A Lady of the West

I am a big Linda Howard fan, but I could only give this book three stars because the character of Jake was just a bit too alpha for my tastes. I just can't condone physical violence against a woman, no mater how provoked a person is or how sorry they are afterward. I don't know that I've ever read a romance story where the male lead was violent against his love interest (while knowing she is pregnant, no less) and then expected to be forgiven (and bedded) without much effort on his part.

I did like the spunk and courage shown by the lead female (Victoria), but the fact that she was so easily controlled by sex just didn't seem to jibe with her otherwise good judgment. Is it possible to have sex so good that it makes you forget that your lover slapped you hard enough to almost break your jaw right after you tell him you are pregnant? If that kind of sex actually exists, it should come with a warning!

The title of the book made me pass it up a few times, but I decided to read it......It was one of the best western romance story I have listened to. I couldn't give it up, I had to know what was going to happen next, or who would say what to a certain situation. If you like Western, Romance, and a great story line, then you must listen/read this book!

This isn't Howard's best. But it is an interesting story about the west during/after the civil war.
The main male character is quite rough at times, and he even struck the his wife while she was pregnant. However, I really liked all the female characters. Their struggle to survive was very moving.
While the book fell in the end bc of a belabored plot, I still found myself very invested in the story.
I would hesitantly recommend this book. It's is perhaps a C+\ B-. But the heroines: Victoria, Celia and Emma get an A+. They are very engaging. It's the meanness, lack of trust and unexpected violence of the male character, Jake, that drags this book down in the end. He has been thru hell, and so it's somewhat understandable that he is so untrusting. It just seems like the man is bipolar. He was gentle and kind in the beginning of the relationship with Victoria. Then once he's married to her, he loses his kind ways and seems to lose his mind as well.

Again I was very interested in the book, listening to it in one sitting. It's just not a perfect love story, which often is reality. So I'm on the fence with this one. If you like Linda howard, it's worth a read. But not her best work by far.

Not a bad listen. I have to say I'm not fond of the violence against a pregnant woman. Other than that, I enjoyed the plot, which moved along nicely. The characters were also very interesting. I would recomend this book.

First off, this was not a western. It was a VERY long-winded story about one of the most prudish, overly-modest, and physically naive women I have ever come across in print. Chapter after boring chapter went on and on about her and her shocked modesty. This was also not a romance. When the heroine was forced to sleep with the hero, she described her so-called night of passion as "painfully intimate." And the "hero" was no hero at all as he did not have one endearing quality throughout the entire book. It did not shock me that he dabbled in domestic violence.

There was also absolutely no story here. Ninety-nine percent of the book took place in the same dull house and dealt with the same flat characters who discussed their same boring thoughts on the dictates of modesty. Even the characters who were supposed to be villainous were a total bust. The only one of interest was Angelina, the raunchy ranch prostitute and she didn't stick around for long. Can't believe this one made it to print.

What a great story.

I enjoyed it.