Western Skies: Song of the West / Boundary Lines

by Nora Roberts

Song of the West

The towering mountains and windswept plains of Wyoming are truly beautiful. But Samantha Evans has absolutely no intention of staying—until she meets devastatingly handsome Jake Tanner. Suddenly the idea of leaving isn't quite so appealing. Samantha is torn between a lifelong dream and her feelings for this intriguing man when a blizzard strikes and she's stranded with him. Is Mother Nature trying to tell her something? Maybe she should listen!

Boundary Lines

A feud has been warring for years between two Montana families, and the feisty Jillian Baron and irresistible Aaron Murdock seem determined to carry it into another generation. But when threatened by a common enemy, Jillian and Aaron become uneasy allies. Soon the battle waged within their own hearts pits their historical mistrust against a clear and present passion. Might the Barons and the Murdocks finally find common ground and form a very special union? Just take a step over the line….

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Anthologies, Westerns, Contemporary, Love

378 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

Reviews

[Jessi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do I keep reading early romances from authors I love? It just depresses me to read about alpha males who "know" that they can "make women want them" even though the women are saying no, very plainly, but who are just awesome enough to hold themselves away until they can "convince" the shy little fillies that they "really, really" want to fall into bed with them. Blergh. Was this really the state of romance novels twenty years ago?
The first of these two books was the worst with the second at least having a female who is in charge of running a large ranch and somewhat more of a female heroine type. That's the only reason this book got two stars. If it had just been the story of the Phys-Ed teacher (and former gold medal gymnast) who moves out west to help her pregnant twin, this book probably would have been rated a whole lot less.

[Nainika Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man do I want a Wyoming (the place of my birth) cowboy to sweep me off my feet. *sighs dreamily*

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a rule, I have never liked novellas. I didn't even realize Western Skies was a novel of two novellas when I picked it up, so when I figured it out I didn't have high hopes for this read. Isn't it nice to be pleasantly surprised? Both Song of the West and Boundary Lines were really good stories. But although I rather liked Song of the West, I felt that it was under developed, which is my main objection to novellas. The stories and characters are just getting started and are then wrapped up far too quickly, leaving you wanting more. With Boundary Lines however, we get a far more meaty plot and fully fleshed out characters. Really, this novella is long enough to be considered a novel seeing as its slightly more than 200 pages. A short novel, but a novel so possibly that's why it gets my stamp of approval. I have to say both Aaron and Jillian are compelling characters although Jillian is a bit of an idiot when it comes to love. But if she wasn't so stupid about it we wouldn't fall so ardently in love with Aaron so I guess her absurd perspective serves its purpose. Because damn, I liked that stubborn cowboy. I'd put this read on my favorites shelf if it came on its own. So 3 stars for Song of the West, 5 for Boundary Lines gives the compilation of Western Skies a nice rating of 4 stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hey. I'm on vacation. Cut me some slack! This book is actually a compilation of two early stories Nora Roberts wrote in the early
80s. I read almost the entire first story on the plane. While I appreciate a mindless read here and there, the story glazed over characters and left me wishing for more of a plot line. It's obviously an early work and written in the 80s, reflecting the attitudes of the time. I don't think I'll read the second story. And next time I do pick a mindless read, I'll pick a more modern one.

[Dorothy Morawsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved both stories in this book. Nora Roberts you did good by putting these books together.

[Magpie67 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Song of the West: Occasionally I do love a well written love story that actually takes months to woo the relationship. At first I was not really fond of Jake... He seemed stuffy, sure of himself and selfish. For some reason he couldn't articulate what he wanted from Samantha other than to tell her he was going to make love to her. Feelings dude, feelings.... Another factor entered his world to get him to see his errors.

I did enjoy the three seasons of Wyoming... Someday this state is on my bucket list. I don't know if living here during winter would be enjoyable though....

Boundary Lines: To be read soon....

