Ballad Beauty by Lauren Linwood-a review
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 25, 2015
After ten years apart, Boston schoolmarm Jenny McShanahan receives a letter from her beloved father that instructs her to join him in Texas. She has no idea that he’s become Famous Sam McShan, the Robin Hood of the West. She arrives to find Sam already gone, but he left instructions for Jenny to hire a guide and rendezvous with him in Nevada.
Texas Ranger Noah Daniel Webster knows Sam personally because his father, Pistol Pete Webber, was Sam’s longtime partner in crime. When Pete is killed during their last big score, Noah requests the assignment to bring Sam to justice. Going undercover, he volunteers to act as Jenny’s escort across the dangerous prairie, using her to track her outlaw father’s location.
As they journey through rough country, love blossoms—but Noah knows the second he arrests Sam, his betrayal will kill Jenny’s love for him. Should the lawman do his duty as a Ranger, or should he let love rule? The choice Noah makes will change their lives forever.
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REVIEW: Western and Romance fans rejoice! Lauren Linwood has written another magnificent tale of the Old West that thrills the heart and mind.
Ballad Beauty is a masterfully written story of rough beginnings, family drama and finding love and more to build a life on. Noah Daniel Webster is a Texas Ranger determined to make up for his criminal father, Pistol Pete Webster. Pete is a bank robber, thief and killer. Noah was raised by his mother with a decent education and a guilt complex (courtesy of Mom) that makes him want live a life on the right side of law and order. When he decides he has to bring in his father’s partner, Famous Sam McShan, who he believes killed his father, Noah sets out to find Sam. Knowing Sam has a daughter he will contact, Noah decides to follow said daughter until he finds Sam.
Jenny McShanahan, was raised in The Thompson School (for girls) after her mother died and her father wanted a safe and good place for her. Jenny knows her father intends to send for her…but it’s been over ten years. Finally a letter arrives and gives her directions and money on how to meet her father in Texas. Jenny is unaware of her father’s way of making a living…she doesn’t know he’s Famous Sam McShan. She sets out to find him, and finds much more than she thought.
That’s the set up for the story…of course there’s much more to it, but discovery is all the fun, right? Let me tell you that this story is well written. The characters are believable and as colorful as the Old West itself. Ms. Linwood has done a magnificent job of transporting the reader to times past with realism and yet romance. The attraction and building love between the main characters is swoon-worthy.
Grab your favorite beverage, some snacks, maybe just a couple of tissues and get ready for a thrilling and compelling story that will curl your toes and warm you heart! Enjoy, I certainly did.
Copy supplied by author.
Reviewed by Georgianna
Wonderful review, Georgianna. You are very expressive how you feel about this book and Linwood.
Thanks, so sorry to be late to the party, but I was on vaca in Florida.
wonderful review. i have never read a western romance, but you made this sound so good.
The story is actually good. A confirmed bachelor and a girl raised in a school for “ladies”….oil and water…but what a chemical reaction that was not expected! LOL
Georgie – You’ve brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face with this lovely review! Thank you for your wonderful support of my romances. I so appreciate The Reading Café and all it has done for me.
Thank you Lauren…and thanks for letting me read and review this wonderful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had such a hard time putting it down and picked it up again first thing the next morning! We won’t talk about the dreams in between…LOL! Sorry to be late with this response, but my daughter and I took the kids to Florida for spring break and I just got back.
So nice that you had a wonderful getaway with the grandkids to Florida! Hope all had a terrific time. Thanks again for spending time with Noah & Jenny. And I will be surprising you come June! After 6 historicals, I’m having my first romantic suspense come out. I don’t know if you enjoy that genre, but I’d be honored if you want to read it. And if not, A KNIGHT FOR KALLEN comes out in the fall!
Wonderful review Georgie. Sounds like a great story.
Congratulations Lauren on the new release. All the best !
Very nice review Georgianna. sounds interesting. Congratulatons Lauren on the new release.
Thanks AB…I really loved reading it.
Wonderful review. Sounds like a nice storyline.
Joanie, the storyline is a good one, and the circumstances and writing are fully entertaining.
Nice review Georgianna, sounds like a great novel
Sassy, it was a lovely story, very hard to put down…I think I read until about 3 am, then picked it up first thing the next morning! Very compelling.
Sassy – If you read BALLAD BEAUTY, you’ll find that Jenny’s horse is named Sassy! She’s a prissy little filly…and Noah’s horse falls for her hard!
Great review. Sounds very good, though I am not a western fan.
I’m not typically a person who picks up westerns either, but Lauren’s books have such great characters and wonderful settings they’re hard to put down. Give it a shot…it’s romance and love…with a little cowboy thrown in!
Another nice review. My TBR is getting way too big !!
EF, I know the feeling, my TBR is the size of a mountain…ahhhh someday! This is a fun and fast read, really well done. Thanks for reading my review, I appreciate it.
Very nice review. Thanks Georgianna and congrats to Lauren on the new release.
Thanks for all the kind words from everyone! I love my friends at The Reading Café. This story is the first time I’ve written about my native state of Texas, and I had blast doing so.