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The Law and Disorder #2
Spellbound
A beautiful Gypsy well-versed in con games.
A former outlaw whose villainous family is tracking him down.
When these two collide on a floating circus trolling the Mississippi for customers, what could possibly go wrong?
Tired of living on the run and on the wrong side of the law, Rayna Sebastiani is thrilled to come across a circus steamship touring the south after the civil war. Luther ‘Gant’ Gantry, a former outlaw and part owner of the circus, recognizes a kindred spirit in Rayna, but fears she will bring trouble to the troupe. He's none-too fond of her trained pig either. Is their passionate, all-consuming love enough to conquer all?
A former outlaw whose villainous family is tracking him down.
When these two collide on a floating circus trolling the Mississippi for customers, what could possibly go wrong?
Tired of living on the run and on the wrong side of the law, Rayna Sebastiani is thrilled to come across a circus steamship touring the south after the civil war. Luther ‘Gant’ Gantry, a former outlaw and part owner of the circus, recognizes a kindred spirit in Rayna, but fears she will bring trouble to the troupe. He's none-too fond of her trained pig either. Is their passionate, all-consuming love enough to conquer all?
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 19, 2010
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Ihle
18 books26 followersPseudonyms: June Cameron, Sharon MacIver.
Sharon Ihle is the best-selling author of more than a dozen award-winning historical romances set in the American West. She lived in San Diego County until 2000. She then left the sunny beaches of California and moved to the frozen plains of North Dakota.
Sharon Ihle is the best-selling author of more than a dozen award-winning historical romances set in the American West. She lived in San Diego County until 2000. She then left the sunny beaches of California and moved to the frozen plains of North Dakota.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 22, 2022
Sharon Ihle has been a long-time favorite because of her sharp sense of humor and interesting stories. I recently bought this book; it is part of the LAW AND DISORDER series. Briefly, it is about a circus belonging to a real woman (Mollie Bailey) and taking place on a Mississippi River-style paddlewheel.
This book briefly mentions the true history that Mollie and her husband (Gus) were Confederate spies during the Civil War. Then they started and ran the Bailey Circus for 50 years. She was the only woman to do so. Ihle weaves the true Bailey story with fictional characters. You would think that this would be an interesting story, but I'm sorry to say that this story dragged.
Rayna Sebastiani and her mother Maria are Roma gypsies who have lots of experience in the circus business. Luther 'Gant' Gantry is a former outlaw. After his association with the Bailey's in the Civil War, he became part owner of the floating circus. Unfortunately for him, his infamous family wants him back in their gang.
In a few words, this story didn't click until near the end. The author's trademark humor is mostly missing. There's plenty of passion but the story dragged until the end. Overall score = 3.5 stars.
This book briefly mentions the true history that Mollie and her husband (Gus) were Confederate spies during the Civil War. Then they started and ran the Bailey Circus for 50 years. She was the only woman to do so. Ihle weaves the true Bailey story with fictional characters. You would think that this would be an interesting story, but I'm sorry to say that this story dragged.
Rayna Sebastiani and her mother Maria are Roma gypsies who have lots of experience in the circus business. Luther 'Gant' Gantry is a former outlaw. After his association with the Bailey's in the Civil War, he became part owner of the floating circus. Unfortunately for him, his infamous family wants him back in their gang.
In a few words, this story didn't click until near the end. The author's trademark humor is mostly missing. There's plenty of passion but the story dragged until the end. Overall score = 3.5 stars.
May 11, 2016
Es dauerte ein wenig, bis mich dieses Buch ganz gepackt hatte, anfangs legte ich es erst einmal für mehrere Tage weg und war mir nicht sicher, ob ich es überhaupt weiterlesen möchte, bis ich plötzlich einen Punkt überschritten hatte und es mich uneingeschränkt fesselte. Ab da legte iche s dann auch nicht mehr aus der Hand, so dass dieses Buch und ich trotz unseres unglücklichen Starts doch noch zueinander fanden und uns in Zukunft vermutlich auch noch öfter begegnen werden. Oder anders ausgedrückt - ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, dass ich diese originelle und erfrischend andere Geschichte trotz des für mich holperigen Starts nicht zum letzten Mal gelesen habe.
Rayna und Gant, die beiden Protagonisten des Buches, könnten einerseits nicht gegensätzlicher sein, andererseits haben sie bei genauerem Hinsehen schon einiges gemeinsam, wie zum Beispiel eine nicht ganz so lupenreine Vergangenheit. Als Rayna und ihre Stiefmutter Maria zu dem kleinen schwimmenden Zirkus kommen, in dem Gant Teilhaber ist, wirbeln sie alles durcheinander, nicht zuletzt auch ihr eigenes Leben. Plötzlich ringen Flüche, Erpressung, besondere Gaben, schwarze Magie und die Liebe um den ersten Platz im Leben der Protagonisten und ihrer Freunde. Fügt man noch eine Kleptomanin, eine Bande von Banditen und ein dressiertes Schwein hinzu, hat man eine ziemlich feine Mischung für ein ganz besonderes Buch, das mit viel Leidenschaft, Humor und Spannung aufwartet.
