For the next bit, you will find a number of Mary Connealy books reviewed. One of my assignments to grow as a writer is to study the writing of a writer I admire, and she is one whose books have been lining my shelves long before God called me out of my four walls.
So here we go, Book # 1 in the Lassoed in Texas series.
Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy 
“Sophie Edwards is doing just fine, until a strange-yet oddly familiar-man rides into her life, insisting on rescuing her and her four daughters. Can she find a way to love a headstrong mountain man? When Clay McClellan discovers his brother has been murdered, he’s bent on finding the killers and seeing them properly hung. But first his Christian duty demands that he marry his sister-in-law. After all, Sophie needs someone to protect her – right? Faith and love help unruly wed newlyweds find common ground and a chance at love on the Texas frontier.”
– Amazon.com Blurb
The book starts right off the bat with action and suspense, making it a difficult task to lay down the book when your children start asking, “When’s dinner?”
There were lots of twists and turns in the book that I didn’t expect and although there were instances of what seemed to be coincidence, they were put together in a very believable way. Even a miracle of God appeared throughout the story, one I particularly loved and believe is plausible even in today’s world.
I loved how strong and independent Sophie and her girls were, and especially in how sweet she was in letting Clay think that he was teaching her and the girls new skills when, in fact, they had already mastered them years ago. As a reader, I wanted to be Sophie and think that I could defend my family the way she did.
Clay was a hoot, too! Mr. Macho had no idea how to deal with women, but he was all too willing to step in and fulfill his Biblical brotherly duties to marry his brother’s widow. His take charge attitude was met with some hilarious results. Some parts of the romance seemed to happen too quick for me, but it didn’t keep me from enjoying the story.
The plot was not straight-forward either. Mrs. Connealy did a marvelous job of bringing in all sorts of ties from unexpected places. Every single detail had its place and even when things seemed part of a different plot they all came together to make one cohesive story. I really marvel at how she did that and am specifically breaking down each chapter to discover just exactly how she did that.
I would recommend anything she writes, but I would definitely recommend reading this series first. So many of the people in this first series appear in later series. Mrs. Connealy does a magnificent job of creating a cohesive story world across series. So meet the characters first in this series.
It seems as if this book is no longer in print, but you can find it through third-party sellers at Amazon.com. You can visit her website at http://maryconnealy.com/.