The Man From Stone Creek

Linda Lael Miller is referred to as "The Queen of Western Romance." This is not one of her best showings. Featuring far too much death and (unnecessary) destruction, and an almost chaste romance, as well as a pretty convoluted mystery subplot, The Man from Stone Creek might be worth a skip.
Sam O'Ballivan comes to Haven, AZ to pose as a schoolteacher while also tracking down a band of murderous outlaws. Maddie Chancelor runs the general store in town and is raising her rapscallion younger brother. The development of their relationship was slow enough to be realistic, but once the bandits were caught and the end of the book loomed, they were pretty quick to get to the sexytimes without even having kissed prior to this. Miller tosses in a show more couple of steamy scenes at the end in case you need that kind of thing, but it didn't really feel true to character for either participant.
The bad guys were pretty obvious throughout, except for the lead bad guy which came as a bit of a surprise, and seemed a little unlikely. However, the chase developed at a realistic pace as well, which was good.
To address the death and destruction: Linda, you don't need to kill every inconvenient character (or make a Happy Ending for every sympathetic one). Also ***SPOILER*** If it's going to be difficult for the hero and heroine to choose where to live when they marry, because they both have a vested interest in two geographically separate locations, you don't need to burn down the whole town to get her to go live at his ranch. ***END SPOILER***
In the end, this was a very interesting mix of completely genuine and realistic storytelling combined with some "Are you kidding me??" moments that completely spoiled things, in my opinion. show less

This was an action packed historical western with a fantastic hero! I fell in love with Sam right away, especially over the way he handled the kids in the town of Haven. He arrived from Stone Creek to take over as the new school teacher, but the town has suspicions that there is more to the new teacher than meets the eye. A bullying incident with the school kids brings him face to face with Maddie Chancelor and the sparks begin to fly. The tension between the two kept me turning the pages and filled the gaps between the action sequences very nicely. This was a great read that took me through every range of emotion. I can't wait to read the next book! I highly recommend this one!

Ranger Sam 0'Ballivan is sent to the tiny town of Haven Arizona to track down a gang of train robbers, with his cover being the new school teacher. He doesn't count on being swept away by the local postmistress/mercantile clerk, Maddie. Good adventure and romance. Historical western romance -- I understand why she is such a popular author.

First in the Stone Creek Series; Ranger (Sam O'Ballivan) sent undercover to stop a band of outlaws, falls in love with the local girl (Maddie) running the mercantile

If you like historical romances set in the old west then this is the book for you...Linda Lael Miller is the best at writing these types of books.

I am not typically a romance reader, but I wanted to try to expand my reading horizons, so I was grateful for the opportunity to read this book for Royal Reviews. I had hoped this book would bring me into the genre and make me want to continue reading not only this series, but more western or just romance in general. Sadly, that is not my reading fate right now.

To read the rest of my review, please visit:
http://www.dorolerium.com/?p=508

From BackCover:
There was trouble in Haven, Arizona, and Ranger Sam O'Ballivan was determined to sort it out. Badge and gun hidden, he arrived posing as the new schoolteacher, and discovered his first task was to bring the rough ranchers' children under control. So he started with a call on Maddie Chancelor, the local postmistress, and older sister of a young boy in firm need of discipline.

It never occurred to Sam that Maddie would turn out to be a graceful woman whose prim and proper stance battled with the fire in her eyes. Working undercover to capture rustlers and train robbers was a job that had always kept him isolated and his heart firmly in check—until now. But there was something about the postmistress that had him show more unwittingly tempted to start down a path he'd sworn he'd never travel. show less