Lawless Love

by Rosanne Bittner

RULED BY HIS GUN...
When Moses "Moss" Tucker smelled danger he shot it, when he needed shelter he grabbed it and when he wanted a woman's touch he bought it. Then he saw Amanda Boone's sparkling azure eyes and the tough, steely outlaw couldn't get her out of his mind. An innocent beauty like her would never get involved with a lawbreaking man like him. But the thought of never tasting her luscious lips or hearing her cries of ecstasy pierced him more sharply than a bullet from his double-barreled gun!

LED BY HER HEART...
Chestnut-haired Amanda tried to keep her gaze on the vast frontier that flashed past her train window but it kept straying to the buckskin-clad stranger opposite her. Every inch of him was virile and strong and every part of her yearned for his passionate caress. She knew it was wrong to even think of his muscular arms crushing her soft curves in a fierce embrace. Yet she vowed that before the trip was through he would be the one to tame her savage desire with his wild LAWLESS LOVE!

Genres: Historical Romance, Westerns, Historical, Romance, Historical Fiction, Western Historical Romance, Fiction

Paperback

First published November 1, 1985

About the author

I am a USA-TODAY best-selling author with 41 years, 76 books, and numerous writing awards behind me. My major genre is historical romance. I have always written for standard publishers but am now writing strictly for Amazon so I have more freedom to write real history. My most recent publication is SHADOW TRAIL, the 6th book in my Outlaw Hearts series. I also wrote and published my first full-length contemporary story, DANCING BENEATH YOU, in September 2022, a romance involving mystery and a depiction of reservation life in the Badlands of South Dakota. My best sellers are my SAVAGE DESTINY series (7 books) and my OUTLAW HEARTS series. See my website (www.rosannebittner.com) for details on all my books - most available for Kindle and in print. I am known for great love stories filled with real history and high emotion. I have also written many Native American stories, all based on real history.

I love American history. For those of you who have not yet read my books, my stories are generally set in the American West of the 1800s and feature vividly described, historically accurate settings that span the US from Missouri to California, from Canada to Mexico. Many of my books portray the poignant history of our Native Americans, and though the characters are my own, I use real historical locations and events in all my novels. I have also written about the French & Indian wars, American Revolution, the War of 1812, the war with Mexico (the Alamo), and the Civil War.

National magazine ROMANTIC TIMES has called me the "Queen of Western Romance" and an "emotional powerhouse." My husband and I have traveled the west for nearly 40 years and I have visited just about every location mentioned in my books.

Visit my website at www.rosannebittner.com and my Facebook Author page. And be sure to join Rosanne Bittner's Heart of the West Street Team! Happy reading!

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

November 2016 reread: still am so in love with Moss and his Mandy! Each reread draws me in tightly. Now that it's on my kindle, I have pages after passages after pages highlighted. So much good!!!

***

This book is another one of my top favs that will always have a home on my keeper shelf.

I absolutely adored Mandy and Moss's story - even if a few times my being outside the story made me see things they couldn't and make me want to knock them both out and grrrr at them! :) But I think that's why I loved it so much, cause despite that, I couldn't help but fall in love with them and understood where their reactions came from and why they did what they did. Moss quickly became one of my favorite heroes - and Mandy reminded me a lot of myself. The strength of their love for each other poured off the pages and kept me enthralled from the first page to the last.

EEK! Update: This is available on Kindle now!! Can't wait to do (yet another) reread!!

[Mgordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one that I would never part with. The character, Moss Tucker is all man. He is vulnerable, torn, lost, lonely,rugged and I imagine extremely handsome. He risks everything for the woman that he loves. I have read this book 54 times. I laugh and cry in all the same places and from this book I believe that I have learned that if you are lucky, you can find someone who will love you with all of their being for the rest of your life.

[Lynn Put · Rating 1 out of 5]

God Lord, this was terrible! Why I kept reading is beyond me. This was way too drawn out. A 22 year old woman that was raised by nuns, that’s never been out in the real world decides to travel across country on her own where she meets a man that’s 16 years her senior on a train and of course they fall instantly in love.

The rest of the story is one bad mistake after another with horrible things happening to both the main characters including having Moss leave his happy life once he has it to ride off with an ex love of his to help her.

This story was exasperating! I don’t enjoy reading about female characters who are one, weak and do nothing but cry and pray and two, men who still lust after an ex love when he’s lucky to have a good woman already, even if it’s about revenge.

[Tonya Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawless Love is such a beautiful and inspirational love story. Rosanne Bittner never ceases to amaze me with her brilliant writing. Her ability to weave a true spiritual aspect into her books is a true gift. I fell in love with Moses and Amanda, their love and courage they shared and overcame together when faced with harrowing difficulty. This is another Bittner book that will live with me forever.

[CI · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long, boring and all together too much preaching

First off, this is a book about a 22yr old to be nun. Even knowing that, I wasn't expecting the amount of preaching and praying that occurs. This book could have been a third the length and still retained the story if only the lengthy descriptions of prayer were removed.

Finished, but I found myself skipping pages, not just paragraphs, all too often

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really great read. Twists and turns I never expected came up in the novel. I really like Moss and Amanda. They were a great pairing. I also loved how the author handled their tragedies. I wish the h/h would have spent more time together in the novel, but the story was so good, I can't hold it against the author. What a great read.

[Cathy Cason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner

I have read many Rosanne Bittner books and this one rates toward the top. Full of the usual twists and turns along with unforgettable characters make this book hard to put down. Enjoy!

[Diane Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moss and Mandy

There is not a better historical western romance author than R. Bittner. The only bad part about this book is that it ended. I would love a sequel to this story. I love heroes like Moss who are strong and fearless, yet so loyal and gentle with the right heroine.

[Blue Falcon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is of “Lawless Love” by Rosanne Bittner.

The Story: Part #1: At the beginning of the book, we meet the heroine of the book, Amanda Boone, 22. Amanda is making a trip from New York-where she was raised in an orphanage-to San Francisco, California by train to become a teacher at a mission school there. Among the other passengers on the train is Moses “Moss” Tucker, 38, the hero of the book.Unlike Amanda, who is as pure as snow, Moss, is, well, less than that. Amanda and Moss meet and fall in love.

Tragedy, however, soon strikes as the train they are on is robbed by Rand Barker, an outlaw with a history with Moss, and his gang. Amanda is taken hostage, and Moss is shot and seriously wounded trying to save her. Moss eventually finds Amanda, but not before she has been defiled by Barker. Moss and a group of outlaw friends eventually find Barker and his gang and kill them all; however, there is a tragedy for Moss: he loses one of his friends and his left arm is gravely injured and has to be amputated. This leaves Moss feeling insecure and hurt, but he and Amanda rely on their love to help them through. They get married and settle in Utah with Moss’ daughter, Rebecca.

Part #2: Fast forward five years. Amanda, Moss and Rebecca are living in Utah on a ranch. Amanda works part-time as a teacher. Things are well for the Tucker family. Which, of course, means something will come along to challenge that happiness. That “something” is actually “someone”: Etta Graceland Landers, Moss’ ex-fiance, who cruelly jilted Moss and now seeks out Moss’ help in stopping her husband, Ralph, from forcing her off her land. Moss decides to help Etta-despite Amanda’s misgivings-for revenge purposes.

While Moss is in Wyoming fighting off Landers’ men-and the advances of Etta-one of Landers’ men is kidnapping Amanda. Moss and his cohorts win the battle against Landers, he gets Etta’s ranch and goes to Arizona to rescue Amanda. The Tuckers adopt a son and they and Becky live Happily Ever After.

Upside: As always, Ms. Bittner’s writing style is full and vivid. Moss and Amanda are fully developed characters who endure a lot of emotional, mental and physical pain, but survive and thrive. I also liked the fact that Ms. Bittner wrote a hero who wasn’t perfect ; she doesn’t write Moss as a cripple nor Amanda as a victim.

Downside: In addition to the usual misogyny that is in every one of her books, I REALLY didn’t like part of the storyline involving Ralph Landers, or, more accurately, Moss’ reaction. You’ll have to read the story to understand what I mean. There were also a few typos in my copy of the book.

Sex: Again, Ms. Bittner’s love scenes are far from inventive or erotic. They are just there.

Violence: Again, as usual, there is a crapload of violence. Assault, rape, shootings, stabbings, killings, hanging, there’s a little something for anyone who loves violence here.

Bottom Line: “Lawless Love” is not my favorite book by Ms. Bittner, but it’s still good, just not great.

[Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a fan of age gap stories. In this book, Moss is 16 years older than Amanda and has an extensive history of being a gunslinger and a criminal, but he's got a good heart. Amanda is fresh out of a parochial school in New York and is on her way to California to teach school at a mission. They meet on a train, both on their way to the same place for different reasons.

What did work for me was it was a love-at-first-sight story, they were very different people and made it work in spite of that, and they each had flaws. Moss wanted to be everything to Amanda. He wanted to be her protector, lover, provider, husband, father to her children. He went to great lengths to achieve this.

