Synopsis:
A GOLDEN COWBOY
Dusty Rhoades had to be the most unsettling man Priscilla Bedford had ever met! All the tall Texas cowboy had to do was glance her way and the chestnut-haired beauty felt her composure crumble. One moment he’d infuriate her with his high-handed arrogance. And all the while he made her yearn to snuggle close to his lean, hard chest and stay in his arms forever!A SPARKLING LADY
Texas Treasure by VICTORIA THOMPSON
The lovely new schoolteacher was the most confusing woman Dusty had ever encountered. With her creamy skin and polished eastern ways, he knew she was worlds above him. Yet when he looked into her eyes he saw the soft glow of desire, and when he held her slender body close, he heard a sweet sigh of surrender. Then he looked into her very soul and knew he would make her his own, exquisite…
Reviewed by Blue Falcon
SPOILER ALERT ⚠
The Book
This review is of Texas Treasure, book #1 in the “The Cowboy and the Lady” series by Victoria Thompson.
The Plot
Part One
The book begins in Rainbow, Texas, where Priscilla Bedford, the heroine, has come to be the schoolteacher for the town’s children. Picking her up from the stagecoach which brought her to Rainbow is Phillip Alexander “Dusty” Rhoades, the hero of the book. He is the foreman of the Steele Ranch.
From the moment they meet, Priscilla and Dusty have chemistry, even as he is playing a joke on her by not immediately acknowledging her; she gives as good as she gets.
As the book goes on, Priscilla and Dusty become more attracted to each other but also do a lot of “he/she loves me, he/she loves me not”, which also leads to them intentionally and unintentionally hurting each other.
Dusty and Priscilla become lovers, which creates its own set of issues. While Priscilla and Dusty play “are we/aren’t we a couple?”, other stories are taking place. One involves Jason Vance, a Virginia native who was on the same stagecoach as Priscilla. He has come to Texas seeking a cache of gold that legend says is buried in Rainbow. Another denizen of Rainbow is Rita Jordan, owner of the town saloon, and a woman with bad blood toward Dusty.
Part Two
Later, Priscilla secretly buys a ranch. The significance of this is that the ranch belonged to Dusty’s family in the past. At first, Dusty is very angry, but he comes around and he and Priscilla get married.
However, Rita and Vance become threats to their marriage: Vance for the gold buried on the ranch Priscilla now owns, and Rita due to being rejected by Dusty years ago. Vance and Rita hold Priscilla hostage to force Dusty to tell Vance where the gold is. Two violent confrontations ensue, one between Dusty and Vance, the other between Priscilla and Rita. Vance assaults Dusty and escapes. Rita is shot and killed when the two women fight over a gun.
Priscilla and Dusty have their Happily Ever After, and the gold has yet to be found…
Upside
Priscilla and Dusty are fairly interesting characters. It is highly unusual in my experience to see a book where the hero’s emotions are on display as they are in Texas Treasure.
Downside
This, however, is not always a good thing. This book is the definition of T.M.I. Ms. Thompson exposes her readers to every emotion Priscilla and Dusty feel.
Every. Single. Emotion.
The book is way too long at 494 pages for the print version I own (average approximately 30 pages per chapter, with many longer than that, around 50-60 pages), which is difficult for time-challenged readers like myself. The Vance/Rita storyline is basically there to make the book longer, and neither they nor Priscilla and Dusty are the type of characters whose actions will be remembered after reading the book.
Sex
The love scenes–between Priscilla and Dusty and between Rita and Vance–are okay at best.
Violence
After Priscilla disciplines one of her male students, he tries to rape her; she is saved by Dusty. Vance shoots and later kills the former owner of Priscilla’s ranch. We learn that Rita is a serial murderess, who had a very traumatic childhood. I described the end of the book violence above.
Bottom Line on Texas Treasure
Victoria Thomspson’s Texas Treasure is not a bad book, but it is also not a dynamic one, with too many issues to keep it from being a very good book.
3 Stars
