Tangled Times: A Classic Historical Western Romance Series

by Irene Bennett Brown

Tangled Times is the captivating second novel in the Nickel Hills Series by award-winning author Irene Bennett Brown. The story takes place in Flint Hills, Kansas, in the early 1900s. Jocelyn Belle Royal, after losing her farm to the bank, joins a mule drive and arrives in Flint Hills, where she rekindles her acquaintance with childhood friend Pete Pladson. Jocelyn and Pete are now married, running a cattle operation on the Nickel Hill Ranch. The struggles the couple face in settling into their new life and building their cattle herd are numerous. However, they endeavor to rally neighbors to start a community school on their property. Their efforts are met with opposition from cattle rustlers and parents alike. The Pladsons welcome two homeless young people into their home and hearts, despite escalating tensions in their small community.

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2023

About the author

I was born in Topeka, Kansas but from the age of nine, Oregon’s Willamette Valley has been home. As a child in one-room schools where I was often the only student in my class, I read, reread, and lived vicariously books like HEIDI, CADDIE WOODLAWN, MAMA’S BANK ACCOUNT, and LITTLE WOMEN. Jo in LITTLE WOMEN and Katrin in MAMA’S BANK ACCOUNT, writing away in their dusky attics, fueled my own dream to be a writer.

Author William Least Heat Moon is surely correct when he says “our passions at age 12 will always be with us and indicate our intended career.”

A writer who can’t not write, I pounded out my first seven books on a manual typewriter borrowed from a neighbor. Payoff for sore arms from throwing the carriage was national publication of my children’s books: in hardcover by Atheneum, E.P. Dutton, Thomas Nelson and David McKay, and in paperback book club editions by Viking Penguin, Scholastic, and Junior Literary Guild. Awards and honors include a Spur Award from Western Writers Of America and nomination for the Mark Twain Award for BEFORE THE LARK, the Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award for significant contribution to children’s literature, and inclusion on several best books’ lists.

THE PLAINSWOMAN, published originally by Ballantine, was my first novel for adults and a Western Writers Of America Spur Award finalist. Other novels include my Women Of Paragon Springs series from Five Star Cengage: LONG ROAD TURNING, BLUE HORIZONS, NO OTHER PLACE, and REAP THE SOUTH WIND. A love story set in Oregon’s Hells Canyon, HAVEN, a single title, was also published by Five Star. My historical novel, THE BARGAIN, was released by my own company, Riveredge Books, in 2007. WHERE GABLE SLEPT, the first book in my Celia Landrey mystery series, followed in 2010 and WHERE DANGER DANCED in 2012. All are now published by Riveredge Books and are also available as Kindle and Nook ebooks.

When not following my favorite pursuits, writing and reading, you’ll find me enjoying travel and exploring historic places with my husband, Bob, a retired research chemist, and spending time with our growing and busy family.

Reviews

[Sue Ready · Rating 5 out of 5]

Western genre needs more frontier stories told from a woman's point of view and Irene Bennett Brown delivers with her Nickel Hill Series. Book Two, “Tangled Times,” is the follow-up to her first book “Miss Royal's Mules.” In Book One we meet Jocelyn Belle Royal, a young, strong, determined woman who has taken work with a mule drive to earn back her farm lost to the bank. Displaying the grit needed for survival, Jocelyn earns the respect of the men around her in what is considered a male-only job.

Book Two, “Tangled Times” is the follow-up to “Miss Royal's Mules.” The reader is quickly drawn into several simultaneous plot lines that weave a tangled web. Jocelyn has just married her childhood friend, Pete Pladson. The newlyweds are managing a cattle ranch on the Nickel Hill Ranch, Kansas, in the early 1900s. Plans for their operation to thrive are thwarted by cattle rustlers. With other neighbors experiencing the same problems, tension and suspicions escalate. Jocelyn's plans for starting a community school run into stumbling blocks when some neighbors are opposed to sending their children to school. Several encounters with a mean-spirited neighbor are frightening as well as disturbing. As the Pladsons struggle to start a family, two homeless children are welcomed into their lives bringing unexpected joy.

Kansas is Brown's home state. It is obvious her meticulous research lends an authentic feel to the story describing early ranch life, foods, furnishings, social mores of the times, and landscape. For The Sake of Hannah, a phrase created by the author for the character Jocelyn is peppered throughout the story rather than using the traditional phrase For Pity's Sake. This adds more originality to the story.

Brown's story unfolds slowly and deliberately while setting the stage for storyline, character development, and motives. As tensions rise in the community over cattle rustling, a deliberately set fire, injustice, and even a death, suspicions abound. The pace picks up and several storylines intersect. I found the ending satisfying as my suspicions were confirmed.

There are so many things to love about “Tangled Times.” Brown creates believable characters. It's an engaging read with a strong woman character who prevails over adversity. Jocelyn's determination, loyalty, resilience, perseverance, passion and independent spirit are attributes to be admired as she figures out her way in the world. With her husband Pete's steadfast love, they are able to face challenges and look toward a hopeful future.

