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Americana series #3
Le rival
Diriger un saloon à San Francisco à l'époque de la ruée vers l'or n'est guère chose facile. Surtout pour une femme ! Mais la silhouette délicieusement sensuelle de Catalina Hilliard dissimule une volonté de fer.
Son coeur, elle l'a pourtant donné une fois. Pour être cruellement trahie ! Désormais, le Silver Lady est toute sa vie. Menant son affaire de main de maître, Catalina a appris à garder ses distances. Au point même qu'on la surnomme la Reine froide...
Mais lorsque Steven Canton pénètre dans la grande salle du Silver Lady, elle perçoit un danger : le regard de cet homme la déshabille littéralement ! Qui est-il ? D'où vient-il ? Et pourquoi a-t-il choisi de s'installer juste de
l'autre côté de la rue pour ouvrir son propre saloon ?
Rien n'est jamais définitivement acquis... La jeune femme a payé pour le savoir. Elle se battra contre Steven, elle le ruinera !
Mais au fond d'elle-même, Catalina sait qu'elle joue avec le feu...
Son coeur, elle l'a pourtant donné une fois. Pour être cruellement trahie ! Désormais, le Silver Lady est toute sa vie. Menant son affaire de main de maître, Catalina a appris à garder ses distances. Au point même qu'on la surnomme la Reine froide...
Mais lorsque Steven Canton pénètre dans la grande salle du Silver Lady, elle perçoit un danger : le regard de cet homme la déshabille littéralement ! Qui est-il ? D'où vient-il ? Et pourquoi a-t-il choisi de s'installer juste de
l'autre côté de la rue pour ouvrir son propre saloon ?
Rien n'est jamais définitivement acquis... La jeune femme a payé pour le savoir. Elle se battra contre Steven, elle le ruinera !
Mais au fond d'elle-même, Catalina sait qu'elle joue avec le feu...
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1993
20 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 24, 2018
3.5/5. Beautiful and cool as ice, Catalina Hilliard has made her saloon the most popular in San Francisco by ruthlessly outwitting and outmuscling her competitors. She had already run 4 prior owners of the nearest saloon out of business, so when an arrogant and confident stranger arrives in town to claim ownership of the old and embattled saloon opposite hers, she is prepared to fight dirty if she must to retain sole supremacy of her territory.
Taylor Marsh Canton has been a gun for hire these last 15 years since coming home from fighting in the Civil War to find his mother and sister had been violated and killed. His mistargeted revenge eradicated the last vestige of humanity from his soul. Since then, he had been building up a reputation as a fearsome gunslinger, moving from place to place and carrying out his jobs in the most cold-blooded and efficient manners. He had refused to be tied down by any commitment or sentimentality - until now. Winning the deed to an old saloon in a card card has brought him to San Francisco and he suddenly finds himself entertaining the idea of putting away his guns, settling down and making a go as a business owner. Meeting the fiery Catalina has certainly fueled this inexplicable new ambition because she provides a challenge and gets his heart pumping like nothing else has since the war.
Catalina has a very traumatic past. She was born in a brothel and forced into prostitution by first her mother then her husband when she as still a child. She has fought for every dime that she owns and she is not going to relinquish her hard-earned position to anyone, especially a piano-playing stranger with the old-fashioned cultured manners of a Southern gentleman, who provokes her at every turn and makes her skin tingle in a way that no man has ever done before.
"I should never have come with you.”
“I didn’t give you any choice.”
“I always have a choice, Mr. Canton.”
He leaned back against the seat of the carriage, surveying her ruthlessly. “I would suspect that once you didn’t.”
“You and I, Cat, are like fire and gunpowder.” She could barely decipher the words. “Sometimes I wonder if we won’t destroy each other.”
