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Do you enjoy a character-driven Western? I love love love a character-driven western. Jess's voice was fantastic. I love Mary Doria Russell’s character-driven books, and this Western, set in Dodge City, Kansas, in the There is a deeper, quiet, surprisingly affecting story beneath the Western adventure, which is about

dynamic in which men solve women's problems, but this was entertaining, spicy, and sets up Lyla Sage's Western In Done and Dusted , the first book in Lyla Sage's modern-day Western romance series, Clementine "Emmy It's not fair for me to want a Western romance to be less romance and more Western, but I did, and even And for Western books I've liked, check out these titles .

The Madstone begins as an against-the-odds attempt to evade evil and develops into a beautiful heartbreaker of a story about duty, family, and love in Civil War-era Texas. I will tell you, if there is a thing harder than facing danger, it's knowing it's headed your way. It's 1868 in Texas, and a stagecoach that's off track and in trouble (with a fortune tucked away inside) turns out to also hold unexpected passengers: pregnant Nell and her four-year-old son, Tot, who are fleeing from Nell's abusive husband and his vindictive, terrifying "Swamp Fox" family. When nineteen-year-old orphan and frontier carpenter Benjamin Shreve encounters Nell, he determines to shepherd her and Tot to safety. But their trip to the Gulf of Mexico is fraught with danger--and Nell's husband and his murderous brothers may be hot on their tail. The book is fully epistolary, as the story is told in a book-long letter from Benjamin to Tot. It started off a little slowly for me because Benjamin shared so many details of thoughts and in setting the scene, but I ended up loving the delivery of the story as Benjamin shares understated, thoughtful reflections and begins to express burgeoning emotions and vulnerability. I loved the Old West setting, the relationships, the unlikely allies, the high threat level, the danger and chases, the few quiet moments--all of this. The sourcing of and use of the madstone here is something I may never get over--it was both somewhat disgusting and absolutely fascinating. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company. If you're interested in this book, you might also like the titles on my Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West and Six More Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Elizabeth Crook is also the author of The Which Way Tree; The Night Journal; Monday, Monday; and other books.

LaValle mixes a Western setting with strong feminist messages, magical realism, haunting elements, and In LaValle's magical, dark Western, people tend to disappear whenever Adelaide's mysterious trunk opens I love a Western, and Lone Women is largely set in rural Montana and involves the hardships of getting If you like Westerns, you might want to check out the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Historical

I'm a big fan of Western-set stories and the hardscrabble details of life at that time, particularly

I love a Western-set story.

Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year. 01 Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman I loved this young adult Western other historical fiction books that look promising. 03 West by Carys Davies ​This isn't strictly a Western Davies includes fantastic details of amateur Western exploration that I adored. 04 One for the Blackbird

Something Wilder is a playful adventure with a vivid Western setting, some steamy scenes, an unwavering Something Wilder is romance with a vivid Western setting, and while the early turns and surprises didn't

Hawker offers irresistible details of daily life and historical elements that add vivid layers to this story of Utah Territory, Mormonism, and strong women in the mid-nineteenth century. If she still felt any shame, then shame was a distant thing. It was hung far above, among the stars, and Tamar had no use for it now. In The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker, the author tells a tale of the interconnected lives of three women in Utah Territory in 1857 and of the burgeoning Mormon faith in that place at that time. The story is inspired in part by Hawker's own ancestors' experiences. Much of the story is set on the unforgiving trail west to Utah (and if you're looking for a reason to feel thankful for comforts like shelter, clothing, and food, this section should do the trick). The strenuous trip is inspired by religious fervor. Shared reminders of their new but unflinching, unquestioning faith help drive Tamar Loader, her family, and others in their group into ill-advised situations, brutal weather, dangerous river crossings, snow-covered mountain passes, and more in order to reach the promised land. The reader is able to ascertain the repeated and immense failures of human planning that pushed the pilgrims into often-deadly situations, and to feel fury at the multiple layers of negligence that compromised their journey. (The author's note at the end of the book spells out more of the historical background regarding the shift to the forced use of handcarts rather than wagons, for example, due to cost, as well as the deadly lack of supplies and support, the origins of European inspiration to explore the new faith of Mormonism, and more.) Meanwhile, reassuring religious visions appear to several members of the group, spurring them on when their physical exhaustion, threatened starvation, and various impairments threaten to stop their progress, and inspire unquestioning adherence to Mormon leadership's plans for the journey and for the structure of the pilgrims' lives upon arrival. Jane (the character is inspired by the author's own ancestor of the same name) is a tough young woman in Utah Territory. She is no Mormon, nor does she know much about the faith. But due to family deaths and illnesses, she's desperate for stability, and she knows that her younger sister may not be able to survive without better shelter and care. When a local Mormon man offers a marriage in name only (and pledges financial support), she's inclined to consider taking advantage of what seems to be his foolish generosity. Tabitha is a healer in Utah, married to an up-and-coming brother of the Mormon faith. She takes Jane under her wing, encouraging her natural affinity for understanding the power of herbs and for caring for those who are ill. Tamar, Jane, and Tabitha, recently strangers, become linked by complicated connections to one man. When the US Army invades Utah late in the book, the women must flee into the desert to survive. While carving out an existence in the stark landscape, they take stock of where their lives might lead them--whether banded together or seeking their own individual luck. "Each of us came into this marriage for reasons of our own.... We have our separate feelings about our circumstances, but we find ourselves standing where we stand. None of us can change what has transpired. We are in this together, by God's will, for better or for worse." Hawker is skilled at using well-researched details to bring to vivid life a place and time in history (see my mentions of two other books of hers, below), and these daily-life gems were a highlight for me while reading The Fire and the Ore. The author's note explains the historical events at play and illuminates the ways in which Hawker's historical fiction explores aspects of real-life religious beliefs, plural marriage, governmental involvement, community resistance, and more. ("The majority of Mormons who immigrated to America came from factory-working families.... Mormonism offered these people hope--for, during that time, the church espoused its great dream of building Zion, a cooperative community where all who worked would have an equal share.... Mormonism shone before these desperate families as a real hope for a good life.") Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Hawker is also the author of The Ragged Edge of Night, which I mentioned in Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved Over the Past Year. Hawker also wrote One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West.

They were Comanches, Kiowas, Arapahoes, Cheyennes, and Western Sioux.

Tombstone traces the tensions and factors (including Western justice and on-the-fly policing; varied book reinforced the fact that my personal taste leans more toward character-driven historical fiction Western #nonfiction, #western, #threestarbookreview

British Isabella Bird explored the wild, rugged western United States in the late 1800s, and she journeyed

#historicalfiction, #Western, #series, #threestarbookreview

roles, tales of unconventional friendship, and enough shoot-outs and danger to make this a feminist Western roles, tales of unconventional friendship, and enough shoot-outs and danger to make this a feminist Western

A book that fascinated me, in case you missed it! This was often brutal to read, but it was beautifully written, in a style that felt perfectly suited for the stark Australian outback setting. Only Killers and Thieves is set in the Australian outback at the end of the 19th century. It centers around one family’s conflicts with crooked and powerful neighbors; cruel and aggressive Native Police aiming to eradicate the aboriginal people; the killing drought; and each other. One poor judgment leads to another, foolish choices end in bloodshed, and one brother makes justifications for his actions and feels no remorse, while the other brother feels crushed by it all. Howarth explores questions such as: Can people really change? Is remorse useful, and does it make a person more redeemable? Can a person’s character or morality be decided in a moment, or in a series of defining moments? Is killing ever justifiable if laws allow it? Is a sleazy trade-off forgivable if it takes place in a life-and-death situation? I was struck by Tommy’s striking, dark description of feeling beaten and trapped within a cycle of corruption, death, and destruction: “Dumb as bloody cattle: a cow finds herself in a dried-up paddock and doesn’t think to leave, next thing she’s been hollowed out by the dingos and finished by the birds.” Toward the end of Only Killers and Thieves, we see messy second chances take shape, a little retribution, and an attempt at a changed existence—but the haunting memories of the past creep in relentlessly. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? This was often brutal to read, but it was beautifully written, in a style that felt perfectly suited for the stark setting. I thought about this one long after I finished it. It was disturbing and a mind churner. Dust Off the Bones is Howarth's upcoming sequel to Only Killers and Thieves, due out in summer 2021. If you like reading books with this type of tone and spirit, you might also like those listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West. And stay tuned for this Friday's upcoming list of Six More Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West!

Harper's small-town Australia dark secrets and twists and turns have me totally hooked. In small-town Kiewarra, the Australian community is shaken when three members of a local family are found murdered. Aaron Falk is a federal investigator who dreads returning to his hometown; he had hoped he was shut of the people and the place altogether. I love a "hero has to return to a hometown; complications ensue" setup. Here, Falk has to dig into secrets he thought were long dead, including a secret he'd shared with his childhood friend Luke Hadler. Harper's writing and tone remind me of a more spare Tana French. I knew immediately that I would definitely read the next in the series. I loved being along for the ride as Harper's story unfolded, and I was all in for the main protagonist of Falk for this and future books. What did you think? Harper is also the author of Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2) and The Lost Man, which I mentioned in my Greedy Reading List The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year. Her small-town Australia dark secrets and twists and turns have me totally hooked.

