The Ranch Next Door

By Elisabeth Grace Foley

ebook, October 2011

CreateSpace paper book, March 2012

Contents:

The Ranch Next Door

Disturbing the Peace

Cross My Heart

A Rangeland Renaissance

Angel Unawares

The Outlaw’s Wife

Delayed Deposit

After only reading the first tale in this collection of short stories I found myself becoming a fan of Elisabeth Grace Foley’s writing. Her descriptions of both people and settings are superbly done and dialogue is believable. I can honestly say there isn’t a weak story to be found here.

The opening tale seems at first to be the usual boy from cattle ranch falls for girl from sheep ranch story that can only lead to trouble. How this is resolved is through a superb twist that I didn’t see coming that adds a fresh angle to this theme.

Disturbing the Peace is an award-winning tale about self-discovery. A Rangeland Renaissance is full of humour and comic situations. Like the first story, The Outlaw’s Wife is a twisting tale that offers unforeseen surprises.

As soon as I finished one story I found myself diving into the next, eager to read more of these beautifully told tales. 

I believe that all western fans will find something to enjoy in this collection and I hope it isn’t too long before Elisabeth Grace Foley puts out a full length western, or another selection of short stories.

Red River Stage

by Fred Grove

Leisure Books, August 2002

This is a collection of short stories, twelve in all, by Fred Grove. According to the blurb he is of Indian heritage, (Osage and Sioux) and has a love of horses. It also says that Grove has won five Spur Awards of which two were for stories included in this book.

My favourite was one of the award winners. “When the Caballos Came”, a finely crafted tale of the time the Penateka Comanche discovered the stunning animals ridden by the Spaniards and wondered if they, too, could ride them. What made this the stand out story in my opinion is that I wished it longer, I wanted to read more.

Like in any collection there are stand out tales, such as “Comanche Woman” (the other award winner) and the title story.

It soon became obvious that the strongest stories were those dealing with Indians.

I did notice a couple of re-occurring themes, namely an older man who was seen to be out of touch with modern times. The other being the inclusion of a woman, who, as you read through the book, it became obvious to the outcome of her relationship with the “hero” of the story.

All in all a good collection of tales, and a good way to introduce yourself to the writings of Fred Grove.