Maggie Osborne

The Best Man is the story of three spoiled women, sisters, who must complete a cattle drive to win their inheritances. Alex, the oldest, is widowed and lost part of a leg in a carriage accident, so she ends up as the cook. Freddie is a failed actress, and timid Les is betrothed to a man who abuses her. Dal Frisco is an ex-drunk who is the only man who'll take the risk of taking the cattle and women from Texas to Abilene.
This isn't my favorite book of Ms. Osborne's because the romances felt lacking. Each woman has the chance to find a man, but it all seems too hurried. The best parts were the historical details regarding the cattle drive itself. As each woman learned her role, I was fascinated to learn along with them, whether Alex had to dig a firepit or Les had to cut out a steer or Freddie had to turn a stampede. I give it 3 1/2 stars.… (mehr)

I really like Ms. Osborne's books. She writes great stories with memorable characters. This one is not quite up to her usual standard, in my opinion. The premise is intriguing: Bowie Stone is about to be hanged when Rosie Mulvehey offers to marry him, thus gaining a farmhand while Bowie gets to live. The problem is that Bowie already has entanglements back East, which Rosie knows nothing about.
Bowie is a disgraced Calvary officer who refused to massacre Indian women and children and then killed a man in self-defense. Rosie is a dirty, foul-mouthed drunk due to events from her youth. Theirs is a slow-burn romance due to the issues they need to work through. It's very dark.
Meanwhile, there's an alternate story with Susan, Bowie's other 'wife.' I wouldn't say I liked this one as much as it felt predictable. This is still a good book, but just not my favorite of Ms. Osborne's.… (mehr)

I quite liked the story as Low Down was a pretty unique lady. I enjoyed reading about her experiencing so many firsts and her joy about becoming part of a family. I was less enthralled by Max, as he seemed so bitter throughout the story (not without cause, I mean, I had some empathy). But he was so caught up in feeling put-upon for so long. And the I
The set-up required some pretty serious suspension of disbelief, but overall I quite enjoyed it. I'm rating down a bit because I wanted more time with Max and Louise (Low Down) and I really wanted Philadelphia to get her comeuppance. I was not at all happy about her resolution.… (mehr)

I really am enjoying Maggie Osborne's pretty atypical (genre-wise) women. I find that historical romance novels with "unconventional" women tend to have the same type: conventionally beautiful, educated, can shoot and ride, but maybe doesn't like sewing? Sometimes it's dancing, but she always disdains at least 1 traditionally feminine pursuit. But the "unconventional" type is a type.

But here, like in [b: Silver Lining|467409|Silver Lining|Maggie Osborne|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320527509s/467409.jpg|455769], these women are completely realized. Even in [b: The Best Man |731544|The Best Man|Maggie Osborne|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1344271141s/731544.jpg|717734] where the women skew more closely to the conventions (sorry, that word has already appeared too many times) of their time, Osborne twists those expectations. I am pretty impressed.… (mehr)