Foxfire Bride
Grade : B+

Maggie Osborne is a can't-miss author for me. I've enjoyed some of her books more than others, but I can truthfully say I've never read a book by her that wasn't a good one. Her latest, Foxfire Bride, is the best road romance I have read this year and also the best Western.

Fox was one of the most successful guides for parties traveling in the west until she was shot and wounded. Yes, Fox is a woman, and we don't find out her real name until late in the book. She dresses in breeches, smokes cigars and can shoot, fight and swear (although the constraints of romance-land only allow her to say "frickin'" - but you get her meaning). Fox has one burning desire in life - to get to Denver to kill Hobbs Jennings.

If things had worked out differently, Fox would have been a lady. Her mother and father were prosperous and from good families, but when Fox was a child her father died. Her mother married Jennings and then died soon after. Jennings took all the money and abandoned Fox to an indifferent relative. If it had not been for an old man named Peaches Hernandez, Fox would have starved. She survived and even become a colorful figure in newspaper stories, but she burns with hatred for the man who ruined her life.

One day, Matthew Tanner comes seeking a guide to get him and a party to Denver quickly. His father has been kidnapped and the kidnappers have given him a limited time to get to them with the ransom. He has heard of Fox's reputation as a guide and wants her to take him to Denver. Fox agrees. Her wound has healed and Tanner's fee will set her up to kill Jennings after she gets the party to Denver. So Fox, Peaches, Tanner and two hired men who are guarding the sacks of ransom gold, set off for Denver.

Most of Foxfire Bride takes place on the trip to Denver and the action in this section is both external and internal. The party faces inclement weather, recalcitrant mules, floods, thieves and treachery. Fox begins to think of herself as something more than just a guide. She never goes all girly, but she begins to wish her hands were not so rough, her lips and cheeks not so chapped and coarse, and slowly begins to take care of herself. Fox begins to look at Tanner as a man - not just a client - and he reciprocates her feelings. Slowly they begin to grow closer.

Tanner is not what he seems. He comes from the same kind of background that Fox was born in. But like her, he is an outsider. He never felt good enough for his father's expectations, and he shudders at the thought of marrying a proper lady. Tanner has always been drawn to women who were, as he put it, too "flamboyant." As the journey progresses, Tanner and Fox become closer and decide to have a liaison. They shake hands as if a liaison were just a business deal, but after they make love, they find they are swimming in deeper waters than they intended.

In the hands of a mundane writer, Fox would simply be another feisty female, but after Maggie Osborne finishes with her, she is a fully realistic character. She grows and changes as the book progresses and we get to know her very well and understand why she hates Jennings so. The secondary characters are very well done too, especially Peaches Hernandez, who was a father figure to Fox.

There is a lot going on in Foxfire Bride, and it is difficult to say much about it without spoiling it, so I will leave it to you to discover on your own. It is the best road romance I have read in a long time, and Fox is a heroine who is strong and unforgettable. Next to the memorable Fox Tanner is somewhat bland, but they make a good couple. Just when it seems the Western romance is dead, along comes this wonderful book. Don't miss it.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : B+

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : November 30, 2004

Publication Date: 2004

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Ellen Micheletti

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