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Burnett Brides #1
The Rancher
Eugenia Burnett wants grandchildren. This cunning widow is determined to find wives for her brood of handsome sons.
Rose Severin speaks to the dead or at least she pretends to until she can earn enough money to make her way to New York and become a famous actress like her mother. Travis Burnett is resolved to rid the frontier town of imposters like Rose. But Eugenia thinks the fiery Rose is just the woman for her obstinate son. She schemes to keep Rose at the family ranch where Travis soon realizes that the supposed spiritualist is more than just a pretty swindler.
Rose Severin speaks to the dead or at least she pretends to until she can earn enough money to make her way to New York and become a famous actress like her mother. Travis Burnett is resolved to rid the frontier town of imposters like Rose. But Eugenia thinks the fiery Rose is just the woman for her obstinate son. She schemes to keep Rose at the family ranch where Travis soon realizes that the supposed spiritualist is more than just a pretty swindler.
320 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2000
1091 people are currently reading
1321 people want to read
About the author
Sylvia McDaniel
190 books651 followersUSA Today bestselling author Sylvia McDaniel has published more than forty western historical romance, contemporary romance and even a few sci-fi novels. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented romances, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides a historical western series, The Cuvier Widows, a Louisiana historical series, Lipstick and Lead, a western historical series and several short contemporary romances.
Former President of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a member of the Romance Writers of America®, and a member of Novelists Inc, her novel, A Hero’s Heart was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Several other books have placed or won in the San Antonio Romance Authors Contest, LERA Contest, and she was a Golden Network Finalist.
Married for over twenty years to her best friend, they have two spoilt dachshunds that reign supreme over the house. She loves gardening, hiking, shopping, knitting and football (Cowboys and Bronco’s fan), but not necessarily in that order.
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Former President of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a member of the Romance Writers of America®, and a member of Novelists Inc, her novel, A Hero’s Heart was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Several other books have placed or won in the San Antonio Romance Authors Contest, LERA Contest, and she was a Golden Network Finalist.
Married for over twenty years to her best friend, they have two spoilt dachshunds that reign supreme over the house. She loves gardening, hiking, shopping, knitting and football (Cowboys and Bronco’s fan), but not necessarily in that order.
Sign up for Sylvia’s newsletter
Visit Sylvia at www.SylviaMcDaniel.com
Follow Sylvia on twitter
Join Sylvia on Facebook
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
November 19, 2012
Skimmed A LOT of this book. It was very repetitive with pages of introspection telling us stuff over and over again that we already knew.
November 14, 2012
Lo and behold, after my reading break, a book that should be called "rancher avoids woman, because rancher thinks she is a thief." Every reasoning the male lead comes up with is that our heroine is a thief. Which she's not, by the way, but no, actions apparently do not speak louder than words.
I read in this book most things I hate in a romance.
Where do I start? This silly story revolved around the basic premise of our heroine blamed to steal the hero's mother's ring. She does this on purpose so Travis can have a love life. How? Well, I won't tell you to read to find out, I'll save you all the pain.
First, Travis lands her on jail, because she conned his mother, who wilfully came to her. His mother bails her out. Heroine doesn't want to return to jail, mother thinks she is good for his son. She has this master plan implying that the heroine might have stolen the wedding band.
This started off really good, then it got old. I am sorry to say this, but the more I've been reading, the more I disliked the characters.
The heroine is supposed to be able to hold up her own, but I could not understand why she stayed. Every time she hurt, she kept saying she'll leave and she never did, until the end.
And I'm supposed to believe a childhood dream she's always longed to achieve is suddenly something she doesn't want anymore because she's in love?
Don't get me started with the hero. I liked him at first, but all he seemed to do was think of inventive ways to piss off our heroine and hurt her.
-No, she can't go shopping.
-Nope, she can't leave the house.
- Nope, she can't pursue her dream. Seriously? There comes a point when you can only take so much of overbearing male leads.
He is supposedly fiercely protective of those he loves, but since he leaves our heroine after making love a mere thirty minutes later because he realises she's a virgin and needs to come into terms with it. That's an excuse? Running off without another word? Oh, and the cherry on top was marrying her as a duty. And The icing on a cringe-worthy cake - self pity at some point near the end.
If you don't like the sound of that, run far away, this book may be a freebie, but it was just plain frustrating,
The only character I liked was Tucker.The mother's lies bothered me. It brought the two together, but it also made them miserable pretty much the whole time.
