Customer Reviews

Frontier Woman

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is the first book I have read by Joan Johnston, and I will read more! I love Westerns, be it books or movies and not since Calamity Jane have I seen such heroism in a woman depicted in this genre.
Creighton "Cricket" Stewart,a free spirit, at 17 is the youngest of Rip Stewart's three daughters. Rip is a wealthy cotton plantation owner in Texas at the time it was still a young Republic. Rip taught his daughter's all special skills of survival. In Cricket's case thanks to her father, she was so self reliant that she thought she didn't need any man, ever!She could handle whatever came along, Hostile Indians, Mexican Bandidos, she even had wolves for pets.
Enter Jarrett Creed, a handsome Texas Ranger on a secret goverment mission, to expose traitors to Texas, during this time that the republic was under siege from both Mexiacan armies, and Indians alike. Jarrett, who has lived with an Indian tribe is able to save Cricket from a fix she manages to get herself into with the Comanches ... They both infuriate each other as they travel together to uncover a conspiracy, that also unwittingly has Cricket's sister involved. Together they face danger, adventures, and unexpected romantic situations, which get pretty steamy at times.
And just when you think the story is over, Ms. Johnston gives us a sneak preview of "Texas Woman" and "Commanche Woman" (The stories of her sisters) leaving us wanting more.
I read this book while sitting in hospital waiting rooms, thank you Joan Johnston for taking my mind to another time and place. Laurie

Take "Cricket" Stewart, the feisty, hard-headed, independent daughter of Rip Stewart, a Texas rancher and pair her with Jarrett Creed, a feisty, hard-headed, independent Texas Ranger and this book crackles with fireworks on almost every page! Initially I didn't think I was going to care for the rebellious Cricket as a romantic interest for the handsome Ranger because she seemed spoiled in a childlike way, talked rough and even turned into a once a month drunk to quell the pains her monthly cycle brought on. Somehow I didn't see how she'd ever turn into a woman that Creed would be interested in. But, as the story progressed and her interest in the Ranger increased, a gentle, less abrasive heroine begins to take form. Before long she's a perfect match in this tender yet still explosive romance with the dynamic Texas Ranger. I understand that this is the first in the BITTERCREEK series that will include Crickets sisters Sloan and Bay. FRONTIER WOMAN gives enough information about both these women in the storyline to give strong clues that these two women are also going to make for interesting reading. I'm looking forward to their stories as well.

Cricket Stewart is the youngest of Rip's daughters, the rebel. She's opinionated, dresses and fights like a man. Jared Creed, a Texas Ranger who spent many years as a Comanche brave, is her match in every way. From him, Cricket learns to accept and love her femininity, and still retain her fiery spirit. This book was the first in a series to feature three daughters who are unusual for their time, when women were considered inferior. I found myself encouraging Cricket to let go of her fears of being a woman and Jared for being the man to do it.

This was a difficult book to read. While it's nice to read about a strong heroine, it's another to read about an unreasonable brat, which is what Cricket was. This woman was like a plague leaving destruction and mayhem in her wake. It was unrealistic that she could be the reason for her sister-in-law's tragedy and not only did she not face any consequences, but she did not learn a lesson and she continued on as before. I am happy that this wasn't the first book I read from JJ... it would have been my last.

Creighton "Cricket" Stewart is a woman of many means, a woman of strength, a woman who would rather live as a man, until Jarrett Creed. Jarrett Creed, a Texas Ranger, who also, like Cricket, is a loner, until he meets Cricket Stewart. The two meet during a time of Comanche raids and the Wild West, before it was won.

Their story takes them across Texas and into New Orleans and back again, all to save Cricket's sister, Sloan and the Texas frontier. The last thing the two expect is to fall in love...

*****Another five stars from me. This book I approached apprehensively, (I'm not really into these types of novels) but I found that I could not put it down! This novel was wonderful, full of character and humor. I was reading it on my breaks and people were staring at me because I was laughing so hard. This is definitely a good read, and now I'm looking forward the rest of this series called Bitter Creek. *****

Reviewed by Kim Blair

Frontier Woman by Joan Johnston is set in a fascinating period of United States history. Texas is its own country and is struggling to hold its own against the United States on one side and Mexico on the other. Having little defense, Texas turns to a fairly wild bunch of "Texas Rangers" to patrol its borders and keep its citizens safe from attack. Don't forget the threat of Comanches, too, who are less than pleased with these newcomers staking claim to their homelands.

In this wild territory is a father, Rip, and his three daughters. Sloan, Bay, and Cricket are 19, 18, and 17, and this first story is about Cricket. The other older sisters get their own stories told in subsequent books. It's pretty interesting that it's the youngest sister that we hear about first. Often in these types of trilogies we start with the eldest and work down. Here we go with the wild, impetuous one first, and that's a nice change.

Rip was a take-no-prisoners man, and he equally raised his daughters to be wild. In an era when parents routinely beat children as a normal course of discipline, and children were considered "free farm labor", Rip was fairly average. Modern readers might be upset that he belt-whips his grown women - but remember this was a time period where even wives were routinely whipped by husbands for disobedience. So his behavior, while inappropriate in modern times, *is* period appropriate. As is Cricket's desperate desire to earn his respect.

Now, I say this because Rip is an "instigator" in the story - someone Cricket has to learn to rebel against. However, I do NOT feel as accepting about heroes who are abusive. Yes, certainly, one could make the same argument that abusive men existed in the 1800s. Heck, abusive men exist NOW. However, I am not eager to invest my precious leisure time in extolling the traits of an abusive man as a hero. I want to read about an ACTUAL hero with traits I would want to have in my own life.

So my key issue with Frontier Woman is that I simply am not that fond of Jarrett Creed. He thinks it's delightfully fine to SPANK Cricket to discipline her. Literally every time he has sex with her up until the very end, she's fighting him first. He ignores her refusals and takes her anyway because "he knows best". It makes me extremely upset to think women are OK with the idea that a man can ignore their NO messages because "he knows best" for her. But the scene which makes me most upset is the scene where he literally rapes her while she's a virgin. She says no - just like she does throughout the rest of the book. And what we get is that he ignores her because (trimming to keep this kid-safe):

" ... he was no longer man, but animal, responding to the dictates of his barbarian nature and its unassailable command to procreate the species. When he finally emerged from the red well of pleasure into which he'd descended ..."

So the clear statement here is that men - during sex - are completely out of control and whatever they do is just nature taking its course. What??? So if a woman says NO, it doesn't matter because he's simply "responding to the dictates of his barbarian nature"? How incredibly disrespectful of men, and what an insidiously awful message to even suggest to any woman! Absolutely men CAN hear no, and they CAN STOP. I'm having difficulty even expressing how much this whole scene bothers me.

It is especially disappointing because I had such high hopes for this book. The scenario was great. I love women who can stand up for themselves and protect themselves. I loved the rugged terrain and descriptions of the interesting political situation. I loved that Comanche were going to be involved. However, it devolved into stereotypes. The Texans simply hated the Comanches. The Comanches simply were rape-enthused maniacs (with a tiny few exceptions). The hero loyally rescues his damsel from one situation after another had abandoned his previous beloved wife and child for a fairly inane reason. Cricket puts people into danger time and time again and seems not to care much at all.

The writing style had been great. Compared with so many other poorly written books I've had to slog through recently, I was thrilled at how smooth the writing was, how clearly the scenes were presented, how the visuals were always extremely well laid out. But those technical details all get lost when the plot itself suffers serious issues.

It seems almost minor compared with what I've just covered, but I did want to mention one last point. Cricket is only 17 years old. Yes, I realize absolutely that some women married young in the 1800s. However our stereotypes about all girls marrying at 17 seems to be misguided. The average age of marriage was about 25 years old meaning that half married OLDER than this. This was because children / young adults were needed as farm help and they would only go start their own household when they had stored up the money and means to do that. So all of that being said, the period expectation was that women would be mature and fairly independent before they married. They would often have built up a status in the community - maybe as a schoolteacher, maybe as a seamstress. They would have "broken their parents' guidance" for the most part.

But not Cricket. Cricket is still a rebellious teenager, the age of a high school junior. She is still firmly under her father's thumb and is obsessed with pleasing him and rebelling against him. She has not in any way begun to think of herself as an independent woman. And then along comes Creed and now she is "transferred" from one man to another. In fact at the end of the book she's back under both thumbs! So she has double men telling her what to do! I found that very unappealing. I want to read about what a woman chooses to do and the impact her choices have in life. I'm less interested in reading about what a child complains about while first fighting with her daddy and then fighting against her daddy-surrogate who spanks her when she's bad. There must be a word stronger than unappealing. I can enjoy stories about 17 year olds when they clearly are on their own two feet and acting as an adult woman. Cricket is not that person.

So despite my high hopes and the good quality writing style, there are too many issues with the plot and characters, and especially with the repeated rapes, to make this book one I'd enjoy. Which is a shame, because I was intrigued about the other two sisters. However, if it's going to be more of the same of this, I don't want to read that.

I have to agree with other reviewers who were put off by the main character's careless ways. As she indulged in incident after incident that not only endangered her own life but brought loved ones to the brink of death, her character almost ruined the story. At that point I'm more disappointed with the writer. Having a main character that careless/stupid/thoughtless is just a short-hand way of advancing the plot. Yes, she did mature some emotionally and that made her more endearing. But those character lapses where she caused death and destruction were so fateful they almost took me out of the story. I began to think, "Come on, Joan, couldn't you come up with some other character/incident to move the plot along?" I enjoy the story more when the main character is admirable. It's escapist reading and I'm not entertained by silly, selfish main characters. Plus, it kind of makes the hero look bad when the woman is a fluff-head.

Anyway, I gave the story three stars because it was still a fun read (when you didnt' want to choke the main character) and I like the "preview" of the sisters' stories.

Joan Johnston is a wonderful author and I've rated many of her books as keepers...but this one misses the mark. It starts out fine. A man wants a dynasty and plans for 3 sons but, alas, he has 3 daughters so he just raises them as sons. They are each unique, beautiful women living their lives as they've been taught by the father they love and admire. Naturally things happen and they each learn that they are more vulnerable than they knew and that everyone needs love...and that being a woman doesn't mean giving up their independent thoughts and lives.
While the youngest was "the brat in buckskins" she didn't know any different and I loved her fiesty nature. It was a hoot. Sister Bay was the gentle gal, and Sloan the heir apparent so Cricket could be as outrageous as she chose, except that her father now decided she should marry..whoops. The middle of the book drags and though the writing is good, having Cricket "made into a lady" gets a bid tedious and demeaning. I really liked the characters and enjoyed much of the dialogue. It just didn't make the overall quality that I expect from this author. (Pick up the bodyguard, the bridegroom, the texan and several others instead of this one!!)

I am not sure I have ever picked up a more over the top book in my life! If you like over the top stories, stereotyping of the Comanche, Mexican and people in general help yourself. If you like to read of people being endlessly and needlessly cruel to one another go ahead and read. However, if you like your stories believable and to show some humanity, keep searching.

Between the manipulative and cruel father, the over bearing and even cruel hero, the raping Comanches and other stereotypical thugs this book has no shortage of bad guys and turmoil. What it does lack is humanity and a look beyond the surface of the usual suspects. This book seemed to be all about how much she could put the characters through before the end and how much "delicious" horror she could illicit from the readers. Thank you but no thank you. I stopped just short of finishing this book- something I rarely do. I simply could not take any more. Needless to say I will not be reading this author again and thought I would warn other like minded readers. Mellow drama is one thing- this book leaves it in the dust.

This book is a good read. I love the old western settings and Joan does a wonderful job creating it. Once you read this book you will want to go right into the next one. Be sure you have all three books once you start. I couldn't put them down.