[Julie Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tangled Times is a worthy sequel to Miss Royal’s Mules by the same author. Miss Royal, now Jocelyn Plasdon, and her husband Pete Plasdon operate a cattle ranch for an elderly friend in Kansas in 1901. While mules still inhabit their lives, the couple depend on cattle to be their success. Cattle rustlers bedevil Jocelyn and Pete as well as their neighbors, who then begin to suspect each other. Jocelyn and other women open a school for the local children, endeavoring also to reach the son of a local crazy woman. A fire nearly destroys the Plasdon ranch, but neighbors and strays whom the Plasdons have welcomed into their home save the day. The ending of the story is gratifying and this reader now looks forward to the third book in the Nickel Hill Series.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1901, life was simple but tough. And so is Brown’s character Jocelyn Pladson, tough that is, and spunky. In Tangled Time, Jocelyn is going to need those attributes for her and husband Pete to make the Nickel Hill Ranch a thriving cattle business. Brown brings back her love of mules in this witty tale of newlywed survival in Kansas.
With all great western ranch stories, cattle rustlers are on the rise. Even a bootleg-whisky- drinking widow with a young boy is a suspect. She seems to have the demeanor for it, anyhow. All the Pladsons need to do is figure out who is behind the theft. Which proves difficult. The question is: do they keep the cattle or sell some stock for a lower price to avoid theft?

Along with rustlers, the Pladsons fight a fire that threatens their ranch. Jocelyn’s greatest hope is to have children of her own. Will she conceive or take on a couple of orphans? Or both?

What I love most about Brown’s writing is her ability to create believable characters that are authentic for the time. I felt like I was right there with the Pladsons. Jocelyn is a lively young woman who is hardier than a spring bulb in frost. Brown did a great job of keeping the reader guessing who the cattle thief is. The ending is quite satisfying, as is the entire story. I received an advanced copy for review. Tangled Times is a must read, and I highly recommend it.

[Joyce B. Lohse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plucky Young Woman Faces Pioneering Challenges -
As managers of a livestock ranch in early 1900’s Kansas, newlyweds Jocelyn and Pete Pladson confront many difficulties. While the Pladsons struggle to settle their home, start a family, and build a cattle herd, Jocelyn rallies neighbors and their ranch benefactor in Topeka to start a community school on ranch property. The couple’s efforts to achieve their goals are thwarted by cattle rustlers, and a crazed neighbor who repeatedly abuses her son, forcing him to break the law, and preventing him from attending the school. Escalating tensions in the area, due to additional stolen cattle and a fire set on the ranch, do not prevent the Pladsons from welcoming two homeless young people into their home and hearts.
In Tangled Times, the second book in award-winning author Irene Bennett Brown’s Nickel Hill Series, the author deftly draws the reader into early Kansas history. Irene Bennett Brown combines her knowledge of western history and rural Kansas to set the scene for the engaging characters who navigate their problems in this compelling tale.
Tangled Times is highly recommended for a general audience and young adult readers who love Western Historical Fiction. This book provides an enjoyable and exciting reading experience on its own or as a follow-up to Miss Royal’s Mules.

[Judith A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tangled Times—a Marvelous Story
“For the sake of Hannah!” is Jocelyn Pladson’s oft used, multi-purpose, expletive of choice. She puts it to use either venting frustration, expressing elation, or bubbling with happiness, living at Nickel Hill Ranch in Skiddy, Kansas.
There is something for every reader here. The year is 1901 and Kansas has its share of good, bad, and ugly characters ranging from a harmless, but nosey, RFD mailman to a scheming woman threatening everybody she meets with physical injury. Add to these paranoid ranchers who perpetuate rumors arousing suspicion about rustlers in their midst. There are fatal flaws aplenty.
Thankfully, there’s an abundance of kind, supportive neighbors who, despite exhausting work lives, have time for improving the community around them. Meet a teenage schoolmarm at her first job teaching in a one-room schoolhouse or a shy young man who yearns to attend school despite threats if he does, along with orphaned teens who search for a true home.
The characters are vivid. The dialogue is authentic. The setting descriptions bring the reader's imagination to life. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

[Mary E Trimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irene Bennett Brown’s Tangled Times, the second novel in the “Nickel Hill Series,”
is a fun and emotionally packed story that takes place in 1901 Kansas. I had the pleasure of reading an Advance Reading Copy.

Jocelyn and her husband Pete Pladson manage a cattle operation on the Nickel Hill Ranch. Their hard work is paying off, but rustlers plague their and neighboring ranchers’ herds, causing grave concern and ugly accusations. Each head of cattle is precious in building the herd, and the cattle thieves usually take the easy prey, calves, which are the future of the ranch.

Jocelyn longs to have children, yearns to hold her own baby. Two children appear separately in the Pladson’s lives, both looking for a stable home. Rommy’s father is unable to care for him; Nila’s mother has kicked the teenager out of the house. This isn’t how Jocelyn planned motherhood, but these children desperately need a home.

The author does an outstanding job of depicting ranch life, describing the territory, fashions of the day and attitudes of the times. This is a delightful and informative novel, a wonderful addition to the “Nickel Hill Series.”

