Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Education of Madeline-Beth Williamson

The Education of Madeline
Beth Williamson
Kensington Brava, Mar 2009, $14.00
ISBN: 9780758234698

In 1872 in Plum City, Colorado, at thirty-two years of age, Madeline Brewster feels her chance for happiness has passed her by. She has never found love and besides the locals place her as out of reach due to her family owning much of the town. Making her loneliness feel worse, the spinster cannot even bury her isolation by managing her family fortune; her stepfather controls her family’s wealth since her mom died.

Irishman Teague O'Neal arrives in town only to be accused of being a horse thief. The mob starts to lynch him, but Madeline intercedes. She offers the handsome rogue a deal: his life for teaching her the pleasure of being a woman. Feeling roped in, he agrees. As they fall in love, someone wants Madeline dead while Teague is willing to die to keep his beloved safe.

The lead couple is an interesting duo as none of the townsfolk would expect the spinster to fall in love especially with an Irish rogue. Although her stepfather is never fully developed beyond villainous status, Western romance readers will feel transported to Reconstruction Era Colorado to bear witness to the love between the on the self feisty female and the rakish handsome horse thief.

Harriet Klausner

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