Friday, April 4, 2008

Review of Mary Connealy's debut novel, Petticoat Ranch


Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy
Published by Barbour, 2007
Fiction: Historical
ISBN: 978-1-59789-647-4

Take a very independent widow, Sophie Edwards, and her four very female young daughters, a headstrong mountain man who has no idea how to deal with girls, Clay McClellan, a villainous man, Judd Mason, determined to acquire the Edwards ranch, and a few travelers following a deeply disturbing voice and you have Mary Connealy’s refreshingly funny, and wittingly suspenseful debut novel, Petticoat Ranch.

Mary Connealy pulls off this intricate, humorous read, by interspersing mini scenes, in a couple of secondary characters’ POV’s, amongst the larger scenes written in the main characters’ POV. With each snippet, the association between the cast becomes a slight bit clearer, but leaves you surmising right until the crucial scene when they all come together and the connection is revealed.

Using conflict and humor, Petticoat Ranch delivers a fun, quick read that will leave you wondering what’s next for the mismatched newlyweds and their brood. This story reminded me so much of how my sisters and I acted as children. It’s true to life of little girls, for sure. And the chemistry between Sophie and Clay leaves you wanting a sequel.

One fun read, indeed!

2 comments:

Mary Connealy said...

Hi, Eileen. I googled myself (and we all know how painful THAT can be) and found you. Thanks for the great review. I'm glad you enjoyed Petticoat Ranch.
the sequel, Calico Canyon, is coming in August.
The forced marriage of the prissy Grace Calhoun and the semi-civilized Daniel Reeves.
I'm going to put a link to this on my blog.

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Mary,

I will be ordering my copy of Calico Canyon for sure. Your sense of humor is so evident in your first book, that I'm positive it will come through in your second one as well. You must be one fun person to live with! Looking forward to more giggles and hilarious laughter.

Eileen