SuperWendy's Reviews > Claiming Her Legacy

Ever since Maggie Osborne retired from writing I've been on the fruitless trail to find authors who write historical western romances in a similar vein. After reading the back cover blurb of what is, presumably, the first in a new series from Goodnight - I downloaded the ARC, even though I knew going into the story that this was an inspirational, and not exactly Osborne-like (per se) for that reason. This was mostly a success.

"Mostly" because it takes a good long while to get going. The heroine wants to track down the outlaw who murdered her pa - yes, pa deserves justice but more so for the bounty on the outlaw's head. Willa desperately needs the money to pay off a bank loan. Otherwise? Her and her two sisters will be homeless, left with nothing but undesirable options stretching out before them. For this she needs a guide and the only one in the area is the hero - who is a drunkard who has to dry out first. Hence, the man hunt / road romance portion of this story doesn't start until you're 60% into the story.

But Goodnight creates an interesting backdrop in the tiny Oklahoma town of Sweet Clover, with plenty of interesting characters that could populate later books in a series. Also, she knows her hero has to dry out - and while I would have preferred that happen on the trail, it makes a logical bit of sense that he does so before they even set off.

This is an inspirational, but it's not of the ilk where you feel like the author is trying to convert the reader. The characters have faith, and I found Willa's "God helps those who help themselves" attitude particularly refreshing. Gideon, naturally, has a tragic past and his return to faith stems from his need to give and receive forgiveness. Also, because it's an inspirational, readers shouldn't expect any sexy times although we do get a well-deserved, and much anticipated!, kiss between our main couple.

It wasn't exactly what I was hoping it would be, but the final 40% really closed out to be solid finish. If Goodnight continues the series, I'll be reading.