Das Buch ist gut geschrieben, auch wenn ich Anlaufschwierigkeiten hatte und die Charaktere sind einfach genial, vielschichtig und interessant, aber auch schlichtweg liebenswert. Okay, nicht alle, aber die meisten schon und die anderen, nun, sagen wir mal so - das wird schon!
*I received a copy of this book from eBook Discovery in exchange for my honest review.*
Rayna und Gant, die beiden Protagonisten des Buches, könnten einerseits nicht gegensätzlicher sein, andererseits haben sie bei genauerem Hinsehen schon einiges gemeinsam, wie zum Beispiel eine nicht ganz so lupenreine Vergangenheit. Als Rayna und ihre Stiefmutter Maria zu dem kleinen schwimmenden Zirkus kommen, in dem Gant Teilhaber ist, wirbeln sie alles durcheinander, nicht zuletzt auch ihr eigenes Leben. Plötzlich ringen Flüche, Erpressung, besondere Gaben, schwarze Magie und die Liebe um den ersten Platz im Leben der Protagonisten und ihrer Freunde. Fügt man noch eine Kleptomanin, eine Bande von Banditen und ein dressiertes Schwein hinzu, hat man eine ziemlich feine Mischung für ein ganz besonderes Buch, das mit viel Leidenschaft, Humor und Spannung aufwartet.
Das Buch ist gut geschrieben, auch wenn ich Anlaufschwierigkeiten hatte und die Charaktere sind einfach genial, vielschichtig und interessant, aber auch schlichtweg liebenswert. Okay, nicht alle, aber die meisten schon und die anderen, nun, sagen wir mal so - das wird schon!
*I received a copy of this book from eBook Discovery in exchange for my honest review.*
April 25, 2016
Gypsies, Outlaws, Floating Circus?, Sweetpea and Love OH MY!!!!! A MUST READ!!
This is the first book that I have read from Sharon Ihle. I will definitely be reading more of this series!
This was a good old fashion historical romance. It included all kinds of fun things like a circus, floating at that, a circus pig, of course, named Sweetpea, some gypsie action, lion taming, good old fashion outlaw gangs that I believe were based on The Ma Gantry Gang and of Course romance. The story focuses around Princess Rayna, yes a REAL Gypsie princess who has been cursed by another gypsie years ago, and her hero Gant, short for Gantry. It begins with Rayna and her "mother" who are running from a farmer who they owed $5.00. They find themselves hiding on a river boat turned circus. Enter Gant.
The storyline is fun to get into and I actually found myself IN THE STORY somewhere experiencing it all along with the characters! I Love when that happens.
Sharon did an excellent job in developing the characters and incorporating all of the old west into this novel. You could actually google the circuses Rayna worked in, the Gantry Gang etc. It made it ALL THE MORE REAL. I kind of felt like a kid again and I couldn't put it down. I would have LOVED to have learned more about Rayna & Gant, Sweetpea, Gant's favorite pet, and the baby or was it actually babies and their lives after they left the Bailey Circus.
Great read Sharon, Thank You!
I received this book from ebook discovery for and honest review.
This is the first book that I have read from Sharon Ihle. I will definitely be reading more of this series!
This was a good old fashion historical romance. It included all kinds of fun things like a circus, floating at that, a circus pig, of course, named Sweetpea, some gypsie action, lion taming, good old fashion outlaw gangs that I believe were based on The Ma Gantry Gang and of Course romance. The story focuses around Princess Rayna, yes a REAL Gypsie princess who has been cursed by another gypsie years ago, and her hero Gant, short for Gantry. It begins with Rayna and her "mother" who are running from a farmer who they owed $5.00. They find themselves hiding on a river boat turned circus. Enter Gant.
The storyline is fun to get into and I actually found myself IN THE STORY somewhere experiencing it all along with the characters! I Love when that happens.
Sharon did an excellent job in developing the characters and incorporating all of the old west into this novel. You could actually google the circuses Rayna worked in, the Gantry Gang etc. It made it ALL THE MORE REAL. I kind of felt like a kid again and I couldn't put it down. I would have LOVED to have learned more about Rayna & Gant, Sweetpea, Gant's favorite pet, and the baby or was it actually babies and their lives after they left the Bailey Circus.
Great read Sharon, Thank You!
I received this book from ebook discovery for and honest review.
May 11, 2016
I received a copy of this book from eBook Discovery in exchange for my honest review.
This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it. It was kind of hard for me to get into it at first just due to the curse references, so that had thrown me off a little. As I was reading, I really fell in love with Gant. He was a great character and tried to do the best he could by everyone.
Rayna took a little for me to warm up to, again probably from the Gypsy references since I didn't know much about that culture.
Overall, I would recommend this book because it kept me interested and had some twists that I wasn't expecting!
This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it. It was kind of hard for me to get into it at first just due to the curse references, so that had thrown me off a little. As I was reading, I really fell in love with Gant. He was a great character and tried to do the best he could by everyone.
Rayna took a little for me to warm up to, again probably from the Gypsy references since I didn't know much about that culture.
Overall, I would recommend this book because it kept me interested and had some twists that I wasn't expecting!
October 20, 2016
Western type romance with gangs and all. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews