Forever Victoria

by Dorothy Garlock

A New York Times extended list bestselling author, Dorothy Garlock has won acclaim and awards for her unique ability to convey both the romance and reality of frontier America. Here she presents one of her most beloved stories, a tale of a woman in danger of losing both her home and her heart. Victoria McKenna is a Western woman--tough on the outside and soft on the inside, where she keeps her dreams. Now both her strength and her heart will be challenged. Her late pa's cattle ranch on Wyoming's notorious Outlaw Trail, the only home she has ever known, has been underhandedly sold to a stranger named Mason Mahaffey. Soon Victoria finds herself confronting a rangy, handsome cowboy with five orphaned brothers and sisters--a man whose level blue eyes suggest she has met her match. Her choice is clear. She can fight him with all her might . . . or listen to the feelings that tell her Mason is the right man for both this wild country and a woman born of the West.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Westerns, Historical, Historical Fiction, Western Romance, Western Historical Romance

295 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1983

About the author

Dorothy Garlock was a best-selling American author of over 60 historical romance novels, most of them set in the American West. More than 20 million copies of her books are in print, in 18 languages. Her books have been on the New York Times best seller list seven times. She was named one of the 10 most popular writers of women's fiction four years in a row, from 1985-1988. In 1997, she was awarded the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award. Garlock is also a member of the Romance Writers Hall of Fame.

Garlock worked as an editor, agent and publicist for most of her writing career. She was a native of Texas who grew up in Oklahoma then married and moved to Iowa. Garlock donated many of her manuscripts and other unpublished writings to the University of Iowa libraries.


Pen names include:
Johanna Phillips
Dorothy Phillips
Dorothy Glenn

Reviews

[Golden Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was good and I truly like it then but at chapter 15 it was starting to become hard to finish... It's because of "Doubt", "misunderstanding", "anger" etc that is destroying the heroine and it's frustrating to read it that way.... And so the the heroine is struggling between love and hate feeling for the hero..

The story is okay not bad it's quite good if you like action love story thingy. ^^

[Jerry Jares · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story! Garlock guarantees conflict by having a ne'er-do-well brother in England illegally sell off his half-sister's (Victoria McKenna) inheritance (the Double M Ranch, in Wyoming Territory) to Mason Mahaffey (and his young siblings).

Victoria is prepared for a no-holds-barred legal fight with Mason but finds that Mason's siblings are the innocent victims of their feud.

Mason refuses to leave the ranch and Victoria refuses to surrender control. They share the house while the legal wheels turn slowly. Each knows they are correct but Mason has a compromise. He offers to marry Victoria so she can stay; the young woman is underwhelmed with the offer!

Victoria remains hostile to Mason but begins to understand the difficulties the younger Mahaffey's have endured and softens her feelings toward them.

Out of the blue, folks are shooting at Victoria and Mason and they must figure out why their lives are in peril. They join forces to fight the unknown enemy and put aside some of their hostility.

These are two strong characters that aren't ready to give an inch; they are fascinating to watch. The secondary characters are fully developed and do much to move the story along.

This is the best book I've read in a long time! I couldn't put it down until the last page. Enjoy!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been having good luck trying new (to me) authors lately, and this was another one. The book wasn't anything spectacular, it was a sweet, escapist romance, with the characters defined more by situation than any real depth, but something in it just kind of picked me up and carried me away. I actually don't think I wanted the characters filled out, because this way, I could fill in the details with my own experience. (That's very strange for me to say, since I usually love a good character more than anything else, but sometimes archetypes work.)

My only complaint is a minor one that I felt it ended a little abruptly. Oh, everything is resolved, and maybe I should be grateful that this wasn't one of those books that went into a whole chapter + epilogue of denouement and HEA, but I wouldn't have minded just a little bit of a transition from climax to the end.

[Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a western story, not usually my favorite genre, but it is a romance. Victoria is in danger of losing her ranch to a man and his family of brothers and sisters. In this story Victoria's step-brother is the villian (he has no socially redeeming value!!) Victoria and Mason persevere to overcome many difficulties to get to their happy ending. I like the story, but Mason is pretty overbearing at times, apparently that's how men are supposed to act in the wild west! I'm not sure I would have been able to cope with that, but of course women in that time were treated like property with no rights.

[Diane Macaluso · Rating 3 out of 5]

A "chick flick" read! Oh, well - they are fun once in awhile!

[Evyphuong · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing story about love and destiny. Finally, everyone can find their own "real home" :)) It's so wonderful. Love is so wonderful :x ~

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good romance that was sweet rather than hot. I enjoyed it but wasn't swept away.

[Laura Aase · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. She was too hot headed and he was too bossy but a good story line. Wyoming 1870’s. Victoria receives word that her half brother sold their ranch and she needed to vacate. Despite the Will that left her as the heir. When she and the “new” owner get shot they realize something is up! Loved the part about the big brother gathering all of his siblings up after his parents die while he is at war to make a life together.

[Helen Geng]

Read 2021

[Pamela McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book even though it made me so aggravated at the beginning

[kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heroine was a total dimwitted shrew. Hero was a little better but still so stupid he bought a ranch in Wyoming that he had never seen from a total stranger he met on a business trip while in England.

Since you can't fix stupid the book was a dud.

[Christel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Dorothy Garlock that goes on the keeper shelf.

[Isabel Keats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un gran descubrimiento esta autora.

[Dpic · Rating 2 out of 5]

enjoyable story

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.