Doctor in Petticoats by Mary Connealy

This book is the first in a series called Sophie's daughters. Its based off of characters in a previous series known as Lassoed in Texas but its not really necessary to read that series first. I had actually gone backwards in this particular series but I was very relieved to find out that this first book is much better than the other two in the series.

Beth has been East receiving medical training and now is on her way home to become a doctor of sorts to her town. With her on the stagecoach is a man named Alex who appears to be drunk until the stage enters danger and he steps in to help. With the wreckage of another stagecoach Beth learns that Alex is a doctor, and a very good one at that, but he is haunted by his past and unable to do any medical procedures without Beth there to help him. Thinking it practical, they decide to marry and run a doctor's office together. But trouble doesn't leave them for long, with Alex a deserter from the army someone begins to hunt the both of them.

While I believe that all of Connealy's characters fall in love entirely too fast, the characters in this book are pretty good. I like how no-nonsense Beth is and Alex is a surprisingly sensitive character where most of her male characters are strong and gruff. Even her parents play a larger role in this book and are very strong supportive characters. I think about the worst character was the Lieutenant. I couldn't understand his rapid thought changes or the motivations behind them. He was just plain confusing.

The plot goes well enough. It adds a certain element of uniqueness in her writing for it to be the male character being tracked down for once. And the fact that she tried to throw in a woman doctor and show the hardships they faced in that era was interesting as well. The writing was as clear and easy to read as ever and even though they're simple, Connealy has a way with romances that keeps them entertaining. This is a Christian Fiction novel like many of her others but there's barely any mention of religion in this one. Which made it nice and non-distracting.

Definitely the best one out of the series although not the best of her work. I think anyone who liked any of her other books would probably enjoy this one.

Doctor In Petticoats
Copyright 2010
318 pages

Wrangler in Petticoats by Mary Connealy

Well I did it again. After reading the last book in this series first, I then moved on to the 2nd in the series. Guess that leaves the first for last. It didn't effect the reading too much, but I do highly suggest reading the Montana and Texas trilogies before reading these books of the Sophie's daughters trilogy. There is a lot of background to be had.

Sally is the tomboy of the group. As such she has a penchant for going around in boys clothes. But that's not important, what is important is that she and a group of travelers are off to visit her sister Mandy. They are ambushed on the way though and Sally is the sole survivor despite getting shot at and falling off a cliff. Locally Logan, a tremendous artist who happens to be in the area painting scenery is there to help her after her fall. He takes her back to his cabin where his friend and helper Wise Sister tends to her wounds. They then have to plan what to do next as the people who shot her realize she's still alive, and they don't want witnesses.

I think the only character I actually liked in this book was Wise Sister. She was indeed wise and had common sense and just seemed the most believable out of all of them. Logan, what can I say, I've hung around plenty of artists and none seemed so scatterbrained or single minded as him. They had some depth. Sally too was pretty one dimensional with only a few interests and I couldn't follow her thought processes at all. Everything just seemed so conflicting with her. It is important to note that several of these characters are recycled from the Lassoed in Texas series and Montana Marriages series and as such it is highly advisable to read those books before these in order to understand who, why, where and what these characters are.

I thought the plot was kind of shakily done. There was the whole boy saves girl romance but she was too busy berating him for being an idiot that you don't really see a whole lot of the romance. The bad guys were dangerous but unconvincing and it seemed foolhardy for them to go to the extremes that they did. Since this is a Christian fiction book there is a bit of religion incorporated, but not as much as there has been in the previous series. I think I would have liked this book a whole lot better if the characters had better motivations and had there been a more deeply involved plot. It just seemed like this one was rushed through.

Another one that isn't so great by Connealy. I can only hope as I venture into some of her other series that they were as good as the first few seemed to be.

Wrangler in Petticoats
Copyright 2010
314 pages

Sharpshooter in Petticoats by Mary Connealy

So I am all for the publisher putting a number on these books so I can read them in order for once. Thinking this was the first book because it was about the oldest daughter, I read it first. Now it probably didn't make too much of a difference, but it still annoyed me. And then I actually read the book and was annoyed further.