[Anne Schroeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irene Bennett Brown continues her series with a new story. Jocelyn and Pete Pladson now manage the Nickel Hill Ranch. In this book, Pete is frequently absent. Jocelyn is the powerhouse who deals with her school, the perils of her own life and those of her friends and town. Never a dull moment in this old-fashioned story with comfortable tie-ins to her previous book, Miss Royal’s Mules, if the reader hasn’t read it. Well researched cultural and women’s lore of the West, with women’s suffrage and the emerging strength of women as the new century dawned. A sweet read, suitable for YA readers and lovers of cozy Western historicals. I love the cover. It makes me smile in anticipation of the antics waiting inside.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tangled Times,is the second of the Nickel Hills Series by Irene Bennett Brown. It is an engaging frontier novel from a woman's point-of-view. It is engaging and wonderful. I hadn't realized that Tangled Times was considered a Young Adult book and I am glad I didn't know before I read it. It is much more a “cozy” Western historical novel.
Tangled Times is the follow-up to Brown's Miss Royal's Mules. The latest series takes place in Flint Hills, Kansas in the early 1900s. It is the story of Jocelyn Belle Royal, a young woman who arrived in Flint Hills after joining a mule drive to what turns out to be an abandoned ranch. In Miss Royal's Mules, the readers learns that Jocelyn has taken work with the mule drive to earn back her farm lost to the bank. The mule drive is her introduction to the grit necessary for her to both survive and gain the respect of the men used to a male-only world. Abandoned with the mules and few resources, she renews a friendship with a childhood friend, Pete Pladson and we are now in Tangled Times. Jocelyn and Pete are married and managing a cattle operation on the Nickel Hill Ranch.
As the young couple struggle to settle their home, start a family, and build a cattle herd, Jocelyn rallies neighbors and their ranch benefactor in Topeka to start a community school on ranch property. The Pladson's efforts to achieve their goals are thwarted by cattle rustlers and parents who oppose sending their children to school. Tensions are escalating throughout the small community when the Pladson's find themselves welcoming two homeless young people into their home and hearts. Rommy, whose father is unable to care for him, and Nila whose mother has kicked the teenager out of the house.
There is never a dull moment in this old-fashioned tale. Brown's knowledge of every-day Kansas life and history at the turn of the century is excellent. Her depiction of the people, landscape and unique beauty of her home state contributes to the strength and authenticity of both her novels. With the dawning of a new century and the emerging strength of women, the reader gets a hint of the coming fight for women’s suffrage.
In Tangled Times, Brown draws her readers quickly into early Kansas history. She does an outstanding job of depicting ranch life, describing the territory, fashions of the day and attitudes of the times. The characters and tale are compelling.
My starting point for reviewing any novel is to answer the question “is there a character I care about?” In Tangled Times,there were several. I watched the progress of the children as if they had come into my own home. Their naive way of seeing their problems and resolutions was as real as if it had taken place in the 21st century instead of the early 20th.
I recommend Tangled Times for both a general audience and young adult readers who love Western Historical Fiction. This novel is an enjoyable reading experience on its own or as the follow-up to Miss Royal’s Mules.
Born in Topeka, Kansas, Brown has lived in Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley from the age of nine. As a young girl, she play-acted days away in grand adventures on the banks of Muddy Creek and in the nearby Cascade Foothills. Brown says she was galvanized by favorite books like On to Oregon and Gene Autry and Roy Rogers movies.  She enjoys small-town life in Oregon with her husband, Bob, a retired research chemist, and their rescue cat, Quigley--The King of Everything.

[Heidi Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful sequel to Miss Royal's Mules, a story of how a strong, independent young woman prevails over adversity and helps her family and neighbors. It has tension and conflict: rustling, an ornery neighbor who is as prickly as a basket of knitting needles; Love, as Jocelyn and her husband yearn for a child and struggle to make a go on their Kansas ranch. A very entertaining book!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book takes place in Kansas, 1905. It is a well-written romance and the struggles of a young couple building a new life on their ranch with excellent history of the time. Adventure includes fires and rustling. It is a page turner that for me was hard to put down. I found the bits of history and beliefs of that time period interesting and new to me. So much happened including starting a school and convincing parents to send their children.

[Bonnie Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it.
Lovely story. Determined heroine and loving husband. Their story wends its way around the Kansas landscape and ends on an uplifting and smile-inducing note. It was a quick read, but with a lot of, I'm sure, accurate historical detail. My taste tends toward historical fiction with a lot more "grit" but, as the character Jocelyn said on page 64, "you can't please everybody every time." With this book, the author will please a lot of folks this time, I'm sure.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irene Bennett brown wrote a delightful book of life on the prairies of Kansas, specifically the Flint Hills. Being very familiar with the area from living in the Kansas City area for a few years, it was a good story. There was humor, drama, and romance interwoven throughout the story. Building a life on the prairies in the late 1800s was difficult with many problems from isolation on a ranch, fires, economics, rustling and more has been skillfully written into the story. As a historian, I found her descriptions of the area and the history to be very accurate. It was a quick read; very enjoyable. I want to read her Miss Royal’s Mules which is actually the beginning of this book series, but obviously Tangled Times can stand alone.