Brides of Durango: Elise begins in a way that would grab any reader's attention. The heroine, Elise Martin, is standing in front of the stage depot in a wedding gown, waiting for her groom to arrive. When she gets a telegram that he won't be showing up, she continues to wait for the stage, hoping there will be an eligible man on board who can serve as her groom. After all, the wedding is already planned. At this point I was thinking that either Elise was the least choosy woman in the world, or something odd was going on. Of course, it's the latter option. With a beginning this clever, I was really hoping for a little more from this book. And while it has an occasional moment, it mostly fails to live up to its early promise.

Elise's "wedding" is of course a fake all along. She's a reporter for the Durango Star, and her motive in planning the wedding was to catch a dishonest preacher. Her intended groom was the editor of the paper, who failed to appear at the wedding because he lost the paper in a poker game. The man who shows up to take his place at the wedding is - you guessed it - the paper's new owner. He calls himself Gabriel West, but he is really Sheriff Trace Jackson from Eagle pass. Most people think Trace died when a gang of outlaws ambushed his posse, but Trace lived to tell the tale, and now he's out for revenge. Meanwhile, he needs a cover; hence his newspaper persona.

Trace plays his role as Gabe in sort of a Superman-disguised-as-Clark-Kent fashion, which is perhaps appropriate considering Clark Kent's occupation. Trace wears glasses and adopts a mild-mannered demeanor, and everyone thinks he's a wimpy intellectual, including Elise. But when Elise starts pursuing some dangerous avenues in hopes of getting a good story, Trace stops acting so wimpy. Before you know it, Elise figures out his true identity, and they hop into bed. At this point, the conflict between them is over. They are instantly in love, and they spend the rest of the book concocting a scheme to capture the gang that shot Trace and has been terrorizing Colorado.

This book is not without promise. The first scene is inventive, and it's a lot of fun. I also enjoyed parts of Elise's reporting career. At one point she decides to pose as a saloon girl to see what life is really like as a "soiled dove." While I'm not sure her actions are believable given the setting, I still thought her observations about the lives of prostitutes were poignant and well-written.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book fails to capitalize on these strengths. Elise's career as a reporter and the obstacles a woman would be likely to encounter in such a profession are never adequately explored. I kept comparing this book, unfavorably, to others with reporter/newspaper heroines, like Millie Criswell's Sweet Laurel.

But then the book in general is of the history "lite" variety. Sometimes that's easy to overlook if the book has other redeeming qualities, but this one has significant flaws, most notably in the relationship between Trace and Elise, which isn't developed in a believable way. The timing of love scenes can be tricky, and this is one book in which the timing consistently seems off. Elise and Trace share a couple of perfunctory kisses early in the book, but they don't seem to think about each other much. Then BAM! - Trace's identity is revealed, they both profess their love, and they make love four times in a single night. Elise thinks nothing of surrendering her virginity and takes the marathon love-making session in stride.

The secondary characters are little help. To a man they are flat, stereotypical, and one-dimensional. The most annoying figure in the bunch is Julie, the "other woman." She is completely unnecessary to the plot, but she pops up all the time. She's portrayed as stupid, catty, and oblivious. Had she possessed even one virtue, she would have been more interesting, or at least more credible.

The ending is also a problem. The scheme that Trace and Elise cook up to catch the outlaw gang is contrived, unbelievable, and more than a little silly. Just as the Trace/Gabe scenario invites comparisons to Superman, the ending seems like something out of Scooby Doo. There is a hoax, some disguises, and an elaborate ruse that supposedly fools an entire town. I found it hard to believe that there wasn't at least one semi-bright individual who figured out what was going on.

This book is the beginning of a series; it looks like the sheriff of Durango, who is handsome and single, is a likely candidate for the next book. If you really enjoy western series, you might appreciate this one. The plot is occasionally inventive and interesting. Unfortunately, when the plot is not inventive it is contrived, unbelievable, and even boring. Even if westerns are your favorites, there are a lot of books out there that would make a better choice than this one.