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Isabel's Independence
Trapped by duty and older brothers undermining her for too many years, Isabel Piper yearns to leave drudgery behind and become a modern woman, befitting of 1893. She wants freedom, and independence. With more determination than actual familiarity of how to do it, she heads off to start a new life in a western railroad town of Overton, Colorado. Unprepared by her eastern upbringing, she finds western men crude, and bossy. Determined that she will not be discouraged or tolerate interference of her plans, she forges ahead until she meets the one man that will not get out of her way.
After only one look at a pretty, green-eyed, redhead who flattened a man with an iron skillet, Deputy Hutch was captivated. He had a good idea what his perfect woman was supposed to be like, but the gal he’d decided on didn’t seem to want to fit into his plans. She didn’t particularly want anything to do with him. He’d have to find a way to bring her around, but that wasn’t going to easy if he kept having to warm her backside trying to keep her out of mischief.
After only one look at a pretty, green-eyed, redhead who flattened a man with an iron skillet, Deputy Hutch was captivated. He had a good idea what his perfect woman was supposed to be like, but the gal he’d decided on didn’t seem to want to fit into his plans. She didn’t particularly want anything to do with him. He’d have to find a way to bring her around, but that wasn’t going to easy if he kept having to warm her backside trying to keep her out of mischief.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2014
44 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 5, 2014
This is a hokey book with hokey characters and a surprising lack of smut. But for some strange reason, I whipped right through it. I suppose for that reason I'll give it three stars.
September 16, 2024
Simple story
It was a pleasant read. Strong characters including remorseful female characters. It was kind of exciting but ending was a little preachy. I look forward to the second part.
It was a pleasant read. Strong characters including remorseful female characters. It was kind of exciting but ending was a little preachy. I look forward to the second part.
July 4, 2014
This is a great book with a really substantial number of pages. The story's eponymous hero, Isabel Piper is an aspiring writer who has found herself trapped in a life of thankless drudgery playing housekeeper and cook to her four brothers following the death of her parents.
When her eldest brother decides to take a wife who has even less regard for Isabel than her brothers do, she decides to leave and begin a new life as an independent woman, made possible by a hitherto unknown inheritance and and several new unexpected income streams bestowed on her by her wealthy aunt.
Thanks to this, Isabel's new life in Overton, Colorado comes complete with a small fortune in the bank and a substantial interest in half the town's businesses.
As a new female in a male-dominated town, Isabel is the focus of plenty of men's attention. None more so than Deputy Bill 'Hutch' Hutchinson, the town's conscientious lawman.
Isabel and Hutch don't get off to a great start especially after Hutch spanks Isabel for endangering herself and then steals a kiss in front of the biggest gossip in town. Isabel may not be wholly convinced by Hutch but it is plain to see that Hutch has been head over heels with Isabel since the moment he laid eyes on her.
Circumstances, of course, push Hutch and Isabel closer and closer to one another. Isabel befriends Sarah, a teenager who has been abused by the local playboy and then shunned by the whole town. And the three of them become a close family unit. There are plenty of characters in this story. Some better drawn than others. The one bum note was the minister and his wife's story which I didn't think brought much to the book. Bringing domestic violence into a domestic discipline book is always a tricky one and in this case I don't think it really worked. Other characters, however are a delight. Especially the young doctor, Ben who has set his heart on Sarah.
The book is fairly light on spankings and rather disappointingly, Isabel never really seems reconciled to Hutch's method of disciplining her even by the end of the story.
Overall, this is a deeply satisfying story with a strong believable relationship at its core. There are a number of action sequences which are well handled and some truly appalling villains for our noble lawman to come up against.
It would be great to see a sequel to 'Isabel's Independence', especially one concentrating on Sarah and Ben's relationship. I would also be interested to see what Isabel does with her insanely large amounts of wealth. She's practically richer than the Queen. It would be nice to see her embrace a more philanthropic lifestyle. Maybe she should sort the road out that she kept complaining about at the beginning of the book. Hutch and her have already figuratively cleaned up the town, maybe they should do it literally as well.
