A trapper discovers he’s been left a poke of gold—but there’s a safe and a greedy bartender between him and his inheritance. The residents of a mining camp join forces to protect children who may or may not be royalty in disguise. And a pair of bandits get more trouble than they bargained for when the cargo they were hired to steal turns out to be somebody’s mail-order bride!
Find all this and more in this anthology, and prepare yourself for a wild West you only thought you knew as six authors go off-trail and blaze a new path.
This just released collection of short stories offers a refreshing take on the western. All of them have strong roles for female leads. There are plenty of twists, many of which I didn’t see coming. There’s a bittersweet ending but most finish with an uplifting conclusion. There’s a lot of humour with a couple of the stories bordering on being outright comedy tales. Most of the stories have a light-hearted tone although you will find some thoughtful messages within the stories too. There are crazy situations that need fast thinking to resolve. The misunderstanding of an overheard conversation drives the plot of one of the stories. Another seems to follow a more traditional western storyline; that of a new widowed young mother about to lose her ranch until a lone man steps in to deal out justice because that is the right thing to do.
All of these stories captured my imagination and kept me turning the pages to see what happened next. I wished some of them were longer. A couple left me wondering if the lead characters would return in future tales.
Yes, I have my favourites but I can honestly say I’d be happy to read more western stories by any of the authors in this collection – I’ve only read Elisabeth Grace Foley before. The three tales by Allison Tebo are much shorter than the others.
Overall, this is a strong collection of short stories from a group of talented authors. Recommended.
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