The ending felt cheesy, rushed. The hero didn't suffer enough in my opinion. Grovelling took about thirty seconds. He realised he is in love soon AFTER he couldn't tell her he loved her when he was confronted. The only satisfaction there was was finishing this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2024
3.5 ⭐️. I liked this book but I felt it was quite repetitious.
September 25, 2016
**** 4 Cranky Stars ****
Rose Severin aka Madam Desiree made her living speaking to the dead.......or rather pretending to.
Travis Burnett is one of the areas elite ranchers. This is a classic boy meets girl and they fight like hell while being attracted to each other stories, a historical romance which takes place during the 1800's in Texas.
While this is a fairly predictable tale, it was entertaining and relaxing and succeeded in whisking me away to another time and place. It was an easy lighthearted read and beautifully written.
I would rate the story at 4 stars for entertainment as well as as good error free writing.
September 14, 2020
This is the first story I have read/listened to of Sylvia McDaniel and am thrilled to have come upon this series! She is now on my always read/ listen to audible author!!
Humor, suspense, intense attraction and everything I love in a western historical romance! I enjoyed every word and the story was perfect that had me listening every second. The narration by Robin Rowan was perfect with her different infections of characters and she was right on the mark all the way through!
With a matchmaking mother and three handsome sons, there is not telling what will happen!
I cannot wait to listen to the rest of this series and trust me, you do not want to miss this one!!
Humor, suspense, intense attraction and everything I love in a western historical romance! I enjoyed every word and the story was perfect that had me listening every second. The narration by Robin Rowan was perfect with her different infections of characters and she was right on the mark all the way through!
With a matchmaking mother and three handsome sons, there is not telling what will happen!
I cannot wait to listen to the rest of this series and trust me, you do not want to miss this one!!
May 7, 2017
Bad plot, inane hero, just not a good read. I only read it because I foolishly bought it on sale from kindle and it was the last unread book on mine when I was stuck with only it. I do have to say I hoped it would get better.
August 17, 2018
The plot moves slowly at certain times (too many unnecessary details) but it is worth reading.
January 4, 2013
Disappointing
Rose runs a psychic/medium “con” in post-civil war Texas. Eugenia wants a wife for her head-strong son and she is convinced that Rose has the strong personality that is needed to make a successful marriage with Travis. She perpetrates a con of her own to get them together.
The first third of this book is really quite good but the last two thirds fails to match up to half the quality if the first part.
In the last two-thirds of this book:
The expected fireworks between the two were almost nonexistent.
Instead of the expected romantic interactions, we get the erotic thoughts these two think about each other. These two very attractive people have the “hots” for each other’s body. These erotic thoughts are repeated over and over and over and over again. It gets quite tedious.
I wanted these two to butt heads and discover reasons to love each other; instead I got hot and horny, resulting in two very steamy sex interludes and a contrived story line, but no real romance.
While this book is not terrible, it is not as good as the first part promises.
I will not be reading the rest of the series.
Rose runs a psychic/medium “con” in post-civil war Texas. Eugenia wants a wife for her head-strong son and she is convinced that Rose has the strong personality that is needed to make a successful marriage with Travis. She perpetrates a con of her own to get them together.
The first third of this book is really quite good but the last two thirds fails to match up to half the quality if the first part.
In the last two-thirds of this book:
The expected fireworks between the two were almost nonexistent.
Instead of the expected romantic interactions, we get the erotic thoughts these two think about each other. These two very attractive people have the “hots” for each other’s body. These erotic thoughts are repeated over and over and over and over again. It gets quite tedious.
I wanted these two to butt heads and discover reasons to love each other; instead I got hot and horny, resulting in two very steamy sex interludes and a contrived story line, but no real romance.
While this book is not terrible, it is not as good as the first part promises.
I will not be reading the rest of the series.
November 14, 2021
3 “small”-stars
It was entertaining and had a very traditional “boy and girl gets introduced, they fight and kinda hate each other, but there is a mayor attraction”.
Very nice and traditional, but with a little twist due to their jobs.
Read: 20/01/2013
1st rating: 3 stars
Genre/sub-genres: Contemporary/romance/cowboys
Cover: 2 stars
Will I recommend: Yes and no. It wasn’t a favorite, but it was entertaining.
It was entertaining and had a very traditional “boy and girl gets introduced, they fight and kinda hate each other, but there is a mayor attraction”.
Very nice and traditional, but with a little twist due to their jobs.
