Shucks no, ma’am, it’s not a major keeper. Well, no ma’am, it’s not a rush-right-out-and-get-it, either. But, it has a certain charm, ma’am, and you might like it if you just give it a try.

Miss Katy Halliday may be a City gal, but her heart’s firmly planted in the West. An avid devotee of dime novels (ala Rourke Ryder and the Long Walk to Boot Hill; or, A Deadshot for a Dollar), Katy aspires to write one herself, and can hardly wait to get to Dodge City so she can see firsthand all the gunfighters, cattle rustlers, soiled doves, and dead-eye lawmen she’s read about. And, if she’s very, very lucky, she might catch a glimpse of Bat Masterson as he blows another dastardly villain to kingdom come with his trusty .45. The only problem is, the feisty and single-minded Katy has a chaparone who is determined to keep her as far away from all the action as possible until he can ship her back to her uncle in New York.

Now, Rait Caldwell, handsome, gunslingin’ lawman turned quiet-livin’ saloon owner, is unwillin’ chaparone to Miss Halliday, and has never in his life seen such a piece of work as the yellow-clad sprite who comes ridin’ into town on the cow-catcher of the west-bound train! And gullible? This little lady believes every word of those ridiculous dime novels she reads and takes the stupidist risks just to put herself right in the line of fire (so she can write about it later in her story, Matt Rash, U.S. Marshal, Meets the Deadliest Man in the West; or, Face to Face With the Devil in Denver). The problem for Rait is, this Miss Halliday is just about the purtiest little gal he’s ever seen and he wants her somethin’ fierce! So what’s stoppin’ him? Rait’s still devastated by the fact his first wife left him – well, not so much that she left him, but why. Plus, he used to be a lawman – he doesn’t even want to get near that life again – or does he?

This book doesn’t need a lot of analyzin’. Simply put, it has very clever, very funny tongue-in-cheek dialogue, nicely detailed, historically accurate characters and places that add warmth and charm to the story, mondo sexual intensity between the characters, and it’s lusty in all the right places, ma’am.

Wild Western Desire is just a real nice read, but nothin’ more. It’s fun, but somewhat lacking in plot and characterization. Late in the story, a separation between Katy and Rait seemed contrived to me, and appeared to have been thrown in just to give the relationship some angst that I didn’t think it really needed. That, and an endin’ sequence that seemed just plain silly (some readers will probably find it sweet and charmin’, but it seemed out of context somehow and didn’t work for me). But even given my last comments, I want to recommend this book. It’s a quick, funny, charm-filled, amusin’ read, and I truly think it’ll be your pleasure, ma’am.