Wrangler in Petticoats

Title: WRANGLER IN PETTICOATS
Author: Mary Connealy
Publisher: Barbour Books
October 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60260-147-5
Genre: Inspirational/historical romance

Sally McClellan heads to Montana to visit her sister Mandy. Mandy is due to have her third child, and Sally hopes to be there to help with the delivery and help with Mandy’s two other young children while Mandy is laid up. But as the train chugs into Montana, her traveling companions decide to leave the train and cut across country, wanting to see some of the beautiful scenery along the way. They promise they know a short-cut to Mandy’s ranch and will get Sally there.

Along the way, bandits lay in wait, shooting everyone in Sally’s party dead, and sending Sally over the cliff where she is rescued by an artist who is drawing pictures in the area. But the bandits decide to check to make sure Sally is dead. But in doing so, they discover she’s actually been rescued. They are determined to know that she doesn’t survive, so they take off after her and her rescuer.

Logan McKenzie is a Eastern man capturing the West in pictures that he sells back home in the East. He and his Indian housekeeper, Wise Sister, take good care of Sally, but Wise Sister knows the bad guys are coming. But can even Wise Sister’s plans keep Sally safe from those determined to kill her?

WRANGLER IN PETTICOATS is the second book in Ms. Connealy’s Sophie’s Daughters series. All three of the girls I’ve been introduced to thus far are just as tough as their mother in a previous book, larger than life. The heroes pale greatly in comparison, especially in the heroine’s eyes. The reader still cares for the poor misunderstood hero, hoping the heroine will come to see him for the treasure he is.

I enjoyed reading this series so far, and can’t wait to read the third book in the series, Sharpshooter in Petticoats, which is in my to-be-read pile. I do wish some things had been a little different about the ending and I felt the bad guys thread was left dangling, but it may be tied up in another story. All in all this was a great read. $12.99. 314 pages.