Read: 20/01/2013
1st rating: 3 stars
Genre/sub-genres: Contemporary/romance/cowboys
Cover: 2 stars
Will I recommend: Yes and no. It wasn’t a favorite, but it was entertaining.
June 3, 2013
this story was set in 1874 It was a wonderful story between Rose and Travis and their ups and downs on there way to falling in love. It was a great story and I really enjoyed reading it.
July 11, 2018
Yet another gem found on the freebie list. Rose, our residential medium along side her manservant who made a promise to her dying mother is finding success Fort Worth, Texas. Rose is trying to save enough money to move to New York and become an actress like her mother. She is a strong woman who has had to find a way to earn money for herself and keep her values intact.
Not all men see her that way. Travis is a bully through most of the book. He believes Rose to be praying on his mothers grief and feels the need to put Rose in her place at every turn. He is a head strong cowboy that is use to giving orders and run a ranch. This includes his personal view on women. He has a particular idea of how a woman should be and what he wants in a bride. When he meets Rose AKA Madam Desir'ee he stereotypes her. So certain that she is anything but a lady and a thief to boot that he becomes blinded by what the true problem is.
The attraction and tension can be cut with a knife and before you know the two are wrestling in a pond flinging mud at the other. I rooted for Rose through most the book but the one flaw I found in the writing was while Travis does finally come to his senses over his prejudices against Rose we never get to see him really talk with Rose about it. He does his part to open his heart and he swallows his pride to convey how ashamed he is of how he behaves but there was a part in Roses past that they never discussed.
Rose only knew her father upon her moms death and even then what she saw was anything to be proud of. There is a point where Rose wants Travis and wants to tell him about her father and what she had to do to survive but she believes Travis would throw her in jail. The Pinkerton guard that is hired by Travis never truly brings it up but as ashamed as she was I thought it odd that nothing more came of it.
The brother who is MIA was never resolved so I'm sure there is more to that in the other books in the series. Travis did redeem himself and the picture the author paints was romantic had Travis not ruined it a few times. A very nice ending for a couple who finally found the HEA. Enjoy!
Not all men see her that way. Travis is a bully through most of the book. He believes Rose to be praying on his mothers grief and feels the need to put Rose in her place at every turn. He is a head strong cowboy that is use to giving orders and run a ranch. This includes his personal view on women. He has a particular idea of how a woman should be and what he wants in a bride. When he meets Rose AKA Madam Desir'ee he stereotypes her. So certain that she is anything but a lady and a thief to boot that he becomes blinded by what the true problem is.
The attraction and tension can be cut with a knife and before you know the two are wrestling in a pond flinging mud at the other. I rooted for Rose through most the book but the one flaw I found in the writing was while Travis does finally come to his senses over his prejudices against Rose we never get to see him really talk with Rose about it. He does his part to open his heart and he swallows his pride to convey how ashamed he is of how he behaves but there was a part in Roses past that they never discussed.
Rose only knew her father upon her moms death and even then what she saw was anything to be proud of. There is a point where Rose wants Travis and wants to tell him about her father and what she had to do to survive but she believes Travis would throw her in jail. The Pinkerton guard that is hired by Travis never truly brings it up but as ashamed as she was I thought it odd that nothing more came of it.
The brother who is MIA was never resolved so I'm sure there is more to that in the other books in the series. Travis did redeem himself and the picture the author paints was romantic had Travis not ruined it a few times. A very nice ending for a couple who finally found the HEA. Enjoy!
September 26, 2012
The Rancher Takes A Bride starts with the introduction of Rose “Desiree” Severin, a woman trying to make her living by pretending to be a medium in Fort Worth. She performs a seance with Mrs Eugenia Burnett in attendance and manages to garner the wrong sort of attention from her eldest son Travis, who shows up and demands that Rose/Desiree cease her business and move on to another town. Just as she is about to do so, there is a misunderstanding over some missing jewelry and Rose ends up being dragged back to live on the Burnett ranch until the missing item is found. Eugenia is determined to make this situation work for her son and works towards transforming Rose from house-guest under house-arrest, to her future daughter-in-law – the problem here is that Travis is dead-set against getting married to anyone, let alone someone who steals from his mother, and Rose doesn’t want to marry someone who doesn’t trust her at her word.
