Zebra, May 2003, 5.99
ISBN: 0821774026
In 1885 Texas, ranch heir Ace Durango owes his mom for bailing him out of jail. However, he is mortified when his mother makes him pay his debt by insisting he escort prim schoolteacher Lynne McBride to the Governor's Ball. At the gala, he becomes even more embarrassed when Lynne wears a suffrage banner saying “Votes for Texas Women”. A fight breaks out and Lynne and Ace end up in jail.
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His father blames Ace for leading Lynne to jail and decides his son needs to learn responsibility as only a cattle drive can give him. He demands Ace take cattle on a trail drive to Dodge City, something rarely done anymore. Lynne needs to go to Dodge City to attend a suffrage conference. So she dresses up as a teenage boy and joins the drive. Eventually, Ace and the crew realize that Lynne is not a boy. However, since she has done all they asked of her and more, the crew wants her to finish the drive with them, all that is except Ace. Not long afterward even Ace's secret admiration for Lynne turns into love.
TO TAME A TEXAN is an interesting western romance that uses the women's suffragette movement to propel the plot forward as actions and reactions to the late nineteenth century women's movement seem so vibrant. Fans will also enjoy Lynne's efforts to further the cause, but feel frustrated that an intrepid individual like the heroine fails to accept responsibility for her actions. Though Ace's obstinacy can become irritating, readers will want to come along on one of the better trail runs since Westward Ho the Women.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