Both characters are older than usual - she about 37 and he about 40. They both have a shit load of emotional baggage and secrets of their pasts that they have kept hidden from the world and both their pasts are on collision course with the present. I found Catalina a very harsh character and hard to warm up to. I understand, she is a product of her horrible experiences, but her dirty tactics to eliminate her competitors were not always legal nor honorable, and I so like my protagonists to retain their honour and goodness despite all adversities. Marsh was great hero material. From his reluctant interaction with the stray dog to his dealings with his employees and Catalina, he had an innate decency that the violence over the years had not erased. The writing was a bit repetitive in the beginning, but it did improve as the book progressed although it never reached the impressive heights of her other book Wanted
His eyes flew open in surprise, and for a fleeting second they were unguarded. There was a raw, aching longing in them, a yearning that was only part passion. She felt it in his hands, in his lips, in his possessive arms. Then his eyes closed again, as if he realized he’d revealed something very private, and she closed hers, too, drinking up the almost magical closeness of a moment shared between two people who didn’t know how to share.
“In fact I don’t give thank-yous at all.”
“Why?”
She was silent for a moment. She didn’t know why she had said what she had. But there was a kind of poignant honesty between them now that she didn’t want to break, that seemed to compel words from her. “I never ask for anything.”
He understood her answer. He never asked for anything either, but somehow the simple statement from her stabbed him with a curious pain. He’d made his own lonely path, but he sensed that she had not, that it had been made for her, and he wanted to go back in her life and kill everyone who had hurt her.
Taylor Marsh Canton has been a gun for hire these last 15 years since coming home from fighting in the Civil War to find his mother and sister had been violated and killed. His mistargeted revenge eradicated the last vestige of humanity from his soul. Since then, he had been building up a reputation as a fearsome gunslinger, moving from place to place and carrying out his jobs in the most cold-blooded and efficient manners. He had refused to be tied down by any commitment or sentimentality - until now. Winning the deed to an old saloon in a card card has brought him to San Francisco and he suddenly finds himself entertaining the idea of putting away his guns, settling down and making a go as a business owner. Meeting the fiery Catalina has certainly fueled this inexplicable new ambition because she provides a challenge and gets his heart pumping like nothing else has since the war.
Catalina has a very traumatic past. She was born in a brothel and forced into prostitution by first her mother then her husband when she as still a child. She has fought for every dime that she owns and she is not going to relinquish her hard-earned position to anyone, especially a piano-playing stranger with the old-fashioned cultured manners of a Southern gentleman, who provokes her at every turn and makes her skin tingle in a way that no man has ever done before.
"I should never have come with you.”
“I didn’t give you any choice.”
“I always have a choice, Mr. Canton.”
He leaned back against the seat of the carriage, surveying her ruthlessly. “I would suspect that once you didn’t.”
“You and I, Cat, are like fire and gunpowder.” She could barely decipher the words. “Sometimes I wonder if we won’t destroy each other.”
Both characters are older than usual - she about 37 and he about 40. They both have a shit load of emotional baggage and secrets of their pasts that they have kept hidden from the world and both their pasts are on collision course with the present. I found Catalina a very harsh character and hard to warm up to. I understand, she is a product of her horrible experiences, but her dirty tactics to eliminate her competitors were not always legal nor honorable, and I so like my protagonists to retain their honour and goodness despite all adversities. Marsh was great hero material. From his reluctant interaction with the stray dog to his dealings with his employees and Catalina, he had an innate decency that the violence over the years had not erased. The writing was a bit repetitive in the beginning, but it did improve as the book progressed although it never reached the impressive heights of her other book Wanted
His eyes flew open in surprise, and for a fleeting second they were unguarded. There was a raw, aching longing in them, a yearning that was only part passion. She felt it in his hands, in his lips, in his possessive arms. Then his eyes closed again, as if he realized he’d revealed something very private, and she closed hers, too, drinking up the almost magical closeness of a moment shared between two people who didn’t know how to share.
“In fact I don’t give thank-yous at all.”
“Why?”
She was silent for a moment. She didn’t know why she had said what she had. But there was a kind of poignant honesty between them now that she didn’t want to break, that seemed to compel words from her. “I never ask for anything.”
