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Cowboy Romance #3
The Grass Widow: Sequel to The Milch Bride
THE GRASS WIDOW A widowed woman, a little boy, and a lonely cowboy, all that is needed is for fate to take a hand. Linsey Coburn finishes her first chores to make time for the garden. Since her husband’s violent death a year ago, every day is a struggle. She lets five-year-old Sammy help, only to keep him close to her. Then she notices their small herd of cattle is missing. Cliff McHugh, foreman of the Harper ranch rides home from his friend's where the married Harper men have gathered to celebrate the first birthday of Hank's son. Four of the five men are now married with young children. After the pandemonium of crawling and toddling infants take turns grabbing for his long handlebar mustache, Cliff is ready to shave the blame thing off. A man was lucky to be able to saddle up and ride back to a bunkhouse with nary a female or noisy child in sight. That was Cliff, plumb lucky. Cliff finds and herds some strays back toward the widow’s farm. He scolds her for letting the cattle escape, but when they check, they discover that a tree fell on the fence during the night. He manages to move the tree and shore up the fence but warns it is only a temporary solution. Linsey tells him to mind his own business, if she had the money, she would take care of it. When he finds one steer has a broken leg, she grudgingly accepts his help to dress the beef. Days later, the remaining cows escape again. This time, Cliff returns them and brings three men to repair the fence with wire and fence posts he bought. She is clearly terrified when the men make a crude joke about how the pretty woman can pay them for their trouble. Still, she manages to cook and feed them. When Cliff scolds the men, they remind him what everyone knows about grass widows. “They are all land, but no man.” Staring at the proud, worried woman, Cliff finally understands. He sends the men home without him.
201 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 21, 2018
84 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 1, 2024
Western HR as it should be written
Great book
Great book
March 31, 2021
This is my first book by this author. It know it in one in a series. I have not read the others.
I have read similar books as this (widow left alone--sometimes has a child--with land to care for; cowboy/man comes along and marries her and helps her to do so). I enjoyed the other books more. This story got into the mundane and tedious details of living on a farm. At one point, in great detail, the reader is subjected to what is all entailed in 'dressing' an animal. And I mean ALL the details, from start to finish. Or as folks like to say nowadays, from farm to table. We also get to hear just about every way possible it is to cook the meat afterwards. The readers are subjected to other aspects of daily life. For example, there's a...um quite cozy scene with an outhouse--inside the outhouse. Yep. It was a little TMI for me.
Both H and h were unremarkable. The romance part was...eh. I found the heroine to be a bit on the mousey side. No real action took place. Some of the secondary characters seemed interesting. There's also some racism in the book. I realize that during that time period folks had certain views on things. And it was expressed. The book unapologetically keep things 'real'. I have read books with racist main characters before. I did not expect to encounter it in this book. These books usually do not have any Black or very few non-white people in it.
All in all, and for some of the reasons mentioned, the book was not for me.
I have read similar books as this (widow left alone--sometimes has a child--with land to care for; cowboy/man comes along and marries her and helps her to do so). I enjoyed the other books more. This story got into the mundane and tedious details of living on a farm. At one point, in great detail, the reader is subjected to what is all entailed in 'dressing' an animal. And I mean ALL the details, from start to finish. Or as folks like to say nowadays, from farm to table. We also get to hear just about every way possible it is to cook the meat afterwards. The readers are subjected to other aspects of daily life. For example, there's a...um quite cozy scene with an outhouse--inside the outhouse. Yep. It was a little TMI for me.
Both H and h were unremarkable. The romance part was...eh. I found the heroine to be a bit on the mousey side. No real action took place. Some of the secondary characters seemed interesting. There's also some racism in the book. I realize that during that time period folks had certain views on things. And it was expressed. The book unapologetically keep things 'real'. I have read books with racist main characters before. I did not expect to encounter it in this book. These books usually do not have any Black or very few non-white people in it.
All in all, and for some of the reasons mentioned, the book was not for me.
June 21, 2018
Cliff McHugh has been raised in the belief that there are two sorts of women: The decent ones who are married as soon as they came of age and well, the indecent ones who sell themselves in the rooms over the saloon.
But where should he fit Linsey Coburn with her little boy in? A woman whose husband has been killed in a saloon fight, when Dawson's men insinuated Donald Coburn’s wife would need more than a husband to keep her satisfied. Well, you know what they say about grass widows: all land and no man...
Gently, with a good understanding of people in their time J.R. Biery leads through this unusual courtship. A courtship of a man with a tender heart under his strict demeanour but without land to his name and a caring mother, a woman in a dire situation with land but little hope.
I admire at J.R. Biery’s work that she keeps her characters true to their time – even if it requires that they hold outdated beliefs like their reserves against mixed-raced couples. But by doing so J.R. Biery gives their characters room to grow, to revaluate general norms and convictions, and to develop an inner strength. An inner strength which shows itself when two men are confronted with a similar situation and react so differently....
The Grass Widow – worth the read!
But where should he fit Linsey Coburn with her little boy in? A woman whose husband has been killed in a saloon fight, when Dawson's men insinuated Donald Coburn’s wife would need more than a husband to keep her satisfied. Well, you know what they say about grass widows: all land and no man...
Gently, with a good understanding of people in their time J.R. Biery leads through this unusual courtship. A courtship of a man with a tender heart under his strict demeanour but without land to his name and a caring mother, a woman in a dire situation with land but little hope.
I admire at J.R. Biery’s work that she keeps her characters true to their time – even if it requires that they hold outdated beliefs like their reserves against mixed-raced couples. But by doing so J.R. Biery gives their characters room to grow, to revaluate general norms and convictions, and to develop an inner strength. An inner strength which shows itself when two men are confronted with a similar situation and react so differently....
The Grass Widow – worth the read!
June 28, 2024
The story is good, but the details are the best!
J.R. Biery writes very good plot based books. (This is the fourth one of her's I've read) But the details, especially in this book. I knew some basics of butchering an animal, but her detail of the breakdown of the dairy cow who they had to slaughter due to injury was fascinating. My mother grew up on a farm during the Great Depression and I'm sure they used every bit of the cow as described in this book. The resourcefulness of the western pioneers is amazing and is the under-current of this plain but sweet love story.
J.R. Biery writes very good plot based books. (This is the fourth one of her's I've read) But the details, especially in this book. I knew some basics of butchering an animal, but her detail of the breakdown of the dairy cow who they had to slaughter due to injury was fascinating. My mother grew up on a farm during the Great Depression and I'm sure they used every bit of the cow as described in this book. The resourcefulness of the western pioneers is amazing and is the under-current of this plain but sweet love story.
February 27, 2024
A decent story.
A decent little story which although fiction, highlights the dangers, hardships and prejudices facing women in those times.I
The Parker family, secondary characters, was a particularly sad episode whereby people rejected them for their mixing of colour in a time shortly after the civil war.
A decent little story which although fiction, highlights the dangers, hardships and prejudices facing women in those times.I
The Parker family, secondary characters, was a particularly sad episode whereby people rejected them for their mixing of colour in a time shortly after the civil war.
May 23, 2019
Cowboy Romance
The Grass Widow is book Three of the series. A sequel to the Milch Bride. I have loved all the books in this series. The western drama and the love stories are so real.
The Grass Widow is book Three of the series. A sequel to the Milch Bride. I have loved all the books in this series. The western drama and the love stories are so real.
July 2, 2019
Clifford and Linsey
This is an interesting, adventurous and very well written story. It is about a ranch foreman and a widow with a five year old son finding the trust and love they both wanted, but had trouble accepting. True love overcomes all and their is a happily ever after.
This is an interesting, adventurous and very well written story. It is about a ranch foreman and a widow with a five year old son finding the trust and love they both wanted, but had trouble accepting. True love overcomes all and their is a happily ever after.
June 28, 2018
I love the way J. R. Biery writes these characters. They leap off the page because they’re so relatable. The storylines are fascinating, too. If you love a good romance, this book is for you!
December 10, 2024
It was ok. 3rd Person POV.
I liked The Milch Bride better.
I liked The Milch Bride better.
October 29, 2021
A soft 3. The h was likable the H was not. All the men in the book showed a lack of respect for women especially a hard working respectable woman struggling to survive. She was a former school teacher not a dance hall queen. Even the hero had his doubts just because she was a widow. Not my cup of tea. A Dnf @60 %.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews