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Defiant
Historical RomanceLarge Print EditionOnly the desire for vengeance had spurred Wade Foster on, until the last of the men who had destroyed his family lay sprawled in the dirt. Now, badly wounded, the rugged outlaw closed his eyes against the pain . . . and awoke to a tender touch. Hed never asked Mary Jo Williams to save him and couldnt figure out why a lawmans widow didnt know enough to leave a stranger to his fate. But the daring beauty wouldnt abandon him. And in time, he needed to make a to flee an encroaching posse or to risk everything for a dauntless woman who showed him how to live and love again.*Explicit
571 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 15, 2022
Really well-written Western featuring a strong-minded widow with a young son trying to make a new start after inhering a cattle ranch. They rescue an injured stranger, a wanted gunner who has lost the use of his gun hand, a self-confessed killer. They let him into their home and their hearts despite his clear reticence about his past and his refusal to promise mother and son that he will have a presence in their future.
Potter is an exceptional writer and I particularly appreciate her respectful and sensitive portrayal of the Ute people and the plight of Native Americans as they were increasingly driven from their ancestral lands to make room for the white folks after the Civil War.
Potter is an exceptional writer and I particularly appreciate her respectful and sensitive portrayal of the Ute people and the plight of Native Americans as they were increasingly driven from their ancestral lands to make room for the white folks after the Civil War.
June 29, 2018
Defiant
An emotional journey, is the best description of how this book made me feel. It had a message that spoke of the trials our country faced at that time period as well as the horrors that the civil war caused not only to the North and South but to the other states as well. But most of all the resilience of human spirit.
An emotional journey, is the best description of how this book made me feel. It had a message that spoke of the trials our country faced at that time period as well as the horrors that the civil war caused not only to the North and South but to the other states as well. But most of all the resilience of human spirit.
May 19, 2020
Western romance
The story held my interest and the characters also worth knowing. Editing needs improving. There were many errors the worst at 89% in the ebook: Sunset stated twice when sunrise was meant.
The story held my interest and the characters also worth knowing. Editing needs improving. There were many errors the worst at 89% in the ebook: Sunset stated twice when sunrise was meant.
February 17, 2023
I would perhaps dock half a star on the basis that I think this could have been trimmed down a little without losing any if the pier if the narrative. Great story of redemption, forgiveness and re birth . Lovely epilogue.
June 4, 2019
Patricia Potter brings a tortured man to life in this (slightly too long) story.
Wade Foster has lost 2 families: his family-of-origin and later his wife & son. He carries a boat-load of grief, rage and guilt.
Wade Foster really suffers - and we are allowed to share his nightmares and somber history. I liked the way Potter took her time sharing his history; it was too gruesome to take in quickly.
Mary Jo and her son are very likable. Mary Jo seems to be perfect except for her (understandable) hate of Indians. She grows in the story too. Jeff, the son, drives much of the plot and makes huge leaps toward adulthood.
I particularly liked the fact that Wade was injured throughout the book and the author did NOT have him solve everything by himself.
I prefer historical tales and this one offered a different spin on some of the men who did NOT fight in the Civil War. I didn't realize how famous some of those renegade bands were prior to reading this book.
An enjoyable read!
Wade Foster has lost 2 families: his family-of-origin and later his wife & son. He carries a boat-load of grief, rage and guilt.
Wade Foster really suffers - and we are allowed to share his nightmares and somber history. I liked the way Potter took her time sharing his history; it was too gruesome to take in quickly.
Mary Jo and her son are very likable. Mary Jo seems to be perfect except for her (understandable) hate of Indians. She grows in the story too. Jeff, the son, drives much of the plot and makes huge leaps toward adulthood.
I particularly liked the fact that Wade was injured throughout the book and the author did NOT have him solve everything by himself.
I prefer historical tales and this one offered a different spin on some of the men who did NOT fight in the Civil War. I didn't realize how famous some of those renegade bands were prior to reading this book.
An enjoyable read!
May 29, 2015
The length of time it took me to read this book should not affect the grade. Even though it took several weeks, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. The main problem was I have it on my KOBO app and that app keeps crashing on me, then I get frustrated and stick more with Kindle or Ibooks.
This is a reread of a book I first read years ago and it was so long ago I only vaguely remember it so bonus for me. This is the story of Mary Jo Williamson, her son Jeff and Wade Foster.
Mary Jo is the widow of a Texas Ranger. She was being courted by another Texas Ranger who was killed in action. He left her a ranch in Colorado and she decided to try her hand at ranching. But she’s been running into difficulties as no one wants to work for a woman. She and Jeff are struggling along when Jeff comes across a stranger almost dead. They bring him home, patch him up and though he comes across as rather a tough hombre, she asks if he would be willing to stay and help for a few months, long enough to hire some hands and get things up and running.
But Wade wants no part of it. He has a tragic past and he doesn’t really care if he lives or dies and the last thing he wants to do is get tangled up with the young widow he has a very strong attachment to and her hero worshiping son. His family were murdered by Jayhawkers years before and as a result he joined the Bushwhackers and in time was just as bad. But he’d had enough after the infamous attack in Centralia and headed to the mountains to get away from all society. He met and became friends with the Ute Indian tribe to the point of marrying a young woman and becoming a father. But his wife and son are murdered and he spends the next couple of years tracking down the ones who murdered them and making sure they would never kill again. He finally tracked down the last of them and before he shot and killed the last thug, Wade was shot himself.
This is the point he was at when he was found by Jeff. He has little interest in even living now that he has finished his mission of revenge. All he really wants is to go away somewhere. But he has no means of leaving as his horse was shot and he is in such bad shape himself. Eventually he has no choice to agree to Mary Jo’s offer. He wants to stay aloof but he can’t. The attraction between he and Mary Jo only grows and he’s very drawn to Jeff after losing his own son so tragically.
I sound like a broken record with so many books, I know, but dang I enjoyed this book. Wade was the strong, silent type. He really isn’t a bad man, but a good man who was drawn into bad things and hated himself for it. He’s the perfect Western hero and a good example of why I adore this genre.
Mary Jo is a good heroine. She’s tough and strong and not afraid to go after what she wants – like Wade.
And Ms. Potter also writes them good and gritty. Not quite as much as Rosanne Bittner, but very true to life I think. I’ve got a number of her backlist now as ebooks and there are a few more I really hope come out as ebooks sooner rather than later *cough - Notorious and Renegade – cough*
I’m still in a big Western phase though I have read a few contemporaries in between that I’ve enjoyed. But I keep being drawn back to the strong, silent, working class with a bit of a bad boy, Western hero and I’m quite happy to live there for a while longer.
I just started another older Western book by her, Diablo and I only vaguely remember it either. I’m barely into it but it’s bringing back good feelings
This is a reread of a book I first read years ago and it was so long ago I only vaguely remember it so bonus for me. This is the story of Mary Jo Williamson, her son Jeff and Wade Foster.
Mary Jo is the widow of a Texas Ranger. She was being courted by another Texas Ranger who was killed in action. He left her a ranch in Colorado and she decided to try her hand at ranching. But she’s been running into difficulties as no one wants to work for a woman. She and Jeff are struggling along when Jeff comes across a stranger almost dead. They bring him home, patch him up and though he comes across as rather a tough hombre, she asks if he would be willing to stay and help for a few months, long enough to hire some hands and get things up and running.
But Wade wants no part of it. He has a tragic past and he doesn’t really care if he lives or dies and the last thing he wants to do is get tangled up with the young widow he has a very strong attachment to and her hero worshiping son. His family were murdered by Jayhawkers years before and as a result he joined the Bushwhackers and in time was just as bad. But he’d had enough after the infamous attack in Centralia and headed to the mountains to get away from all society. He met and became friends with the Ute Indian tribe to the point of marrying a young woman and becoming a father. But his wife and son are murdered and he spends the next couple of years tracking down the ones who murdered them and making sure they would never kill again. He finally tracked down the last of them and before he shot and killed the last thug, Wade was shot himself.
This is the point he was at when he was found by Jeff. He has little interest in even living now that he has finished his mission of revenge. All he really wants is to go away somewhere. But he has no means of leaving as his horse was shot and he is in such bad shape himself. Eventually he has no choice to agree to Mary Jo’s offer. He wants to stay aloof but he can’t. The attraction between he and Mary Jo only grows and he’s very drawn to Jeff after losing his own son so tragically.
I sound like a broken record with so many books, I know, but dang I enjoyed this book. Wade was the strong, silent type. He really isn’t a bad man, but a good man who was drawn into bad things and hated himself for it. He’s the perfect Western hero and a good example of why I adore this genre.
Mary Jo is a good heroine. She’s tough and strong and not afraid to go after what she wants – like Wade.
And Ms. Potter also writes them good and gritty. Not quite as much as Rosanne Bittner, but very true to life I think. I’ve got a number of her backlist now as ebooks and there are a few more I really hope come out as ebooks sooner rather than later *cough - Notorious and Renegade – cough*
I’m still in a big Western phase though I have read a few contemporaries in between that I’ve enjoyed. But I keep being drawn back to the strong, silent, working class with a bit of a bad boy, Western hero and I’m quite happy to live there for a while longer.
I just started another older Western book by her, Diablo and I only vaguely remember it either. I’m barely into it but it’s bringing back good feelings
March 24, 2023
Good storyline although some bits seemed to repeat itself and a little boring. He is an ex outlaw who's found by the heroine's son badly wounded. The heroine, a widow, nurses the outlaw back to health and tries to ease the pain he seems to be going through mentally. He has lost two families over the years, the last being his Indian wife and child. He murders those responsible and that's how he is wounded. She has lost her husband, a ranger, plus a dear friend, also a ranger. She ends up inheriting her friend's ranch. Not far from this ranch is where the outlaw is found wounded.
January 25, 2022
DNF at 36%
It pains me to not be able to finish a book by one of my favorite authors, but since this was my second attempt at reading it and once again I'm experiencing the same problem, I've decided to DNF it. The main reason behind my decision is how repetitive this book is. Characters are constantly having the same conversation about how the main hero wants to go away, how bad and undeserving he is, etc. I just couldn't take it anymore.
It pains me to not be able to finish a book by one of my favorite authors, but since this was my second attempt at reading it and once again I'm experiencing the same problem, I've decided to DNF it. The main reason behind my decision is how repetitive this book is. Characters are constantly having the same conversation about how the main hero wants to go away, how bad and undeserving he is, etc. I just couldn't take it anymore.
December 29, 2013
1,5 stars.
Err... Whatever. 눈_눈
Err... Whatever. 눈_눈
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews