No Place for a Lady

The Heart of the West #1

by Maggie Brendan

Nothing in her past had prepared her for a Colorado cattle drive—or Luke Weber.

Longing for a new start, Crystal Clark arrives amid the splendor of the high country in June 1892. After the death of her father, Crystal is relieved to be leaving the troubles of her Georgia life behind to visit her aunt's cattle ranch. Despite being raised as a proper Southern belle, Crystal is determined to hold her own in this wild land—even if a certain handsome foreman named Luke doubts her abilities.

Just when she thinks she's getting a handle on the constant male attention from the cowhands and the catty barbs from some of the local young women, tragedy strikes. And saving the ranch from a greedy neighboring landowner means Crystal must take charge of a cattle drive, ready or not. Can she rise to the challenge? Or will she head back to Georgia defeated?

Genres: Romance, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Christian, Westerns, Fiction, Historical

293 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Maggie Brendan is a CBA bestselling author, of the Heart of the West and The Blue Willow Brides series. Winner of the 2014 Book Buyers Best Award (OCC/RWA) for Inspirational Fiction and the 2013 Laurel Wreath Award, she was a finalist for the 2013 Published Maggie Award of Excellence and the 2013 Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award. Her new series Virtues and Vices of the Old West began with The Trouble with Patience released in February, 2015. A Sweet Misfortune will release February 2016. Follow Maggie on her website www.MaggieBrendan.com, her blog www.SouthernBelleWriter.blogspot.com, Twitter: @MaggieBrendan and Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/maggiebrendan/
Instagram:https://www.instgram.com/maggiebrendan.

Reviews

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet, clean romance, the quiet kind that allows the richness of developing relationships to evolve naturally without the cataclysmic hooks so common so often. Brendan takes a young Southern belle from Georgia who has just lost her parents and plops her down in Colorado with a widowed aunt trying to hold on to a cattle ranch. Her growth and experiences with life's struggles, as well as with romance ( in the form of the uncommunicative cattle foreman) are believable and tender. A very nice way to spend an afternoon!

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the author of the book and long after the page proofs were done and I finally received my copy, it had been a while since I'd read my book. I thoroughly enjoyed it,forgetting I was the author. It's a test of endurance and faith and some have called it amaturish, but those that loved it-got the story and the dialogue. I wrote the story that God laid on my heart. I do hope you'll consider book #2, The Jewel of His Heart.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

Free Kindle download, and I'm so very, very glad it was free as it was hardly even worth the time I took to read it. Honestly, it felt like a first draft, like the characters were still being fleshed out and developed and nowhere near being completely determined yet. Their motivations seemed ... not quite there. So the character's actions and responses could at times be baffling. The story was predictable and ultimately forgettable (I had to look up the blurb to jog my memory of the story for this review), but the intent — the idea of the story — was good. I think the manuscript needed more time in the oven.

Downloaded June 8, 2010. Finished reading June 27, 2010.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a nice story, but the story didn't flow very well. It got hung up in descriptions which gave it a choppy feel. I probably won't read the author again.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm...what to say. Really, I wanted to give this one about 2.5 stars according to my ratings system. I didn't have any problem getting through the story, as I found the idea of a girl sent out to CO in the late 1800s after the death of her father compelling. Also, the fact that Crystal was determined to be strong and not shy away from the tough stuff made me happy, as usually these books devolve into the weak female saved by the strong male.

However, the writing was pretty awful. I'm not a great writer, but one thing I've heard over and over again is to show and not tell. This book was ALL tell it seemed. The only bit that could be even close to showing is the setting, where the author clearly had a good grasp on the surroundings of CO. The characters seemed slightly one-dimensional, and I never felt like I had a motivation for the way most of them acted.

There was a lot of repetition in terms of characters feelings (Luke just can't figure out why he is drawn to Crystal over and over and over and over...), which started to get on my nerves by about the middle of the book. With all that repetition, the ending seemed rushed and could have done with more.

This is a Christian fiction book, which I knew before reading. I have seen comments elsewhere from people who apparently didn't know about that. However, I didn't find it overly preachy until maybe the end, where it got into marrying an unbeliever for about 2 seconds. That may put some readers off and could come across preachy. I didn't feel that it did, but for anyone who hasn't read the book and is considering it, there is religion in the book. The majority of the Christian fiction bit came in the dialog, which I found endearing, because it reminded me a lot of my grandma, and little prayers that the main characters pray.

That all being said, I was rooting for the characters, even though it was pretty obvious how it would end. I did get caught up in the setting and the whole "life in the wild west" feel pretty easily, which made the read much more pleasant. I'm not sure I would read this author again, but it's certainly made me interested in more novels like this with similar settings.

[Kellyn Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on Reveries Reviews.

Incredibly cheesy and just a bit immature, but good time-waster.

Not a bad little historical romance, but it rambled in the middle, and it felt a little all over the place. I found it a little unbelievable what with Crystal to be so willing to join a cattle drive. Um … it takes a while to learn to ride a horse with any competence, let alone cut cattle! And I say this as a ranch-girl with a bit of experience even if we don’t own any horses or go on drives. I suppose she could have. I just doubt she would have. ;)

~Kellyn Roth, Reveries Reviews

[Paula Shreckhise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this old west story of Crystal trying to run a ranch after moving from Georgia. The descriptions put me right in the scenes, especially the snow scenes that reminded me of the winters I spent in Wisconsin.
Crystal may have been a Southern Belle but she was tough and proved herself on a trail ride to move cattle to Denver for sale. She had a strong faith and sought God for the answers and support when she was in need. Luke was the foreman of the ranch and was a great cowboy but had to grow up a lot spiritually and in the romance department.
Great start to an interesting series. Well plotted and paved with solid characters and a strong faith thread.
* I purchased this book from a library sale. All opinions are my own.*

[Audrey Cullen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was. Maybe the most boring thing I’ve read all year. I’d give it 0 stars if I could.

[Dorine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming on TBR Challenge wednesday.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me first say that I absolutely adored this book! It is a refreshingly different historical/western Christian Fiction romance. If you love romance, cowboys, southern belles, or westerns...I highly recommend Maggie Brendan's debut novel, No Place for a Lady...you will be blown away! I couldn't believe that this was Maggie's very first novel; it feels like she's been sharing her stories for years.

Crystal Clark's father has recently passed away, so she's decided to leave her life in Georgia behind, and start fresh on her aunt's ranch, Aspengold, in Colorado. When she meets Aunt Kate's foreman, Luke, she falls for him pretty quickly, but tries to squelch her feelings once she discovers that he is not a believer. Another complication arises in the form of April McBride. April's father is a neighboring landowner, who wants Aunt Kate's land any way he can get it, while April has her heart set on Luke. Crystal has to deal with some heartbreaking situations during her stay at Aspengold, but in the end, she comes out a stronger, better person for enduring them.

Luke Weber is Kate's foreman, but he's also the son she never had. When he meets Crystal, he thinks she is a typical prim and proper southern-belle with no backbone. Once disaster strikes Aspengold ~ he finds out just how tough Crystal can be ~ and even though Luke has not given his heart to God, he discovers that God has not forsaken him.

I'm impatiently waiting for Book 2, The Jewel of His Heart, to be released on October 1st. I can hardly wait to find out what happens to Josh McBride, April's brother. I'm also looking forward to catching up with everyone from No Place for a Lady!

[Mandi Ellsworth]

This seems to be a fairly popular title.

I didn't really like the main character in this until it was almost over. She just seemed stuck up. But I was glad it got better.

This takes place in the mountains of Colorado, around the turn of the century. A southern belle who has lost everything, comes to live with her Aunt for a while on her ranch, and finds to her dismay, that no one is up to her standards, especially not the ranch foreman.

The ranch foreman talks tough, but leaves flowers and peppermints for the newest addition to their ranch life. But it isn't until she insists on learning the ropes of ranching by going on the cattle drive that things really start to change.

Just a little pet peeve of mine: One of the major things I don't like about Christian fiction is when the main characters can't get together because one of them hasn't "Confessed" or been "Saved". That seems like such a shallow version of a commitment to live a Christ-centered life, especially when the characters are good people anyway.

[Marla Babcock · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Real downer with Christian dribble

I would like to say that at least the grammar and spelling were good. The story is a real downer. Death, loss and the classic lack of communication. While taking every opportunity to put in Christian dribble, (Oh lord, I know you are looking out for me) as yet another person dies, the "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is of course missing. When will the self absorption end, the self castigation of not behaving in other than a self centered, thoughtless manner because it wasn't ,"Christian". Pleeeease, do good, be good. Less lecture, more story.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am going to leave this at three stars because I didn't finish the book. While the author had a cute premise and did well with descriptions, the characters were a bit laughable and I just couldn't get into the story. If you are looking for a fluffy read, this might be a good choice.

[Harisa- EsquiredToRead · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m doing a clean out of my kindle ebooks and realized too late I had already read something by this author that I didn’t like. I wouldn’t have started this is I realized that earlier.

This one didn’t work for me either. Luke, the main love interest, kinda sucked.

[Priscilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really??

[ANNETTE · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is first in series , A nice ,clean book to enjoy. Thought this book had a little tragedy but still interesting to read.