Mandy is a great shot, in fact, probably the finest sharpshooter around. But that doesn't keep her from hiding out in her mountain fortress until handsome Tom Linscott comes to her rescue. Mandy has been hiding out with her three small children ever since the Cooter clan declared a feud on her. With her previous husband dead from the feud, Mandy fears that its only a matter of time for Tom since he insists on marrying her. They have to find a way to keep their family safe or die trying. But there's a lot more of the Cooters than there are of them.

This book brings together all the characters of Connealy's Texas series and of her Montana series and kind of focuses on the next generation. If you haven't read these other series, things could probably get confusing pretty quick. I highly recommend not starting on this series first because of it. Having only seen Mandy as a somewhat confusing child in the Texas series, I was surprised at the woman she became. She just seemed a little harsh. Tom too wasn't that appealing (and I hadn't found him appealing in the other books either) so I guess in a way they fit together. The way Connealy brought in all the other characters was a bit too contrived as well.

I didn't like the plot much at all. While a blood feud may seem exciting there were just too many implausible aspects in this one. Not to mention the nice rumors that were generated about Mandy after so short a time. And I couldn't understand how Connealy could have such bloodthirsty scenes and then make the ending the way she did. I was just left scratching my head. Without giving too much away, it was very anticlimactic. The storyline also tends to bounce around from here to there while having way too much going on to make any one certain story important. Since Connealy is a Christian fiction writer I should touch on that; there actually wasn't a whole lot of religion mentioned in this book. Which is very different compared to her others.

Obviously I wasn't a big fan and while its not the worst of hers that I've read, it ranks pretty close to the worst. I can only hope the previous two books are better.

Sharpshooter in Petticoats
Copyright 2011
315 pages

Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy

Calico Canyon is the 2nd book in the Lassoed in Texas series. While these books don't necessarily need to be read in order, it does help a tiny bit if they are. At least, some side stories make more sense that way.

The same day after being fired from her job as schoolteacher because of the rowdy Reeves boys, Grace finds herself fleeing town as her abusive adoptive father has finally tracked her down. She stows away in the back of a wagon and later wakes up to find herself in the home of the Reeves and their just as rascally father. Because of the odd circumstances the preacher finds them in, they are married quickly to prevent scandal and then find themselves snowed in with each. Not such a bad ending? Well not when they can't stand each other. In addition to having to try to live with each other, Grace must also worry about her pursuer and if he really truly is gone from her life now that she is married.

I like Grace as a character. She's got a lot of spunk and is one of the stronger female characters within the series. At least she doesn't waver as much in her convictions as the other ones. Daniel Reeves is a little less likable. He's kind of a grouch and prone to highly illogical thinking at times. The boys could be cute at times but fought way too much to be believable and I often got tired of the countless descriptions of their wrestling around with each other. Grace's father was a truly despicable man and it was a pleasure to hate him throughout the novel.

The plot was good. Could have used more excitement earlier in but it really starts gearing up in the second half of the book. This one wasn't so much of a romance as the others as there was not a lot of wooing involved in this relationship. Like all the others this is a Christian fiction book and it does use it periodically throughout the novel. It wasn't enough to be grating though and at least, unlike some of her others, it was used logically.

Not the best of Connealy's work but it wasn't too bad either. Definitely held my attention for the entire time I was reading it.

Calico Canyon
Copyright 2008
284 pages

Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy

Oh goodness, I'm not sure what Connealy was thinking with this one. Needless to say I found myself shaking my head a couple times while trying to read this first book in the Lassoed in Texas series. As a note I actually read the last book in this series first and it didn't really make a difference.

Sophie is a widowed women with four young daughters. She's been hiding out in the bush after her husband's lynching to protect herself and her daughters from the townspeople out to marry her off over the freshly dug grave. But then, on a stormy night, a man who looks just like her husband ends up in her care after a fall. Its his long lost twin brother Clay and he decides to do right by the family and marry Sophie. He buys back his brother's old ranch and that's when the problem starts. A band of vigilantes who have been up to no good killing people and now they want the ranch one way or the other.

The characters were pretty awful in this book. I might give a way a little bit but some of this stuff just made me so incredulous. For one, the daughters are a whiny crying mess all the time, yet when its just their mother with them they are capable and cool headed. While I realize different people react differently around certain people, it was just too much of a difference to be believable. Then there was Clay. He was a complete idiot when it came to all aspects of life and marriage and considering the way he traveled around, it just didn't seem like he would be that naive about everything that came to women and their feelings or even interacting with people in general. Sophie was ok. She bounced back and forth between being dependent and independent and I was never quite sure where the motivations for her actions came from.

