Gruff

Once Upon a Western #1.7

by Rachel Kovaciny

Three Billy Goats Gruff... reimagined.

Deputy Christopher Small is running out of time. He doesn't want to disappoint his little brothers by neglecting to play the annual autumn prank they're anticipating, but he needs to get himself all slicked up for dinner. Why? His parents have invited Miss Mary Rose O'Brien, the girl he's sweet on. Will he have time to do both?

Find out in this new short story that follows both the book "Cloaked" and the short story "Blizzard at Three Bears Lake," all part of Rachel Kovaciny's Once Upon a Western series of fairy tale retellings.

Genres: Short Stories, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Fairy Tale Retellings, Westerns, Historical Fiction

16 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2019

About the author

Born only a few miles from where Jesse James robbed his first train, Rachel Kovaciny has loved the Old West all her life. She spends her days telling stories to her husband and their three homeschooled children. In her free time, Rachel writes a column on Old West history for the Prairie Times, reads, blogs, watches movies, and daydreams.

Visit www.rachelkovaciny.com to sign up for Rachel Kovaciny’s newsletter and receive a FREE copy of her Sleeping Beauty retelling, the novella The Man on the Buckskin Horse.

Reviews

[Eva-Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could the covers for this series get any more gorgeous??? o.O

Sweet, sweet story that made me smile several times. <3 A perfect seasonal short!

[Katie Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not 'my thing' in terms of the style of romance, or the style of humor; but, as always, well-written, engaging, sweet, and clean. I think many readers will enjoy this. :)

[E.F. Buckles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute. Definitely a reminder that I need to read the main books these characters are in! Also, may I say that the voice was really well done even for a short story? I could totally hear the character talking in his western accent.

[Olivia]

I don't know how these covers are so beautifuuullllllll. 💕

[Chloe the MovieCritic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is so cozy and fun, a great way to spend a few minutes to brighten up a fall day.

[J.M. Stengl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cute short story!
I loved seeing these characters from "Cloaked" again and can hardly wait for more.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the series, but mostly from personal preference--I'm not a fan of Halloween stories, and the fact that this one was more a purposeful acting out of the original fairy tale rather than a stand-alone retelling made it hard to disconnect it. The way things ended was fun; this particular one just wasn't quite my style.

2.5 stars

Content--mentions of Halloween pranks; references to trolls from the original fairytale

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (3/10 hearts). This is more of a short story, retelling the Three Billy Goats Gruff to an extent. I mean, given that it’s a DELIBERATE retelling by Christopher made it a little less amusing for me since it’s really not subtle or thematically different. However, I enjoyed seeing Mary Rose & Christopher following Cloaked and I really liked Christopher’s brothers; and overall it was a humorous little tale.

*I received a complimentary copy of  Prairie Tales: Volume One  for promotional purposes, in which collection this story is found. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
I didn't care for this one nearly as much as I had hoped because I don't like Halloween. The writing was good, but it just seemed different than the other short stories by this author that I've read. Maybe because it really wasn't a retelling.

[Abigail Kopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the comedy and backstory that was a part of this short story and was really sweet. I liked to see through the eyes of this character instead of Mary Rose.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher, the deputy sheriff in town, is fulfilling his "troll" role as part of a yearly prank he plays with his little brothers. But he's in a hurry this year, given that his parents have invited the girl he likes to dinner, and Christopher needs to get home to get cleaned up on account of an earlier incident with a drunk in Gruff by author Rachel Kovaciny.

An entertaining and cute batch of minutes, here. After reading two of the short stories in this series of fairy tale retellings, I may have to try one of the novels sometime.

The Dancing and Doughnuts one looks rather fun.

[Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute adventure for Mary Rose, from the perspective of her love interest. This was another cleverly written story that brings the tale of billy goats gruff to life in the form of a Halloween joke. It made me laugh and it was fun to see it from Christopher's perspective.

Content:
Sexual: none
Violence: none
Language: none

[Beverly Ohlendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice Halloween story

What a lovely love story to accompany "Cloaked". Well-written as always, it's clean and fun to read. How much fun it was to watch love blossom between Deputy Small and Mary Rose, with just enough Halloween shenanigans to keep you guessing.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a newsletter freebie I acquired a few years ago. The story is fine, kind of a bridge between some of the other books. It was too short to be super memorable, though. If you like pranks, you'll likely enjoy this quick read.

[Abby Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little retelling of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Instead of scrolling through FB, take 5 minutes to read this!
I like that it left me wanting more. I like that the heroine laughed.

[Maegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A western retelling of the Three Billy Goats that is such an adorable and funny short story! I highly recommend this author!