[Kelly-Ann ~ Sassy Bookish Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

After seeing all the negative reviews I knew I had to write my own. I hate reading reviews before reading a book because I want to formulate my own opinion.

This was my first time reading a book from author Maggie Brendan and I must say I’m glad I picked up the book. I’ll be reading more of her books and definitely finishing this series.

I think the story of Crystal a Georgia belle coming to Colorado to stay with her aunt after her fathers passing was good. Without giving spoilers I think the author really portrayed what life was like in those times. Death, miscarriages and trying to grow in a strange land was hard but not something that you had time to dwell on and sit around moping about for a long time. Life had to continue on.

The Love story between Crystal and Luke was sweet! The love/hate relationship and frustration with each other was great! Yes, it would have been nice to know a bit more about Luke’s past but I did not think that it was taking anything away from the story.

I’m by no ways a writer... I’m an avid reader who love Christian fiction and clean reads.

As I say in most of my reviews if Christian fiction and clean reads are not your jam then by all means don’t pick the book up! But if it is, then give the story a chance! I thought it was a good one!

[Sally Lindsay-briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting novel, even though somewhat predictable at the end. Crystal is a displaced southern belle who’s now living at her aunt’s ranch. She proves herself as a strong woman who can cook and drive cattle long distances. There are deaths and heartaches. Also, she finds she hates but loves Luke, who manages the ranch hands. The descriptions of this western land are awesome. You will love this book!

[Allison ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my usual type of read but I quite liked it. If you love Little House on the Prairie you will like this book.

[Randy Tramp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crystal Clark travels to her aunt's cattle ranch. Crystal, a Southern belle, determines to hold her own as tragedy strikes. Will Luke Weber, ranch hand, win Crystal's heart?

The scenes put me in the Old West. The characters are shaped by rugged land in unexpected ways. I enjoyed being transported to yesterday. Horses, cattle and everything that comes with it. This book is more relationship than what Louis L'Amour would write, but that's okay. Both are great. I love the Christian references.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maggie Brendan's first book in her Christian-historical-romance series, Heart of the West, is charming and heartwarming despite its' flaws. Crystal, our heroine, travels to the Coloradan Rocky Mountains in the late 1800s to live with her ranch-owning aunt. Her visit soon becomes a chance at a new life... and a new love.
Brendan seemed to be rushing with this one. I loved her Blue Willow China series, but this lacks the writing ability I know she has. The descriptions are bland and all 'tell', no 'show'. She tells us what the characters are feeling so much that we hardly get emotionally connected. Deaths are passed over with as much aplomb as a parlor tea with friends. I was disappointed, but still enjoyed Crystal and her journey. I know Brendan is capable of more, so I'm going to read on to the next book.

[Goddess Of Blah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out really good - very enjoyable. But towards the end it was sanctimonious, repetitive and shallow, lack of communication-cliché and very self-absorbed self-righteous characters

Crystal Clark - pampered genteel southern belle with all the airs, graces, manners and social finesse of a City and the South. She's determined to learn the customs and hard work of her aunt's ranch and she does. Initially her character was well developed and it was interesting and amusing to see her well-mannered and personable character encountering the hillbilly ranch hands.

However, towards the latter part of the book - the interaction between Crystal and April (Luke's fiancée) was one dimensional and a parody/ caricature. Crystal is constantly shown (and thought of by Luke) to be The Most Beautiful Woman In The World, and of course The Most Caring. And not to mention Hard-Working, and all godliness and goodness.

It was sanctimonious (particularly all the preachy Christian parts was judgemental, smug, self-righteous, holier-than-thou rather than modest and friendly).

Crystal was of course a Paragon of Virtue who didn't want to encroach on April's man - but it was a case of "the lady doth protest too much" and very self-righteous. She's also very self-absorbed (which would be fine if she was aware of her flaws) but instead she's Little Miss Perfect. She also strings guys along and then acts holier-than-thou because her victim isn't a Believer.



Luke Weber - tall, dark handsome playboy - wants to marry April McBride because her daddy is rich and will give him a plot of land in exchange. This of course doesn't (for some reason) reflect badly on him - but somehow on April who is considered to be materialistic - talk about sexist misogyny
He 's always comparing April to Crystal and of course April is fund lacking because she's mean, spoilt, rich and un-Christian.


April McBride - rich, spoilt, bitchy and insecure (she hates competition particularly Crystal). She eventually becomes engaged to Luke but of course despite him being the gold-digger - it's April that's the evil baddie (some how?)

There are lots of other characters and the author was very good in detailing them and building their characters with affection.