The plot was actually decent; had the characters been able to pull it off. There was a lot of intrigue and excitement. But then there came the "call" that was put out by Sophie for help that men hundreds of miles off were supposed to be able to hear. I know this is Christian fiction but really? It just seemed pretty far-fetched. The Christianity in this book was also very preachy, down to the fire and brimstone preacher sermons they all attended. Some of her other books do a much better job at showing rather than telling the message she's trying to get across.

Not a very good book by Connealy. I hope the next in the series improves a bit.

Petticoat Ranch
Copyright 2007
285 pages

The Husband Tree by Mary Connealy

The Husband Tree is the 2nd book in Mary Connealy's Montana Marriages series. That being said you don't have to read the series in order. Sure it will help with some little things, but it doesn't effect the overall enjoyment of the series.

Belle Tanner has been quite a few husbands, and after burying the last one she vows no more. Even her daughters agree they've all been worthless. They can handle the ranch all by themselves. Silas Harden feels the same way about women. Too many wiles and they just are up to no good. So he feels pretty safe helping Belle herd a bunch of cows to sale across a treacherous path with just her daughters for help. But when some other folks come along to help they must put up a guise that they are married to keep Belle and her daughters safe. And they discover they like the playacting a little too much.

Belles a great character. She's strong and vibrant and doesn't take crap from anybody. Although I do think she weakens a bit towards the end. Silas is quite moody but still a good guy all around. The daughters are probably the best though. They're kind of inspiring with how tough and go-to they are. I do have to say that I didn't like Wade though. He appears in the third book as well (which was my least favorite of the series) and he just seems kind of whiny in this book.

The plot was nice. A tough cattle drive run by women. My kind of action anyway. And the romance was quite nice as well. Really the only thing I didn't like was the side plot with Wade and Glowing Sun. It just didn't mesh well with the rest of the book. This is a Christian fiction book, but unlike some of the author's other books, it doesn't come into play as much. God is mentioned here and there but it isn't an overt storytelling or preachy.

A pretty decent book. Not as good as the first but still well done.

The Husband Tree
Copyright 2010
315 pages

Montana Rose by Mary Connealy

Sometimes its hit or miss with Connealy's work. This one was a hit for me. It taught some very important lessons about being yourself and was a very inspiring book for me.

Cassie had been controlled for all of her not so long life. Now eighteen and pregnant, she has to watch as her husband is being buried. As it is rural Montana the dirt isn't even all settled before numerous men start clamoring to be the one to marry her and take care of her. Luckily, Red Dawson steps in before one of the less than savory men takes off with her against her will. She's frightened of Red at first and he's taken aback at her meekness and cringing, but together they learn about having a true relationship.

I really related with Cassie and her need to please people. It seems that she gave up a lot to try to make the people in her life happy and that still didn't work for her as they just kept taking more and more without giving back. And Red gave me hope that there are good people out there who love unconditionally and don't grow angry for minor things. I realize its just a story, and these are characters, but they had to be based off of real people in some way and that's what makes the story nice for me.

The plot was interesting although the bad guy was kind of off here and there for me. It was nice to see Cassie grow as a person and how the book reflected the changes and struggles that she had as a person. I would say that that was more of the plot than the plotting bad guy. The writing of course was charming and down to earth and made you really care about the people in the book. It is Christian fiction so it was a quite heavy theme of Christianity in the book. But it didn't seem preachy to me and because it was written the way it was, it wasn't oppressing.

Definitely a strong tale of growth and inspiring. This is probably the best one of hers I've read so far.

Montana Rose
Copyright 2009
318 pages

Wildflower Bride by Mary Connealy

I had read one of Mary Connealy's works before and really liked it. Sadly, this one did not charm me in the least. There were a lot of poor elements to this book that left me not liking the characters, plot, or really just about anything.

Wade Sawyer has been camping out in an old cabin one winter and ventures out straight into the aftermath of a massacre. Not everyone is dead however, Glowing Sun, a white woman who has been raised by the tribe is still alive and driving off her attacker. When Wade saves her, she agrees to come with him back to his father's house who has recently become paralyzed. There, Wade struggles with his difficult father, lazy wranglers who haven't been doing their job, and someone who's out to kill he and Abby (Glowing Sun). But he also is falling in love with her and she's ready to kill anything that twitches an eye wrong.

The characters were completely out of whack in this book. None of them had truthful motivations. Wade who supposedly had a harsher past and dealings with his father was too saintly; when he wasn't trying to control Abby yet saying he didn't want to control her. Abby was my most liked character but even she, wild as she was, acquiesced to everything pretty easily and then does a complete turn around in mind set towards the end. I just didn't see the attraction the two held for each other. The side characters were actually better than the main characters in this instance.

There was a lot wrong with the plot, so much so that there will probably be some spoilers for the book in this paragraph, so reader beware. My first problem was the fact that an entire Native American tribe could be massacred by four somewhat bungling outlaws. Just doesn't seem realistic. There also was the notion that instead of going to the tribe for help along with the injured like they planned, they just go somewhere else instead when another plot instance happens and never trouble themselves about the situation again. This continues throughout the story with unlikely things happening at inconvenient times just for the sake of the plot. Another big alarm for me was the cavalier treatment of past abusive and current abusive situations. I'm pretty sensitive to things surrounding abuse right now which could account for my disgust of the way the book made it seem like you could just preach God at the abusers and they'd see the light, but I really thing that Connealy did not handle it well. She tries to say that showing the right way through God is all that is needed to change an abuser and that staying in the situation and trying to change it is best. Which segways me into the fact that this was a Christian fiction book and it was overly preachy and not very naturally Incorporated into the book. It was more of the characters announcing they were Christian rather than showing.

The more I think about the book the more I dislike it. I'll probably return to some of her other works. But this one just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Wildflower Bride
Copyright 2010
318 pages

Gingham Mountain by Mary Connealy

It's been awhile since I've read a romance. And I found myself really liking this one but becoming frustrated with it at the same time due to some illogical aspects of the book.

Grant is a good guy and especially devoted to orphans. He's got four at home already (and twenty some altogether during his 27 year old life) and is picking up two more from the train when he meets Hannah, a scrappy beautiful woman who thinks he is taking the orphans to his home to work as slaves. Most who know Grant know this is the furthest thing from what he'd do, but with a history of abuse Hannah isn't able to see it any other way. She takes on the job as school teacher to stay near the kids and makes plans to rescue them.

Over time, and seeing Grant interact with the kids she realizes that he's not a bad guy, but still has her suspicions when several bad things start happening to the kids and to Grant. When one of his sons is nearly murdered, Grant isn't sure what to do but keeps an eye out in town. However, he's not the only one, someone's got their eye on him and their plans aren't nearly as altruistic as his. It all comes to head on a pageant night Hannah has arranged. It is hard to say whether Grant's family will come out ok or if Hannah will every understand what her feelings are for him.

The characters in this were mostly well done. The kids were all wonderful and I did like Grant. He was an awesome guy and it was nice that the author wrote him as such a great father. The bad guys were sufficiently evil although their plans were a bit complicated. The only character I had a problem with was Hannah. Why oh why must authors make their women characters stubborn without intelligence. Its kind of insulting. She redeems herself by midway in the book but I just wanted to slap her in the beginning.

Connealy has a clear writing style and it was easy to get absorbed in her book. She describes the characters well and the settings were easy to see in my head. This is a pretty clean book too for a romance novel, no sex scenes. In fact, along with the romance I'd dub it a bit of an adventure tale as well just because there is always so much going on.

Now for the not so good stuff. Aside from Hannah's annoying start there are some other characters that are just not needed. The whole side story about her sister just didn't add anything to the book and I found myself skipping through it and not enjoying it at all. There also is the motive behind Hannah being on the train in the first place, I can't quite understand that. Her getting the job as a schoolteacher is odd too when she is continually described as looking homeless. Also, things are resolved way too easily in the end of this book.

It was a cute book to be sure and I definitely will be checking out some of Connealy's other works. If they're all as good as this one I expect to like them.

Gingham Mountain
Copyright 2009
285 pages