| Johnny
Paynter is working on a ranch in Colorado in 1885, when his
friend Cam rides up to tell Johnny that the ranch foreman
is dead and everyone believes Johnny killed him. Johnny wants
to return to the ranch to protest his innocence, but Cam convinces
him that he'd be hung if he went back. They head for Johnny's
brother's ranch in Texas and discover his brother Mark has
been shot by outlaws. Johnny assumes Mark's identity, the
first of many lies he tells as he deals with the townspeople.
More ensue when Johnny discovers that Mark's mail order bride
will be arriving within days.
Widow Sally Golding lives with Reverend and Mrs. Winters in
St. Louis, Missouri. In financial trouble and hoping one day
to have a family of her own, Sally replies to rancher Mark
Paynter's advertisement and takes a train to Beaumont, Texas.
Johnny realizes he has no choice but to marry Sally, whom
he considers beautiful, but Sally begins to wonder what's
wrong with her when her husband avoids their nuptial bed.
She also feels ill at ease when her husband's ranch hand,
Cam, is around. Soon the marriage that began with a lie has
Johnny and Sally turning to God for help.
The Outlaw Takes a Bride is a wonderful and fast-paced
mail-order-bride novel. The characters are sympathetic and
believable: they struggle with their fears yet are willing
to do what is necessary to make their marriage work. While
that marriage is based upon a lie, the suspense and enjoyment
of the novel is learning how the web of falsehood is untangled
and the characters' feelings are resolved.
Ms. Davis has written an outstanding novel of love, hope and
redemption, while at the same time making the hardships of
living on a ranch in 1885 Texas come vividly alive. |