When her eldest brother decides to take a wife who has even less regard for Isabel than her brothers do, she decides to leave and begin a new life as an independent woman, made possible by a hitherto unknown inheritance and and several new unexpected income streams bestowed on her by her wealthy aunt.
Thanks to this, Isabel's new life in Overton, Colorado comes complete with a small fortune in the bank and a substantial interest in half the town's businesses.
As a new female in a male-dominated town, Isabel is the focus of plenty of men's attention. None more so than Deputy Bill 'Hutch' Hutchinson, the town's conscientious lawman.
Isabel and Hutch don't get off to a great start especially after Hutch spanks Isabel for endangering herself and then steals a kiss in front of the biggest gossip in town. Isabel may not be wholly convinced by Hutch but it is plain to see that Hutch has been head over heels with Isabel since the moment he laid eyes on her.
Circumstances, of course, push Hutch and Isabel closer and closer to one another. Isabel befriends Sarah, a teenager who has been abused by the local playboy and then shunned by the whole town. And the three of them become a close family unit. There are plenty of characters in this story. Some better drawn than others. The one bum note was the minister and his wife's story which I didn't think brought much to the book. Bringing domestic violence into a domestic discipline book is always a tricky one and in this case I don't think it really worked. Other characters, however are a delight. Especially the young doctor, Ben who has set his heart on Sarah.
The book is fairly light on spankings and rather disappointingly, Isabel never really seems reconciled to Hutch's method of disciplining her even by the end of the story.
Overall, this is a deeply satisfying story with a strong believable relationship at its core. There are a number of action sequences which are well handled and some truly appalling villains for our noble lawman to come up against.
It would be great to see a sequel to 'Isabel's Independence', especially one concentrating on Sarah and Ben's relationship. I would also be interested to see what Isabel does with her insanely large amounts of wealth. She's practically richer than the Queen. It would be nice to see her embrace a more philanthropic lifestyle. Maybe she should sort the road out that she kept complaining about at the beginning of the book. Hutch and her have already figuratively cleaned up the town, maybe they should do it literally as well.
July 10, 2014
I loved this book! First of all, it is book length, not a novella. Second, there is a strong female main character who knows her worth and a male character that is strong enough to not care that his woman has more money than he has. Third, this is a book with a wonderful plot. If I could give it 10 stars I would! I stayed up all night because I couldn’t stop reading, I saw the sun rise!
OK, on to the review. This story is primarily about Isabel. She has been working as an unpaid servant for her brothers when she finally gets fed up and asks her Aunt Winifred if she can move in with her. Isabel has been visiting Winifred for years and sharing the stories that she has been putting on paper. Unknown to Isabel, Winifred has been selling them to magazines and has put all proceeds in account for her. Winifred recommends that she move out west to live in a house that she has inherited from a distant cousin. Isabel didn’t know that the cousin was very wealthy and owned most of the businesses in the town. While she is there, she meets the sheriff, Deputy Bill Hutchison. Deputy Hutch gets off to a bad start with Isabel by spanking her when she didn’t deserve it and then kissing her in front of the town gossip. But, he apologizes (I know, when does that happen?) and asks to court her. Isabel stands up to the misogynist men in the town and states what she is going to do and does it. She rescues Sarah and helps her find herself. Hutch defers to her in matters of her inheritance and her work. But, in matters of her safety, Isabel defers to Hutch, or her bottom pays for it.
I really enjoyed this story. I hope that Ms. Starr continues on with Hutch and Isabel’s story and also Sarah and Ben’s. I would love to read about it!
OK, on to the review. This story is primarily about Isabel. She has been working as an unpaid servant for her brothers when she finally gets fed up and asks her Aunt Winifred if she can move in with her. Isabel has been visiting Winifred for years and sharing the stories that she has been putting on paper. Unknown to Isabel, Winifred has been selling them to magazines and has put all proceeds in account for her. Winifred recommends that she move out west to live in a house that she has inherited from a distant cousin. Isabel didn’t know that the cousin was very wealthy and owned most of the businesses in the town. While she is there, she meets the sheriff, Deputy Bill Hutchison. Deputy Hutch gets off to a bad start with Isabel by spanking her when she didn’t deserve it and then kissing her in front of the town gossip. But, he apologizes (I know, when does that happen?) and asks to court her. Isabel stands up to the misogynist men in the town and states what she is going to do and does it. She rescues Sarah and helps her find herself. Hutch defers to her in matters of her inheritance and her work. But, in matters of her safety, Isabel defers to Hutch, or her bottom pays for it.
I really enjoyed this story. I hope that Ms. Starr continues on with Hutch and Isabel’s story and also Sarah and Ben’s. I would love to read about it!
August 10, 2014
What a fun and entertaining story! I loved the spunky impulsive Isabel. All the characters in this story made it an enjoyable read. This book is also longer than most and is a western theme story. This story has substance, as well as, action, fitting for an 1893 western story.
Isabel is tired of being under appreciated by her four brothers and with the help of her Aunt Winifred, moves from Pennsylvania to Overton, Colorado. Her life and adventures begin, she arrives to live in a house bequeathed to her Aunt, and it turns out to be a large house. She ends up marrying the Sheriff, William "Hutch" Hutchinson and being taken in hand for her antics. The sex scenes are clean and the domestic discipline is not over the top.
Isabel is tired of being under appreciated by her four brothers and with the help of her Aunt Winifred, moves from Pennsylvania to Overton, Colorado. Her life and adventures begin, she arrives to live in a house bequeathed to her Aunt, and it turns out to be a large house. She ends up marrying the Sheriff, William "Hutch" Hutchinson and being taken in hand for her antics. The sex scenes are clean and the domestic discipline is not over the top.
December 6, 2014
Very enjoyable.
I am not overly fond of western cowboy romances, but the plot sounded interesting so I took a chance. The beginning was not good, it was very impersonal and went on forever giving background information till I was about to stop reading. Then finally the characters started to speak and came to life. From then on it was a great story with humor, danger, romance and I must warn you, several spankings of the feisty heroine for risking her life. Because of the very long beginning I dropped one star. I advise you to keep reading through the first chapter as the rest of the book is quite good.
I am not overly fond of western cowboy romances, but the plot sounded interesting so I took a chance. The beginning was not good, it was very impersonal and went on forever giving background information till I was about to stop reading. Then finally the characters started to speak and came to life. From then on it was a great story with humor, danger, romance and I must warn you, several spankings of the feisty heroine for risking her life. Because of the very long beginning I dropped one star. I advise you to keep reading through the first chapter as the rest of the book is quite good.
October 24, 2019
Sweet fun filled drama
I am a huge fan of Blushing Books and this is one of the best I've read. It was suspenseful while still being funny. I couldn't put it down. There is a wonderful balance in this book. The author manages to blend the discipline into the story in such away that it's not the focus; the plot takes the forefront. Great read (long considering the genre) and well worth the cost.
I am a huge fan of Blushing Books and this is one of the best I've read. It was suspenseful while still being funny. I couldn't put it down. There is a wonderful balance in this book. The author manages to blend the discipline into the story in such away that it's not the focus; the plot takes the forefront. Great read (long considering the genre) and well worth the cost.
April 26, 2015
Loved it, and what's more its one of blushings longer books about 175 give or take pages. You laugh, get excited at adventures. It's a wonderfully written western double romance. Yes there are two couples in this. Very romantic.
decided-not-to-read
December 15, 2015Light sex
October 22, 2016
This book was painful to finish. It was quaint and boring. Never again.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews