Stallions at Burnt Rock

West Texas Sunrise #1

by Paul Bagdon

Dreaming of raising the ideal ranch horse on her nineteenth-century Texas home, Lee Morgan enters her favorite stallion in a match race, inadvertently triggering a series of events that threaten her ranch and her friend, sheriff Ben Flood. Original.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Westerns, Fiction, Christian, Historical Fiction, Historical, Animals

191 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

Reviews

[Vicky Connelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book, I was reminded that I was not meant to live in the eighteen hundreds- a difficult time for women.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more like 2.5. I could tell that the author knew something about horses--not that I know anything about horses, but there was considerably more specific detail about different facets of horse care than one usually finds in any book that has horses in it. However, though the plot wasn't bad, it needed more development, and the characters needed a lot more development.

Oh, and there are no saguaros in Texas.

[Cynthia L Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was about a woman that own a ranch. There were deaths that had to be solved. It had too strong of a religious flavor for me.

[Janelle]

Didn't get far into this. Not to my taste.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read much for Westerns but I'm glad I picked this book up because it reminded me how much I love reading books centered around ranches and horses.
This was an easy and engaging read that I found was much more enjoyable than I expected and I loved the bond that Lee has with her horses!
Full of West Texas in the late 1800s, a smart and determined woman, loyal friends and Christian Faith, I'm looking forward to continuing this series soon!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept my interest

The story line flowed and the characters were realistic. I feel that the story really could of happened in the past. The story just ended and seemed to leave a few lose ends to me.

[Kent Pelton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is some nice light reading. A bit more of a romance novel than I would normally care for but I liked the context.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to like it. Couldn't. The plot moved way to slowly and the characters fell flat.

[Karen West · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read awhile ago

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee Morgan is a woman living in the wild west. She is running a horse farm in a time when women didn't do this. She must be strong and lead the men that work for her.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not going to see this one coming

Anyone who has a love of horses and ranching with a genuine love of family will be captured by this book.

[Kaylyn Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. Just not my taste either.

[bex · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 star

Didn't really come together for me. Felt like something was missing in the ending.

And confused it makes a canter a slower gait than a lope. They're the same gait and usually the western lope is treated as slightly slower than the english canter, if there is a difference at all.

[Pegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lee Morgan was a lady working a man's job in a man's world. Raising horses on a Texas ranch was hard enough, but at the end of the War Between the States, ex-soldiers roaming the land made it more dangerous. She and fellow horse rancher Jonas Dwyer decide to drum up buyers for their animals by staging a race. Their plan drums up a lot more than just horse buyers. Marshall Ben Flood has his hands full. This race will change all their lives.

If you like westerns you'll enjoy this story. If you know horses, you'll enjoy it. Love a western with accurate horse-sense in it! But the relationships between the characters just doesn't spark a lot of emotion, except between Lee and her ranch foreman, Carlos. The genuine friendship and respect between them comes through beautifully.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't really put this book down, but I would have liked it if there had been some more detail, especially about the horses. This was a really quick read. I liked how the author emphasized how Carlos spoke, with him being a Mexican immigrant. At first, a person can forget that this novel is set in the 1800's. Lee Morgan doesn't seem like the type to like dressing up, and I like how she gets right down to business with Wade Stuart, who also seems like a bit of a straight talker himself. I like how Ben Flood and Lee seem to have a close relationship, and Jonas Dwyer appears to be a decent guy, even though he didn't have a very big part in the novel. Ben takes his job as officer of the Law very seriously.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more or less a just-for-fun-western-drama type of novel. Though some of the characters are Christians, there's not very much about their Christian walk. The main story is about a woman who owns a ranch and decides to host a horse race to show off what kind of horses she has. There may be lessons implied from what influences the race has, but overall it's a light read. The lead character's semi-feminist independence (though common in today's novels) is not something I am happy about, though it wasn't quite as blatant as in some novels. I did appreciate that there wasn't much romance in this book, however.

[Gophergirl58 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a light, enjoyable read. I'm not nitpicking, but I do wish that there had been breaks - * marks or something - to show a differentiation in who was talking as only one blank line between characters talking (a change) wasn't always easy to quickly catch on to. But back to the story line itself, I loved the idea of a woman running a horse operation, liked it that there was no foul language or anything else inappropriate, but wish the Christian influence had been greater. I will check out more of Bagdon's books, however.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a good storyline, but was a bit too 'preachy' for me. The horses were wonderful and the plot was decent. The characters were pretty well portrayed. I didn't like the 'good guy' turning into such a 'bad guy', but I guess many folks can hide their inner hate. I appreciated the strength of the main characters, especially a woman in those times who could be strong and not be afraid to show it.

[Frederick Tice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very intriguing western story with an unusual mix of excitement and Christianity.l look forward to reading book two soon.

This is a very intriguing western story with an unusual mix of excitement and Christianity.l look forward to reading book two soon.

I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. would have liked to read a few more pages about the events following the race.

[Christine Meunier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel by Paul Bagdon highlights the life of Lee Morgan, a 30 something year old woman who runs a horse breeding operation in Texas at a time when women aren’t considered capable of doing such things. Riding astride, being in charge of ranch hands, handling stallions and wearing pants are all things that Lee does, to the disdain of the locals at Burnt Rock...

More at http://equus-blog.com/stallions-at-bu...

[Ratforce]

This inspirational western has a setting you may enjoy, and builds lots of action and romance into the story.

You might enjoy the West Texas Sunrise series by Paul Bagdon. These westerns build lots of action and romance into the story and are available as paperback. Start with Stallions at Burnt Rock.

[Mikkel Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story line.

I didn't really care for the open display religious devotion. For some reason or another I felt it weakened Ben, Carlos and Lee's stance. Still, there devotion to friends and neighbors was outstanding. Going through with the horse race, tho they would face many dangers and problems, showed exceptionally.all courage.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abrupt transitions in the story almost as if a piece had been left out every now and again. Several times I had to go back and re-read to see if I had missed something, but I hadn't. Perhaps it was some sort of condensed version that I got from Bookbub. Fairly decent plot and some good characterization.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, bravo to the cover artist! Absolutely stunning work! Now to the story... This was neither spectacular nor lackluster for me. Above par where the writing was concerned, but, and possibly this is due to the 'short story' status quo, parts of the story line were weak, namely the end. It was a little better than okay, and a decent quick read.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Put it down about 3/4 in. The story never took off; I didn't see an interesting resolution coming to a story with only a 1/4 left. I wanted to read something diff than my usual - regency, Victorian, female writer... So I said, "I'll read this western by a male." Back to my usual for a while. But I must say, the book cover is beautiful.

[Betty Melton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice flowing story

Good western, NOT full of sex and violence. Enough excitement to keep one interested. The characters and story were believable I enjoyed it and recommend to all western enthusiasts

[marsha arrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacking

the overall story was great but I was left with too many areas not complete. the ending was too abrupt and when did the love happen between sheriff and Lee? should have been more information.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was a great relaxing fun read. The author has an amazing knowledge of horses, uses unique & contemporary imagery and his setting and story-line are refreshing.I will definitely read more of his books - great for the holiday or for a break from study etc.

[Irl Newham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best parts of the book are the horses. The author knows and appreciates horses. His treatment of his human characters are considerably less polished. Everyone is either all good or all bad. I can't quite buy into that.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a really hard time with the Mexican accent that one of the characters had. So that turned me off. Otherwise, it did keep my attention and it was a quick read but there was nothing memorable about the book. But it was written that there would be more books accompanying it.