Sweetwater Seduction
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Sweetwater Seduction
Joan Johnston
Dell, Nov 2004, $7.50, 383 pp.
ISBN: 0440205611
In 1880 in Sweetwater, Wyoming Territory, the ranchers and the farmers are on the verge of war. The ranchers assert that the farmers are stealing their cattle; the farmers declare that the ranchers are destroying their fences allowing their cattle to roam onto their land and devastate their crops. Neither side will bend.
Disgusted with both groups and worried about her students especially the safety of the children of both sides, too tall and too tough for any male, spinster schoolmarm Eden Devlin borrows a concept from the classic Greek play Lysistrata. No sex until the dumb males come to their senses and end the hostilities before someone gets hurt. The ranchers hire gunslinger Burke Kerrigan to capture the rustlers and offer a bonus of one thousand dollars if he seduce Eden and thereby end the boycott. As Burke begins to uncover who is behind the troubles, he and Eden fall in love, but can a cynical gunslinger and a prim teacher find anything in common permanently?
Lysistrata in the Wild West is a terrific tale starring two likable individuals who are not quite the extreme stereotypes that everyone believes of both of them. The story line is typical of the range war theme, but is freshened up by the lead couple and a solid investigative subplot as Burke takes nothing at face value including the ranchers’ insistence that the farmers are the rustlers. Fans of Joan Johnston will cherish this fine story while the award winning author should gain new recruits.
Harriet Klausner
Joan Johnston
Dell, Nov 2004, $7.50, 383 pp.
ISBN: 0440205611
In 1880 in Sweetwater, Wyoming Territory, the ranchers and the farmers are on the verge of war. The ranchers assert that the farmers are stealing their cattle; the farmers declare that the ranchers are destroying their fences allowing their cattle to roam onto their land and devastate their crops. Neither side will bend.
Disgusted with both groups and worried about her students especially the safety of the children of both sides, too tall and too tough for any male, spinster schoolmarm Eden Devlin borrows a concept from the classic Greek play Lysistrata. No sex until the dumb males come to their senses and end the hostilities before someone gets hurt. The ranchers hire gunslinger Burke Kerrigan to capture the rustlers and offer a bonus of one thousand dollars if he seduce Eden and thereby end the boycott. As Burke begins to uncover who is behind the troubles, he and Eden fall in love, but can a cynical gunslinger and a prim teacher find anything in common permanently?
Lysistrata in the Wild West is a terrific tale starring two likable individuals who are not quite the extreme stereotypes that everyone believes of both of them. The story line is typical of the range war theme, but is freshened up by the lead couple and a solid investigative subplot as Burke takes nothing at face value including the ranchers’ insistence that the farmers are the rustlers. Fans of Joan Johnston will cherish this fine story while the award winning author should gain new recruits.
Harriet Klausner
