Title: Pride of the Mountain Man (Mountain Man #22)
Author: William W. Johnstone
Pages: 166
Year: 2018
Publisher: Pinnacle
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Smoke Jensen is a well-established character in Johnstone country. While some may be harder to please and critical of the character, author, or series, I read books for enjoyment. In this story, Smoke and two of his ranch hands are taking the new cross-bred Herefords to Dodge to sell. Smoke once again leaves Sally to take care of the ranch and remaining men on the Sugarloaf, which she is quite capable of running.
Cal and Pearlie help Smoke on the drive, and their antics with each other provide levity in the story. These two men are close friends and think a lot of Sally and Smoke Jensen. When Smoke gets to Dodge, his plan is to sell quick and return to his beloved ranch. However, he senses that life isn’t going to be that easy, and it turns out he is quite correct. After a gang hits the town, robbing and killing some of the people living in Dodge, Smoke knows he can’t return home without hunting these villains down.
Reading the Mountain Man series is entertaining for me. I thoroughly enjoy the loving relationship of Smoke and Sally Jensen. They run the Sugarloaf Ranch and sometimes fight side by side, while other times they work together in the high country. Sally knows she married a man who can’t walk away from a fight where innocents are harmed or killed. Smoke attributes his desire for a quiet life to the love Sally gives him every day. I like how in this book the historical characters of Wyatt Earp and Bloody Bill Anderson come to life. I highly recommend just sitting down and enjoying a good story and then sharing it with others. Visit the author’s website to view the vast variety of fictional works available for audiences to enjoy! Go to https://williamjohnstonebooks.com ( )