He understood her answer. He never asked for anything either, but somehow the simple statement from her stabbed him with a curious pain. He’d made his own lonely path, but he sensed that she had not, that it had been made for her, and he wanted to go back in her life and kill everyone who had hurt her.
June 4, 2014
Let's kick this off with the gorgeous stepback cover. It's a bit big, so I'll hide it behind the spoiler tags so we don't muck up the feeds.
The girl: Catalina Hilliard endured a miserable childhood at the hands of her mother (a prostitute), who put her to the trade at a very young age. Cat survived that and more and after years of blood, sweat and tears she's got herself a successful saloon in the heart of San Francisco. At 37, that's enough for her and has no desire to share it with a man - any man - and why she's known as the Ice Queen.
The guy: Notorious gunman Marsh Canton wins again at poker, but his opponent is out of cash and surrenders title to a *successful* gambling establishment in - you guessed it - the heart of San Francisco and right across the street from Cat's little place.
"And he wondered for only the briefest of seconds whether he was really looking for a new life, or if he just wanted to see whether he could melt the Ice Queen."
This being a romance novel and all, I don't think it will surprise anyone that sparks are a'flying from the first meeting, even though Cat and Marsh profess to hate each other. Our pair have ups and downs (and a fair amount of sex) as they resolve their issues with their respective pasts.
I found this an OK book, not great but not bad either. I did find the writing to be a bit heavy handed on the adjectives, but that's just my personal tastes. YMMV. The Big Misunderstandings were a bit heavy handed, especially with a H and h of a more advanced age and not some twenty-something youngins battling it out. For me, the historical setting was more of the wallpaper variety, so if that's not to your taste this book might not suit. I was scratching my head over a San Francisco newspaper making it back east in a two day window.
This is the last book in a trilogy, but it does stand alone, there's a mention of the pair from book two and the pair from book one have a couple of cameo appearances.
The girl: Catalina Hilliard endured a miserable childhood at the hands of her mother (a prostitute), who put her to the trade at a very young age. Cat survived that and more and after years of blood, sweat and tears she's got herself a successful saloon in the heart of San Francisco. At 37, that's enough for her and has no desire to share it with a man - any man - and why she's known as the Ice Queen.
The guy: Notorious gunman Marsh Canton wins again at poker, but his opponent is out of cash and surrenders title to a *successful* gambling establishment in - you guessed it - the heart of San Francisco and right across the street from Cat's little place.
"And he wondered for only the briefest of seconds whether he was really looking for a new life, or if he just wanted to see whether he could melt the Ice Queen."
This being a romance novel and all, I don't think it will surprise anyone that sparks are a'flying from the first meeting, even though Cat and Marsh profess to hate each other. Our pair have ups and downs (and a fair amount of sex) as they resolve their issues with their respective pasts.
I found this an OK book, not great but not bad either. I did find the writing to be a bit heavy handed on the adjectives, but that's just my personal tastes. YMMV. The Big Misunderstandings were a bit heavy handed, especially with a H and h of a more advanced age and not some twenty-something youngins battling it out. For me, the historical setting was more of the wallpaper variety, so if that's not to your taste this book might not suit. I was scratching my head over a San Francisco newspaper making it back east in a two day window.
This is the last book in a trilogy, but it does stand alone, there's a mention of the pair from book two and the pair from book one have a couple of cameo appearances.
August 7, 2020
When gunfighter Marsh Canton wins a failed saloon in San Francisco, he decides to put his hired gun down and and become a saloon owner. He has no idea that the saloon owner across the street see’s his business as a threat and the owner known as the Ice Queen is determined to shut him down. It doesn’t take long for passion grow between them finally real love and trust to break down barriers both had put up. Despite the sex scenes which didn’t make the book better, it’s a well written book that will grab and hold your attention until the end.
November 5, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained. He is a gunslinger who wins a run down saloon.
