Plum Creek, Colorado 1872
The Right Man Comes Along
Madeline Brewster practically owns Plum Creek, Colorado. But at thirty-two, she knows she has missed any chance for happiness. Until she finds a tall, strong, handsome Irishman on the wrong end of the hangman’s noose. Suddenly this unconventional woman comes up with an outrageous idea . . .
Teague O’Neal has rugged cheekbones, tousled black curls, and eyes as blue as the sky, even if he is caked in Colorado mud. The men insist they caught him horse-thieving, and there’s something desperate about him that says he’d do anything for a buck.
Maybe it was pure chance, or maybe it was something more that brought Madeline and Teague together. But one thing’s clear, between a woman who has just about everything she could ever want, and a man who’s lost that and more, they might find something in between worth living for.
Madeline hears about a man being hanged and she doesn’t want the opportunity to see the horse thief in person to pass her by. She immediately heads over to where the man is about to hang and talks both the sheriff and the judge into letting him live temporarily since there’s no definitive evidence to say that he indeed stole the horse. She offers to be in charge of him for 1 month until the owner of the horse can return from a trip he’s on.
But Madeline wants more than a ranch hand. She wants a man to teach her the ways of sex and the huge Irishman is just the guy to do it. Once Teague O’Neal cleans up he’s a good looking man who makes even 6 foot Madeline felt petite. She proposes to Teague that he teach her lessons in “love” and that she will pay him. He’ll do almost anything for a buck but sex? That might be pushing it. That just makes him feel like a whore. The problem is that almost instantly Teague and Madeline feel a connection, a sexual tension between them and they can’t seem to keep their hands off of each other.
But there’s more to Teague than meets the eye. He’s connected to the sheriff as more than just a horse thief and he’s on Madeline’s ranch for more than work. Some of the people of Plum Creek have it in for Madeline and they’re determined to bring her down. When Madeline finds out what’s happening she’s just as determined to not only defend herself but to bring the evil-doers of Plum Creek down instead.
I’ve had this book, as well as others by Ms. Williamson, for quite a while. Why haven’t I read them? I don’t know! lol Western historicals aren’t really my go-to genre but after reading this one I will definitely be reading more from her soon! (I also got my days mixed up and thought today was “post your TBR Challenge review” day. *pssst* that’s not til next week.)
I really liked this story a lot. I love that Madeline was strong enough to stand up for herself and go after what she wanted. She was truly a great character and I loved seeing that – especially because of the time period the book was set in. Then Teague – wow. He was just…lickable. lol He was drawn as this huge man but he really had a good heart under all of that muscle and I very much liked who he was. He had been through some really hard times and had punished himself for deeds that were out of his control for so long it was nice to see him finding a place that he felt comfortable and beating some of his personal demons back.
The “Education” part of the title of this book was muy caliente, let me tell you. Teague gave Madeline lessons about intimacy, sensuality and sex that were smoking hot. I really appreciated that fact that these lessons were interspersed in the story so that they fit so well with Madeline, Teague and everything else that was going on. I didn’t feel like any of the sex scenes were gratuitous.
Overall a really great historical western romance story. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series soon and of course all those other ones I have as well.
Rating: 4 out of 5
That guy on the cover doesn't look old enough to be educating anyone in the arts of love!
I'm glad you liked the story, Tracy. I love Westerns but the Native American ones. Sigh… they don't really have many of those being released anymore.
This one sounds steamy. A sexy man teaching the heroine the arts of love? I wonder if I would like it….I need to venture in to some new stories. It's always Regency for me (not that I'll ever grow tired *wink*)
Chris, the cover of the original e-book, was totally more Teague. Very nice. I didn't care for this cover either.
But the book itself? Terrific.
Lovely review Tracy – thank you. I haven't read a Western in…ages! Hmmm. I quite like the idea of the older heroine, but…Madeline doesn't spring the whole 'education' bit on Teague straight away, does she?
@Barbara – I love the Native American ones too 🙂
Chris – Well, covers never do quite grasp the characters correctly, imho. Some do but the majority doesn't. Believe me, in the book he was definitely old enough. 🙂
Barbara – As I said the westerns aren't usually my thing and if I do read them they're normally contemporary romances. My historical reads are normally regency's too but this one was great. Just a well written book.
Lori – I think you were the one who originally told me about these books – so thank you! lol
Orannia – Actually Madeline does spring it on him quite quickly and he's a bit taken aback but very interested. He did request a waiting period though so that was nice – they got to know each other a bit better.
Love reading such a great review for a book in my TBR pile. Kinda validates having the mountainous TBR pile – no telling what treasures are in there. 🙂
Leslie – I feel the same way about my TBR! lol I have so many great books, I'm sure, it's just finding the time to read them all. I don't think I'll ever catch up. lol