished it the other day.

Steam Level: Yep, it has steam

Blurb: Texas Frontier, 1826 Kit Barclay followed her husband into the wilds of Texas only to be widowed. Stranded with her mother- and sister-in-law to care for, with no hope of rescue before winter sets in, Kit has only one goal: survival. So when a lone horseman appears on the horizon, and then falls from his mount in fever, Kit must weigh the safety of her family against offering aid and shelter to the handsome stranger. Trace Watson has lost everything that ever mattered to him. Trying to forget, he heads to the frontier colony of San Felipe, not caring if he lives or dies. But when he wakes to discover he's being nursed back to health by a brave young widow, he vows to repay her kindness by guiding the three women back to civilization, no matter what the cost. Soon, Kit and Trace are fighting the elements, Indian attacks and outlaws-as well as feelings they both thought were long buried...

My Thoughts: They say good things come in small packages and this is a perfect example! Although not that long a book, it's about the size of a Harlequin Historical, the author really wrote a emotional and poignant story about two people who have both suffered great loss, but managed to find love again.

Kit Barclay and her mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been practically abandoned. With winter approaching, her mother and sister in law next to useless, supplies running low and Indians making semi-regular attacks on the fort, things are looking pretty grim when they see a lone man riding up to the fort before falling. Kit isn't sure what to think. She can't leave him there to die, but she's also not very trusting of strangers. But despite her reservations, she does rescue him though she keeps in a separate part of the fort so he won't realize how alone they really are and that there are two other women.

The stranger is Trace Watson, a man trying to run away from his own tragedy. He's ill and Kit nurses him back to health. Slowly he becomes an oasis in her dessert of stress and though both Kit and Trace have recently lost loved ones, they come to care deeply for each other. When Trace is strong enough, he realizes that he needs to take the women to civilization.

As I said, despite not quite being a full length novel, this one certainly does read like one. Both Kit and Trace are strong characters that are very well developed. As are the secondary characters of Agnes, Kit's disapproving mother-in-law at what she perceives as a betrayal of her son on Kit's part over her developing feelings for Trace and Mary, her rather shallow sister-in-law. The author does very well in handling their attraction to each other despite the feelings of guilt each feels.

The only downside is what happens near the end of the story. I've seen this quite often in romance and it's a storyline I don't really care for. But other than that, I was very impressed with this good book in a small package. It's a September release and I have not qualms about recommending it to those like me, who enjoy a good emotional Western read.

Grade: 4.50 out of 5