Amanda was raised in a convent and has no idea what the world is really all about. This trip was her debut into society. She was confident that the Lord would protect her and that she didn't need anybody, but surely there was no harm in being friends with the handsome stranger who was sitting across the aisle from her. She kept it low-key, was shy, easily embarrassed, awkward, and so naive. She'd never been around men except for a priest once in a while and she was going to take her vows to become a nun. Surely she wasn't attracted to Moses Tucker. She didn't know just how much she needed him until the train was robbed and she was abducted.

Moss felt as if he'd failed her. He'd sworn to protect her, knowing just how innocent she was, so when one of the two soldiers on board wanted to show her something, Moss let him by even though he was already suspicious of what was on the train and why they were there. Things went south then. He was shot, she was abducted along with this expensive, jewel-encrusted crucifix that was a gift to the mission from the convent in New York City. He had to find her and that damn crucifix and it cost him dearly and changed his life forever.

But that's not all that happened. The book is divided into Part I and Part II. These two didn't have much of courtship and Part I was about them prior to being married. Part II was post-marriage, involved Etta Graceland, the woman to whom Moss was once engaged (she was a piece of work), what could have been a range war, another abduction of Amanda, and our happily ever after.

I wanted an epilogue for this so bad. It ended on a good note, but I wanted to see how Moss and Amanda fared after three or four years. I wanted to see how some of the secondary characters were doing; Slim, Pappy, Sooner. I loved those three, especially Sooner.

So much happened in this book that kept me turning the pages and had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It was rough at times, but that kept the story real. The characters were so well-defined that I felt like they were either my friends or my foes and I wanted to hang out with them. I was captivated by the story overall, despite my dislike of the age gap trope. It just worked on every level.

This was a fantastic book and earns an easy, easy five stars.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was written in 1985; a day when homosexuality was condemned. This book reflects that; if you are offended, do not read it.  However, it is a minor part of the story and it doesn't come up until the second half of the novel.

Amanda Boone is traveling on a train to California. She has completed her work to become a nun but is waiting until getting to the mission (where she is to teach) before making a final decision. Incredibly, the Church has given her a valuable crucifix to take to the mission. She has no one to accompany her and she is timid. She is an orphan who lived her whole life in a New York City orphanage.  This is her first trip anywhere and she's nervous.

Seasoned and a dangerous man, Moss Tucker notes the shy woman on the train and befriends her. When the train is robbed, the men decide to kidnap Amanda and sell her in Mexico.  They also take the crucifix.  Moss is seriously wounded trying to stop the kidnapping.  This is just the beginning of a tremendously entertaining story. This novel has an incredible number of twists and turns. It is a stand-alone story; it will be hard to forget this novel and its characters soon. Overall score = 4.5 stars.

[ann_zack_cee_am_ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish the book would just end at part 1 and not have part 2 continuing. This book is a lot to take in and I absolutely how gripping the story was with Amanda’s and Moses’s love story up until that bitch Etta came crawling back into Moses and tempted him in every way possible until he succumbed to it and cheated on Amanda! Bloody hell I was so enraged it breaks my heart that Moses was so weak! Amanda deserved way way better than having a man not strong enough to hold on to his vows. I am sorry that as much as I love this book but my damn sensitive heart just can’t handle cheating!! i also wish there is an epilogue at the end though. Other than that, a very gripping story that I have no wish to revisit due to some TWs. Two minus stars for that.

[Frances Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much

Too much angst- how many times can a couple face disaster and triumph ?
Also loses stars for lazy use of gay man as villain. Yes I know it was frowned on then but to make that an integral part of him being bad is no longer acceptable.
Also good old Moss came far too close to being unfaithful in my view. Not her best.

[Lois Mezo]

I like this book

I think l already read this book, All Rosanne's books are good reading wondering what happens next.Moss is a strong tough man fall in love with Mandy,All kinds things happen.

[Grace E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawless Love by Rosanne Bittner

Another of Rosanne Bittner's books. It was hard to put it down. Household chores were ignored as I became so into this story. Different happenings that took the story in different directions.. I hope Rosanne Bittner never stops writing..

[Bill Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawless Love

Another great book by Ms. Bittner. I've read numerous books by Ms. Bittner. And I've never been disappointed in any of them and you want either. So grab one her books and relax maybe with a glass of wine.

[Michelle Hathorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book of Rosanne Bittner. A true love story with a lot of action. It’s one of those stories that stay with you. Moss and Mandy are two opposites with an age gap and strong faith from Mandy holding them together. Absolutely loved this story.

[wrkatreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was lengthy but well written.

[Barbara]

Kindle books identical per R. Bittner’s Facebook group

[Lizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I really don’t think this needed to have a part 1 and part 2 but whatever