Plot - overall would have been good but Crystal is shown to be this Miss Perfect - but eventually she turns into a sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-thou, preachy, SMUG annoying character.

[Jen Lanam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read almost exclusively Christian books, usually Christian historical fiction, but I did not like this book. Some of the main rules for authors are to make the hero/heroine of the book likeable (NOT perfect), and to show, not tell.

The two main characters were absolute pains. He was rude and kissed her with his "thin lips" the morning he got engaged to another woman! (Yuck!) And she thought she was God's gift to--well, everyone. I wanted to stop reading the book, because although I knew they would get together at the end (hello, predictability), I didn't care.

There was a LOT of telling, largely about how they didn't know WHY they were "drawn to" each other. Why would we want to read about people like this?

I took an editing class where a lot of editors said about one book, "This book is too boring! Kill someone!" (I disagree. It's not good writing to kill someone because you can't think of anything more interesting to happen.) Well, guess what happened in this book? It was so boring--not just ONE death's worth, either!

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, from everything I've read out there, it seems I'm in the minority, because I was not very impressed with No Place for a Lady. And for that reason, this review will be relatively short and to the point. I really wanted to like this book, especially after reading several 5-star reviews on Amazon and BN.com, but in the end I was disappointed. The plot was flimsy; neither it nor the characters had much depth, in my opinion. I'm starting to think that I must not be a big fan of Christian Fiction. It feels like the storylines are very formulaic and clichéd. I have read several of Janette Oke's novels, and while I enjoyed them after awhile I felt like I was reading the same story over and over again. Oke's advantage is that she is able to give depth and realism to her characters and make the plot more meaningful. The story behind No Place for a Lady had potential--it was sweet, but cheesy at the same time--300+ pages of fluff in the end.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good premise but the story just didn't flow. I couldn't connect with the main character, I disliked her based on her dialogue and actions, but then the narrative and other characters' inner monologues kept telling me how wonderful she was. Caused a constant jarring with me and thus the story just didn't flow.

And there were too many deaths. In a short novel to me this screams easy plotting - deus ex machina anyone?!

Finally I think this book wants to be Christian fiction. Now, I am not exactly a Christian per se but I have an understanding of the genre, and to fit into that genre a book needs more than this book's reference to God or prayer once in every five chapters.

Disappointing all round.

[Heather Hart · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll start by saying I didn't finish this book - I wanted to, but I just couldn't. The story seemed to jump all over and was completely unbelievable. The female MC arrived at her aunts ranch one afternoon, after having not seen her for years and the very next morning her aunt wakes her up at sunrise and then leaves her at the ranch? Then in chapter 3 the two main characters were talking and the guy said that he would only marry a determined girl that wasn't afraid of making sacrifices if needed - someone who would be his partner. And the female MC gets angry and accuses him of wanting a workhorse.

I rarely put down a book part way through, but this was just too much. The choppy writing topped with the crazy assumptions and unbelievable train of events, I just couldn't do it.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong this was not an entirely bad read it just had too many flaws. I felt as though I was also reading a rough draft of a better story to come ~ I wonder if a beta reader was even put on board for this ~the characters were not well established. It also did not flow well at all just when you think you may learn about a character the author changes into another subject. There was no depth no meanings yes the biblical passages were well picked but that's about it. Not a book you will say wow what a great story you will probably read it and forget it. I won't be reading the rest of series as this was just not a strong book by author in my eyes ~~this is just my opinion

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Here's the thing. I liked the premise, and the story was interesting enough to finish reading it, but some of the actions and reactions of the characters left me scratching my head. I just didn't understand what made them do what they did. I mostly liked the two main characters (like on the trail drive,) but sometimes not so much (like in the happenings the day of April's birthday party... Seriously dude?)

I looked up the author and noticed that one of the other books in this series focuses on an extremely unlikable character, April. I can't imagine trying to force myself to read her love story. Blech.

[Jessica Leigh Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this book enough to finish it, so I'm giving it a three-star, average rating. It wouldn't be fair to rate it poorly, since I haven't read its in its entirety, but the fact that it couldn't hold my attention very long may be a reason to give it a three-star rating. I don't know. Had I continued further into the book, I may have discovered that it was awesome and it might have become my favorite book of all time. I just didn't have the time to devote to it and find out. Some books hook me on the very first page (or at least the first few) and I have decided to move on to one of those books.

[Joanie Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn’t get into this book. I loved learning about the western ways of doing things like telling the time by the stars, and making so many different things with sourdough starter, but the plot seemed a little slow. The characters are slightly shallow, but I did enjoy their interaction and of course, the romance. The progression of faith in the characters was evident. If you like a fun, quick read, I would recommend this book.