He restores it and is now in direct competition with the saloon across the street owned by a woman called the Ice Queen. Sparks fly between these two. Other things happen around them and eventually her past and his past make an appearance. He is hoping to hang up his gun but in doing so gets shot much to her dismay. HEA ending.
He restores it and is now in direct competition with the saloon across the street owned by a woman called the Ice Queen. Sparks fly between these two. Other things happen around them and eventually her past and his past make an appearance. He is hoping to hang up his gun but in doing so gets shot much to her dismay. HEA ending.
December 5, 2024
wow . I really loved this story of two survivors. two harden persons who had to overcome abuse, violence, great grief and forge themselves new lives.
beautifully written, great characters , Cat and Marsh will stay with me for a long time.
What a wonderful movie it would make.
beautifully written, great characters , Cat and Marsh will stay with me for a long time.
What a wonderful movie it would make.
November 8, 2025
Good Book
This is a wonderful author, as shown in this book. This is a book about wounds and healing by love. A romance that shows that love still exists despite hurt and pain and that redemption is real.
This is a wonderful author, as shown in this book. This is a book about wounds and healing by love. A romance that shows that love still exists despite hurt and pain and that redemption is real.
November 27, 2019
What a great read! The old west setting, strong woman in the saloon business, a gunfighter trying to reform—and a mongrel dog. I was looking for something different and this is it.
June 5, 2019
Readers will undoubtedly enjoy this book more if they are read in order (see the list below). Because I didn't know RAINBOW was related, and Quinn Devereux appears throughout this story, I know I missed some of the inferences in this book. I plan to start over and begin with RAINBOW.
This is a great book; full of sound and fury! However, it is not as action-filled as LAWLESS. There's lots of growth in the 2 main characters, but they are internally grappling with the people they were and eventually to become. Catalina is Marsh's love interest and she has a wagon-load of awful secrets.
Marsh Canton is a 40-year-old gunfighter who realizes he is getting too old to continue in his profession. He happens to sit in on a poker game and wins a saloon in San Francisco. The idea of leaving his old life behind in Colorado and starting anew appeals to Marsh.
Over the course of the book, I learned that Marsh came from a wealthy plantation family and had a university education in the law (attorney). The shocking item: he is such an accomplished pianist that he plays Beethoven from memory!
During the Civil War, Marsh fought for the Confederacy and became part of Mosby's raiders. Killing became a way of life that he continued after the war.
It took 3 weeks to read this book! I was so taken with his early life (he learned piano from his mother, who was an extremely accomplished pianist herself) and his desperate need to reinvent himself; I kept delaying reading more pages. Having read LAWLESS, I knew how Lobo's reputation ended, and I was so concerned that this one would go the same way. Talk about getting involved in the story!
Potter's ability to resolve Marsh's need to leave gun fighting was excellent and believable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
This is a great book; full of sound and fury! However, it is not as action-filled as LAWLESS. There's lots of growth in the 2 main characters, but they are internally grappling with the people they were and eventually to become. Catalina is Marsh's love interest and she has a wagon-load of awful secrets.
Marsh Canton is a 40-year-old gunfighter who realizes he is getting too old to continue in his profession. He happens to sit in on a poker game and wins a saloon in San Francisco. The idea of leaving his old life behind in Colorado and starting anew appeals to Marsh.
Over the course of the book, I learned that Marsh came from a wealthy plantation family and had a university education in the law (attorney). The shocking item: he is such an accomplished pianist that he plays Beethoven from memory!
During the Civil War, Marsh fought for the Confederacy and became part of Mosby's raiders. Killing became a way of life that he continued after the war.
It took 3 weeks to read this book! I was so taken with his early life (he learned piano from his mother, who was an extremely accomplished pianist herself) and his desperate need to reinvent himself; I kept delaying reading more pages. Having read LAWLESS, I knew how Lobo's reputation ended, and I was so concerned that this one would go the same way. Talk about getting involved in the story!