[Sally Lindsay-briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was 2 love stories combined. The second one Boundary Lines was a sizzling romance full of robbery and a strong Jillian who is the boss of a cattle ranch in Wyoming. The first story was set in very scenic Wyoming where a winter blizzard brings Samantha and Jake to their senses. As always , Nora has whipped up two well written and refreshing books.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this on airplane flight and it helped to pass the time. Very predictable boilerplate romance, a bit dated.

[Damecatoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I thought to myself "hey, try a Nora Roberts book! If you like her, there are scads more to choose from!" I was at the local used bookstore. I chose this one at random. When I started reading it and one of the characters used a landline, I was like "how old is this book?" Copyright page said 2009 or something. Er, no. I was not paying attention at all. This is actually two books sold as one, each written in the 80s. Wow, have heroines changed.

I finished the first one. It was badonculous. She's an Olympic athlete (twin!) and also, very timid? Uh, sure. Whatever.

I tried a few pages of the second one, but just no. Noooo. It is not a meet-cute when your female lead lands on her ass in front of the love interest and he smirks at her. Not in my world.

Nora Roberts, you may rock your craft these days, but after reading this, I'm gonna need one heck of a rec to try another.

[Genesis L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love both the stories but I deffinately love the second one better. My favorite thing about the second one is how Jillian and Aaron fall in love and eventually learn to aceept it besides the disagreements of both their families.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both of the stories in this book were great. Nora Roberts is probably one of my favorite authors, by far. She's really great about having actual story lines along with great romantic plots. The whole book was fantastic.

[Pauline Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the western cowboy stories of love found in city women. A great read, well written and perfectly paced pulling you in from the start.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️

[Karlie Nyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, stories like this need to stop being written. The men in both of the stories basically decided they wanted the two women in the stories, and they took. Both women could have accused them of assault for their behavior. These stories are part of the perpetuation of the type of behavior from men and boys like what is in this book. It makes me angry.

That being said, Nora Roberts again writes wonderful characters, however flawed they may be, glorious settings, and good stories, even with the awful behavior. Because there is awful behavior out in the world. I just don't like reading about it very often.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

First story was infuriating. Sexually assaulting, domineering male and a drippy, bitchy female. Left much to be desired. Second story was much better though still problematic behaviors. I really really don't like these romances written in the 80s. They all kinda blow.
Second story seemed to part of an early idea for Robert's full novel, Montana Sky, which I do actually really like. Some of the he plots and a couple characters were pretty similar.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t know there were 2 stories in here until I finished the first one. I found the guy from the first story to be way to aggressive. I get what the author was doing but if someone was that aggressive with me I’d kick his ass. The second story was much better with the guy. Really liked the stories.

[Dragondreamsjen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can always trust Nora Roberta for strong, likeable characters and solid story twists. Rereading this set of two former Silhouette novels was a welcome change from the heaviness of Delicious Monsters (see that review).

While this collection is being pruned from my bookshelf to be donated, it was a pleasant reread.

[Judy Zimbelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the second story better. It was a modern day western with cattle rustlers. Nora really loves to bring a vulnerability to the strong female character. But the cowboy finally wears her down. I hope there is a sequel.

[Marie Christensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was 2 stories about basically cowboys getting & winning over their "Fillies".

[Sarah Apitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

First part was kind of boring but decent for a short one. Second part had a lot more character depth and storyline but was just okay. I should know better than to expect an early Robert's book to have anything beyond the brute of a man pushing to get what he wants until the leading lady magically finds herself in love with a pompous jerk.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 short stories, both clean with little details of the sex. Would have loved more descriptions of the land.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come...

[Gwen Susanek]

Good!

[Kandyce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good.

[Sue Perkinson Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

[Mindy Cossins · Rating 4 out of 5]

always like these sweet western love stories

[Nanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this western romance.

[Michelle Samis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main leads in both these stories are really pushy in a way .

[Lorraine Madigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick good read! Very dated but it was still a really good read!