And I love historical fiction set in the Western United States.

Harper's mysteries read like twisty character-driven Westerns set in Australia, and things aren’t always Her books read like Westerns to me, and her sometimes spare tone suits the setting, the stark situations

01 Vengeance Road I loved this young adult Western, and not just because of its amazing cover. written a couple of other historical fiction books that look promising. 03 West ​ This isn't strictly a Western Davies includes fantastic details of amateur Western exploration that I adored. 04 One for the Blackbird

relationship with her mother and other challenges, How to Lose Your Mother ; I'm listening to Lyla Sage's Western . 02 Done and Dusted (Rebel Blue Ranch #1) by Lyla Sage In the first book in Lyla Sage's modern-day Western

, The Fragile Threads of Power; and I'm listening to Lone Women, Victor LaValle's Western, which so far In LaValle's magical, dark Western, people tend to disappear whenever Adelaide decides to open her mysterious If you like Westerns, you might want to check out the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Historical

premise, the revenge from a wronged Indigenous person upon the race aimed at extinguishing them, and the Western

North Carolina's Rash (he teaches at Western Carolina University) is also the author of other books set

Hester is richly imagined historical fiction with connections to themes and characters from The Scarlet In Hester: A Novel, Laurie Lico Albanese reimagines the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester

This often makes her books feel like Westerns to me, as with her book The Lost Man.

Bird Isabella Bird was a British explorer of the western United States in the late 1800s, and she journeyed

Frazier's writing is gorgeous, evoking the stark western landscapes Val passes through, gritty San Francisco

historical fiction novel featuring female doctors, set in 15th century China; a gothic, magical-realism Western here for my full review of Lady Tan's Circle of Women. 04 Lone Women by Victor LaValle LaValle mixes a Western In LaValle's magical, dark Western, people tend to disappear whenever Adelaide's mysterious trunk opens

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading a recently published Western by Elizabeth Crook, The Madstone ;

Mia flees to the embrace of the Community, a group of people living off the grid in rural western Massachusetts Hawthorne--although it treats him very differently as a character--is the historical fiction novel Hester

The author points out that "for a long, long time in Western science and medicine, women's sexuality -basically the same but not quite as good," and explains why particularly for women, "context--your external

North Carolina's Rash (he teaches at Western Carolina University) is also the author of other books set

For Bossy reviews of Western stories, check out the books listed here .

North Carolina's Rash (he teaches at Western Carolina University) is also the author of other books set

The True Love Experiment, a spinoff of The Soulmate Equation, which I loved; I'm reading the upcoming Western

It's 1980, and diver Billy Western plunges into the cold darkness of the ocean to a sunken jet with the

01 The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker In this newest Western-set story by Olivia Hawker, she tells

This often makes her books feel like Westerns to me, as with her book The Lost Man.

Samantha Harvey is also the author of The Shapeless Unease: A Year Without Sleeping , The Western Wind

Right now I'm reading the recent Lucky Red, Claudia Cravens's LGBTQ Western set in a brothel in 1877

Killers and Thieves. 06 The Lost Man by Jane Harper Harper's mysteries read like twisty character-driven Westerns Her books read like Westerns to me, and her sometimes spare tone suits the setting, the stark situations

I love love love a character-driven western. Jess's voice was fantastic. I love Russell’s character-driven books, and this Western, set in Dodge City, Kansas, in the late nineteenth There is a deeper, quiet, surprisingly affecting story beneath the Western adventure, which is about

This often makes her books feel like Westerns to me, as with her book The Lost Man.

short stories that pack a punch and offer depth and lots to consider; a wonderfully offbeat feminist Western roles, tales of unconventional friendship, and enough shoot-outs and danger to make this a feminist Western roles, tales of unconventional friendship, and enough shoot-outs and danger to make this a feminist Western

She flees to the embrace of the Community, a group of people living off the grid in rural western Massachusetts Hawthorne--although the author treats him very differently as a character--is the historical fiction novel Hester

Harper's books read like Westerns to me, and her sometimes spare tone suits the setting, the situations

horrific and vivid details of Native Americans’ physical brutality are depicted; naive and uninformed eastern urban white men’s ideas and outrageously rigid ideas meant to “civilize” western Indians are gradually

my full review of this book, please see Funny Story. 07 Lone Women by Victor Lavalle LaValle mixes a Western In LaValle's magical, dark Western, people tend to disappear whenever Adelaide's mysterious trunk opens

Harper's sometimes spare writing style, which complements it) often makes her wonderful books feel like Westerns

Harper's books read like Westerns to me, and her sometimes spare tone suits the setting, the situations