Having already read The Outlaw Takes A Bride (by accident! – didn’t realise it the middle book in a trilogy unti the end of the story), I already knew how Travis and Rose’s story concluded, but I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book at all. I was still fascinated to find out how Travis and Rose had got to where they both where in The Outlaw Takes A Bride. At times, I even found myself forgetting I knew anything about them beyond what I was reading – I got very easily sucked in to their lives and wanting them to reach a happy ending. Their relationship was incredibly interesting to read, because what they thought they both knew about each other was based on a misunderstanding aided by Travis’s scheming mother. Seeing them both try to balance what they thought they knew with what was actually happening AND make sense of it, was great and very well-written by the author. She made what could have been a run-of-the-mill romance interesting, seemingly with ease.
I also enjoyed seeing more of the characters around the romantic leads, characters that I had become familiar with in the middle novel. Understanding more of Eugenia’s determination to see her sons happy made her even more loveably annoying, and made me wonder how her story would end in the final novel in the trilogy. It was also nice to see the family dynamic before the return of Tanner (the middle brother) in the next novel (again, my fault for not reading the books in the right order) and knowing the effect that his absence had on his mother and brothers – it gave the series a more complete and real feeling overall.
Having already read The Outlaw Takes A Bride (by accident! – didn’t realise it the middle book in a trilogy unti the end of the story), I already knew how Travis and Rose’s story concluded, but I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book at all. I was still fascinated to find out how Travis and Rose had got to where they both where in The Outlaw Takes A Bride. At times, I even found myself forgetting I knew anything about them beyond what I was reading – I got very easily sucked in to their lives and wanting them to reach a happy ending. Their relationship was incredibly interesting to read, because what they thought they both knew about each other was based on a misunderstanding aided by Travis’s scheming mother. Seeing them both try to balance what they thought they knew with what was actually happening AND make sense of it, was great and very well-written by the author. She made what could have been a run-of-the-mill romance interesting, seemingly with ease.
I also enjoyed seeing more of the characters around the romantic leads, characters that I had become familiar with in the middle novel. Understanding more of Eugenia’s determination to see her sons happy made her even more loveably annoying, and made me wonder how her story would end in the final novel in the trilogy. It was also nice to see the family dynamic before the return of Tanner (the middle brother) in the next novel (again, my fault for not reading the books in the right order) and knowing the effect that his absence had on his mother and brothers – it gave the series a more complete and real feeling overall.
April 25, 2013
Rose "Desiree'" Severin is a con artist who holds seances, claiming to talk to the dead. When Eugenia Burnett asks Rose to contact her missing son Tanner, who she hasn't heard from in 10 years, her oldest son Travis is furious. He threatens to close down Rose's business and have her thrown in jail if she doesn't stay away from his mother. Travis has no idea his mother has matchmaking in mind.
Eugenia wants her sons to settle down and give her grandchildren. When she sees Rose she knows she is the perfect woman to turn Travis' life upside down. When the sparks fly between them it only confirms her suspicions and she'll go to any lengths to get them together, even tell a little white lie.
Rose falls helplessly in love with Travis but can Travis see how wrong he was about Rose and come to realize how much Rose means to him?
This is book one in the Burnett Brides series and it can be read as a stand-alone book but, honestly, why would you want to? The story of Travis just wet my appetite for the other Burnett brothers. This was a fantastic, well written story. I definitely recommend it. Now I'm off to buy the other two books!
Eugenia wants her sons to settle down and give her grandchildren. When she sees Rose she knows she is the perfect woman to turn Travis' life upside down. When the sparks fly between them it only confirms her suspicions and she'll go to any lengths to get them together, even tell a little white lie.
Rose falls helplessly in love with Travis but can Travis see how wrong he was about Rose and come to realize how much Rose means to him?
This is book one in the Burnett Brides series and it can be read as a stand-alone book but, honestly, why would you want to? The story of Travis just wet my appetite for the other Burnett brothers. This was a fantastic, well written story. I definitely recommend it. Now I'm off to buy the other two books!
April 23, 2013
Just a normal tale of boy meets girl, dislikes everything she stands for and mis-trusts her deeply, coupled with a mother who knows better and burgeoning love, but what was different was just how beautifully this was written.
A 5 star read all the way, and I found it difficult to put down. All along I was willing them to come together and realise how perfect they were, for each other and together.
There is no doubt that I will read more by this truly inspiring author.
In case I didn’t mention this was a Free Kindle Download at the time (see my blog www.toodlesbookclub.blogspot.com for daily selections of free downloads).
A 5 star read all the way, and I found it difficult to put down. All along I was willing them to come together and realise how perfect they were, for each other and together.
There is no doubt that I will read more by this truly inspiring author.
In case I didn’t mention this was a Free Kindle Download at the time (see my blog www.toodlesbookclub.blogspot.com for daily selections of free downloads).
March 28, 2014
Have to love a novel with a strong willed, good hearted man and Travis fills the bid. As the oldest son Travis takes pride in his ability to run his family ranch and his mother until she schemes to set him up with the perfect woman that won't back down from a fight. I absolutely adored Rose and Isaiah who is both best friend and father figure to her. She is a strong young woman that found a way when most wouldn't dare, she is an "Innocent vixen," no to mention that she had Travis under her spell from the moment he walked into her parlor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2013
Rose had a troubled life but wanted to make something of herself by becoming an actress like her mother but was holding seances until she could earn enough money to take her to the right place to be on stage. Travis had her put in jail but his mother (the romantic) bailed her out and took her to their ranch. Rose held a spell over Travis but Travis was fighting it along the way.
The author held you captivated to the very end. Every page was better than the last.
The author held you captivated to the very end. Every page was better than the last.
October 29, 2014
I love cowboys and, as a general rule, reading about what they do and the code by which they live and work. If you are looking for a book that has a poor plot but has lots of explicit sex, this book is for you! Honestly, I do not know why I kept listening to this book. I think I was waiting for something worthwhile to happen. The plot was almost non-existent and was mostly comprised of the mutual hots the two main characters had for each other.
November 26, 2012
This book was freebie from Amazon and I was very surprise that I enormously enjoy the story. There is a lot of humour in the book which shadow some of the flaws such as in a lot of places in the book the author is repeating the same thing and the stubbornness of the main male character was annoying sometimes. Overall it was pleasant story.
August 22, 2013
This was a freebie for my Nook, but some of the situations the characters find themselves in are hilarious. The dialogue between the hard-headed rancher and the stubborn heroine are comical too. I thought this book provided good escape and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a good romance with a good dose of humor in it.
May 19, 2016
Rose had me in her corner early on but self righteous, know-it-all Travis pretty much made me want to slap him silly every time he opened his mouth.
Not bad story though and Mama Burnett Eugenia is downright entertaining if a tad bit too manipulative of her son, even if she does have his best interests at heart.
Not bad story though and Mama Burnett Eugenia is downright entertaining if a tad bit too manipulative of her son, even if she does have his best interests at heart.
October 29, 2012
This book was AMAZING! Sylvia McDaniel is a very talented author! I love the setting of this book. I have always enjoyed books set back in the older days. If you haven't read this book or any of her books...I highly recommend you do!
April 16, 2013
I very much enjoyed this story. Read it in less than 24 hours because I didn't want to put it down. The heroine was not your typical romance novel heroine. She was spunky and fun and made me laugh.
I'll be looking for more books by Sylvia McDaniel!
I'll be looking for more books by Sylvia McDaniel!
January 14, 2013
I really liked this story, but towards the end I was frustrated with Travis' continued lack of belief in Rose, especially as the relationship grew. Also, for all of the grief that he gave her, I did not think that he had an adequate amount of groveling/apologizing at the end.
July 23, 2013
A sexy romantic western that has it all. This was a great book I didn't want to put down. There was nothing slow about this book and would recommend to anyone who enjoys western romance. You won't be disappointed.
May 28, 2014
Good book.
when I read this book I picture the western days before people had cars and when they had to walk or use a horse. this was a good book. it is love story and I love it. if you like love story books then you need to read this.
when I read this book I picture the western days before people had cars and when they had to walk or use a horse. this was a good book. it is love story and I love it. if you like love story books then you need to read this.
October 26, 2012
Wow! Sylvia, you are amazing! This book was funny and hot rolled into one! I love the characters! You did a fantastic job! I can't wait to read the rest!
November 30, 2012
A book with a lot of repetition, but not a typical western read. A little fine tuning and this could be at least a 4 star book.
January 6, 2013
LOVED IT!!!!!
January 10, 2013
This was a pretty good book. Looking fwd to reading the 2nd one.
January 29, 2013
Loved it. Can I get a Travis to throw me over his shoulders and put me on house arrest??
Made me mad how he disnt believe Rose that she didnt have his moms ring.
Want to read more!
Made me mad how he disnt believe Rose that she didnt have his moms ring.
Want to read more!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews