Audible Review: Petticoat Detective by Margaret Brownley

I enjoyed the female Pinkerton operative in this sweet romance with mystery.

Petticoat Detective

Written by: Margaret Brownley

Narrated by: Jaimee Draper

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins 

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:12-01-14

Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Genre: Historical Romance

My Rating 4.0 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary

Pinkerton detective Jennifer Layne is no stranger to undercover work. But posing as a lady companion named Amy at Miss Lillian’s Parlor House and Boots is a first for her. She’s finally landed a high-profile case and is on the trail of the notorious Gunnysack Bandit, when one of Miss Lillian’s girls essential to her investigation meets an untimely demise. Only a handful of people are in the house at the time of her death, including handsome Tom Colton, a former Texas Ranger determined to clear his brother’s name. Amy has many reasons to suspect Tom of murder - and one very personal reason to hope that she’s wrong about him.

©2014 Margaret Brownley (P)2014 Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Review:
Jennifer is a feisty young woman always needing to prove her worth as a female Pinkerton detective. She often surprises the criminals and the lawmen. Her current job has her tracking the notorious Gunnysack Bandit. Clues have led her to Miss Lillian’s Parlor House and Boots where she decides to go undercover as one of Lillian’s girls. This is a challenge as she isn’t comfortable in the make-up or clothes but she has a job to do. Usually her undercover work doesn’t cause such confusion with her faith either.

Jennifer is trying to interview Rose but before she gets to the girl she is found dead. The suspects in the house include Miss Lillian and the girls, one man who was leaving the house and Tom Colton. Tom is a handsome man who stumbled into Amy (Jennifer) while he too was looking for Rose. Tom is a former Texas Ranger trying to find out details of his brother’s movements before his death.

Amy can’t let a handsome man sway her and Tom is included in her investigations. Amy grows closer to the girls and even becomes friends as she learns their histories and struggles. She and Tom dance around their attraction as they hide their motives from each other.

I enjoyed the characters, the mystery and the good light humor. The history of conflict with females in the Pinkerton Agency is interesting. I liked how Jennifer/Amy cared for the women and their circumstances. Her actions encouraged the others and helped change the lives of those around her. At least one scene is particularly crazy as the girls try to help trap the villain - it was not realistic but it was fun.

The faith is simply expressed in thought, prayer and action. The story moves along well and I liked the sweetness. I enjoy Ms. Brownley's writing which provides a reliable light read. I recommend this to those who enjoy sweet historical fiction with mystery elements.

Audio Notes: The narration was not very impressive. Jaimee Draper added a little extra to the personalities of the characters but for the most part it was a reading rather than a performance. I liked the audio because it is easy to listen but this might be just as enjoyable as a print or ebook.

I selected this one from my Audible library. It is part of my Audio Challenge.

Book Review and Giveaway: Waiting for Morning by Margaret Brownley

This is a lovely story with wonderful historical tidbits and inspiring lessons!
Waiting for Morning (The Brides Of Last Chance Ranch Series)
by Margaret Brownley

• File Size: 708 KB
• Print Length: 350 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1595549706
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (January 8, 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00AE9I0EA

Genre: Historical Romance, Inspirational
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: January 8, 2013
If Molly Hatfield's purple attire doesn't blind you, her dazzling smile will. She doesn't just sing to the cattle, she puts on a whole show. If only she wasn't so stubborn about her brother's care. Or so distrustful of a certain handsome doctor...

There is nothing Molly wouldn't do for her teenaged brother, Donny. Blaming herself for the accident that left him wheel-chair bound, Molly has dedicated her life to his care. But in 1896, gainful employment for a woman is hard to come by. So when Molly learns that an eccentric rancher in Cactus Patch, Arizona, is looking for an heiress--someone to take over management of the ranch in exchange for future ownership--she jumps at the chance to provide a real home for her brother.

If she proves to have a knack for ranching and agrees to remain single for life, the ranch can be hers. Neither stipulation worries Molly. She's resourceful and hardworking. And she gave up dreams of marriage long ago when she dedicated her life to her brother's well-being.

However, Molly didn't bank on meeting Dr. Caleb Fairbanks, the town's handsome and charismatic young doctor, whose backfiring automobile almost gets him killed when Molly thinks she's being shot at and fires back.

But it's how he is with her brother that really alarms her. Caleb sees past the wheelchair and genuinely likes Donny, but Molly fears he's putting unrealistic ideas into her brother's head. Falling in love with Caleb would threaten everything she's worked for, even her brother's future happiness. It'll take an act of congress to convince her otherwise--and maybe even a little help from above.

Other books in the Brides of Last Chance Ranch series include Dawn Comes Early and Gunpowder Tea (available October 2013).

Review:
Molly is a young woman who does what she has to do, even singing in a saloon, to take care of herself and her teen brother. Molly holds herself responsible for the accident that crippled Donny and she has determined that she will always be his family.  A fire takes almost all they have and Molly decides to go to Arizona territory to answer an ad to become an heiress of a cattle ranch. She has to prove to the demanding owner that she can handle the job and the terms will include an agreement not to marry. Molly has no problem with that as she has learned that men aren’t interested in courting a woman with a handicapped brother.  Besides, she saw the pain and heartbreak that tore her parents apart when Donny was injured. She doesn’t want to risk that pain again.

But Molly never figured on meeting a man like Doctor Caleb Fairbanks. Caleb is a progressive sort who rides Bertha, his motor buggy, and looks to the medical advances for means of helping his patients - two legged and four legged. Their first meeting is a bit hostile when she mistakes the car backfire for shooting and shoots back.  The second meeting isn’t much better when the backfire starts a stampede her way.

Caleb is dazzled by Molly’s bright beauty and has no problem seeing past Donny’s handicap to the smart boy he is. Although Molly doesn't trust his pushing, the Doc challenges Donny to stop thinking of himself as crippled and to become more independent.

I loved Caleb’s direct approach and enthusiasm. He saw injury in both Donny and Molly and set about finding a way to address the problems and seek improvement. I liked Molly’s complex character and even the stern and intractable ranch owner, Miss Walker, is a warm lovely person underneath her tough exterior. There are lessons of forgiveness and tolerance to be learned and shared, and even a blind colt can help show the hand of God at work.

The writing moves at a good pace with history, progress and God’s touch nicely woven together. Added to that is a good dose of fun humor making the package a very delightful read. I also loved learning that some of the old gospel hymns, like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, were codes for the underground railroad groups! If you like stories with history and sweet romance I recommend this to you. I will keep Ms. Brownley in mind for future reading. I think I would enjoy reading one of her stories for my book club especially if it has wonderful reading questions like this one does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Molly has created a persona to hide behind:

She feared her carefully constructed facade was in terrible danger of melting away like face paint in the sun.  Location 191

Molly learns important lessons:

Brodie said lessons could be learned from horses. Orbit taught her that God had a plan for everything–even a little blind horse and a wheelchair-bound youth. Location 3452.

I received this from Thomas Nelson for an honest review and with offer to host a giveaway.

This story is set in Arizona for my 2013 Where Are You Reading Challenge. This is a New Author for me.

ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY FOR PRINT COPY FROM PUBLISHER - US ONLY.

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