Potter's ability to resolve Marsh's need to leave gun fighting was excellent and believable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
December 10, 2016
4.5
Since I switched almost completely from reading print books to ebooks, I’ve slowly been working on collecting my favourite books as ebooks so I will have them with me always. Alas, some are too expensive or some haven’t been available and I have a mental list to check every so often to see if they have been released as ebooks. One of them I’ve been following is Notorious by Patricia Potter. Although a number of her other books have come out, only recently has this one. Although it cost more than I usually pay for ebooks, since this Western is one of my faves, I didn’t mind as much.
I first read this one many years ago and if anything I enjoyed it even more years later so my money was well spent. We first met Marsh briefly in a previous book. He’s a cold blooded gun slinger who’s also quite dapper. He was a bit sympathetic in that book though his appearance was brief. But now he has a story of his own to tell.
When he helped out the hero Lobo in the previous book Lawless, this seemed to put Marsh at a crossroad. He’s good at what he does, gunslinging, but he realizes the older he gets the more likely he is to die in a gun battle. He has happened to win a saloon in a poker game and contemplates giving up his current profession to work the saloon. Once he sees the dilapidated condition it’s in, well he’s perverse and now he wants to take it on as a challenge.
There just happens to be a saloon across the street owned by Cat, also known as the Ice Queen of San Francisco, our heroine. The last thing she wants is any competition and in fact has driven all those trying to open the Glory Hole as it’s known, by any means she can, honestly or dishonestly if needed. So when she hears about Marsh’s or Taylor as he know prefers to be called in order to distance himself from his former job, Cat is all set to make sure he’s run out of business too. Unfortunately he has the backing of a very influential member of San Francisco who smooths the path of a number of things. Finally Cat appeals to a rather corrupt cop who kidnaps Marsh/Taylor and plans to have him shanghaied.
But Cat doesn’t want to take things that far. Though she refuses to acknowledge it, there is a strong and growing attraction between the two of them. Instead Taylor spends some time in jail and when he gets out he’s none too happy, no sir!
Thus begins a game of one upmanship between the two of them. Taylor brings in a singer, Cat brings in dancers to do the Can Can and so on.
It would be quite easy to dislike Cat. She does come across as strong and cold and quite the bitch but as we get to know her background, we can see why she is the way she is and even admire her for what she has accomplished.
And I quite like Taylor. Once he quits the gun slinging and as he slowly admits to his attraction to Cat, he loosens up quite a bit. He also has a sad past. He lost his entire family during the Civil War, thus the lack of caring. It hurts too much.
Something else I appreciated about this book is the couple are older, in their late 30’s if I recall. And even though I didn’t mind this when I first read the book when I was in my early 40’s, now that I’m not, I like their age even more
This book was originally published in 1993 and it well stands the test of time. And now that it’s available as an e-book, I’m doing my part to spread the word about this Very Good Western and the excellent Westerns that Ms. Potter writes.
Since I switched almost completely from reading print books to ebooks, I’ve slowly been working on collecting my favourite books as ebooks so I will have them with me always. Alas, some are too expensive or some haven’t been available and I have a mental list to check every so often to see if they have been released as ebooks. One of them I’ve been following is Notorious by Patricia Potter. Although a number of her other books have come out, only recently has this one. Although it cost more than I usually pay for ebooks, since this Western is one of my faves, I didn’t mind as much.
I first read this one many years ago and if anything I enjoyed it even more years later so my money was well spent. We first met Marsh briefly in a previous book. He’s a cold blooded gun slinger who’s also quite dapper. He was a bit sympathetic in that book though his appearance was brief. But now he has a story of his own to tell.
When he helped out the hero Lobo in the previous book Lawless, this seemed to put Marsh at a crossroad. He’s good at what he does, gunslinging, but he realizes the older he gets the more likely he is to die in a gun battle. He has happened to win a saloon in a poker game and contemplates giving up his current profession to work the saloon. Once he sees the dilapidated condition it’s in, well he’s perverse and now he wants to take it on as a challenge.
There just happens to be a saloon across the street owned by Cat, also known as the Ice Queen of San Francisco, our heroine. The last thing she wants is any competition and in fact has driven all those trying to open the Glory Hole as it’s known, by any means she can, honestly or dishonestly if needed. So when she hears about Marsh’s or Taylor as he know prefers to be called in order to distance himself from his former job, Cat is all set to make sure he’s run out of business too. Unfortunately he has the backing of a very influential member of San Francisco who smooths the path of a number of things. Finally Cat appeals to a rather corrupt cop who kidnaps Marsh/Taylor and plans to have him shanghaied.
But Cat doesn’t want to take things that far. Though she refuses to acknowledge it, there is a strong and growing attraction between the two of them. Instead Taylor spends some time in jail and when he gets out he’s none too happy, no sir!
Thus begins a game of one upmanship between the two of them. Taylor brings in a singer, Cat brings in dancers to do the Can Can and so on.
It would be quite easy to dislike Cat. She does come across as strong and cold and quite the bitch but as we get to know her background, we can see why she is the way she is and even admire her for what she has accomplished.
And I quite like Taylor. Once he quits the gun slinging and as he slowly admits to his attraction to Cat, he loosens up quite a bit. He also has a sad past. He lost his entire family during the Civil War, thus the lack of caring. It hurts too much.
Something else I appreciated about this book is the couple are older, in their late 30’s if I recall. And even though I didn’t mind this when I first read the book when I was in my early 40’s, now that I’m not, I like their age even more
This book was originally published in 1993 and it well stands the test of time. And now that it’s available as an e-book, I’m doing my part to spread the word about this Very Good Western and the excellent Westerns that Ms. Potter writes.
September 3, 2016
Notorious by Patricia Potter
I liked this story.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
Their rivalry was as fierce as the attraction between them. They were kindred spirits who had walked on the dark side of life: Marsh, the strong lover she both feared and hungered for; Cat, the angel who could destroy him... or give him back his soul.
A SENSUOUS CAT
The owner of the most popular saloon in San Francisco, Catalina Hilliard used her exotic beauty to draw men into the Silver Slipper. Long ago she had vowed never to give away her heart, but she hadn't counted on the striking good looks of Marsh Canton…
A DARK AND DEADLY GUNMAN
Catalina knew Marsh Canton was trouble the moment she first saw him. Something in his gray eyes warned that he was a dangerous man. He was not the first to attempt to open a rival saloon next door to the Silver Slipper, but she saw a steely strength in him that had been missing from the men she'd driven out of business. Even more perilous to Cat's plans was the spark of desire that flared between them ...a desire that was about to spin her carefully orchestrated life out of control.
I liked this story.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
Their rivalry was as fierce as the attraction between them. They were kindred spirits who had walked on the dark side of life: Marsh, the strong lover she both feared and hungered for; Cat, the angel who could destroy him... or give him back his soul.
A SENSUOUS CAT
The owner of the most popular saloon in San Francisco, Catalina Hilliard used her exotic beauty to draw men into the Silver Slipper. Long ago she had vowed never to give away her heart, but she hadn't counted on the striking good looks of Marsh Canton…
A DARK AND DEADLY GUNMAN
Catalina knew Marsh Canton was trouble the moment she first saw him. Something in his gray eyes warned that he was a dangerous man. He was not the first to attempt to open a rival saloon next door to the Silver Slipper, but she saw a steely strength in him that had been missing from the men she'd driven out of business. Even more perilous to Cat's plans was the spark of desire that flared between them ...a desire that was about to spin her carefully orchestrated life out of control.
August 20, 2014
Really enjoyed this book. It is different from a lot of the other historical romances that seem to have the same plot lines. It not only has a strong main plot line, but other minor characters have strong plot lines as well. I loved San Francisco in its early days as the setting for this book. It set the perfect tone for the story of an aging gunfighter and female saloon owner.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews