Mavis Maureen Donovan was a prostitute in New Orleans at a fancy brothel; one day her life changed when she was arrested and introduced to her future husband, the Reverend Dennis Douglas. Twenty years of marriage and two daughters later, Reverend Douglas went to visit a church member and never returned. Shortly thereafter, the church folk threw Mavis and her girls out of the parsonage. She didn’t know what to do, but she had always heard others say “Go West!” That’s just what they did.

After months of traveling, they found a small cabin and, planning to stay overnight, they ended up there for several weeks and were found by the owner and his crew—Mr. Tobias Perkins, who had a Bluebeard, his ranch foreman, Hank Heartly, and his bookkeeper, Wesley Wiseman, were at home on the Hell’s Half Acre Ranch. Never again would the lives of these men ever be the same!

Ms. Barri Bryan does a magnificent job of presenting a love story (of sorts) with a slant toward the biggest calamity of errors possible! All the characters are equally ridiculous and the story becomes funnier the more you read. I love historical romances; I have NEVER read one such as this. I’ll admit that, even though it is quite rare, it was definitely a breath of fresh air. Read it; you will not be sorry. Good work, Ms. Bryan!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Brenda Talley
February 8, 2007