Customer Reviews

Shotgun Wedding

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've enjoyed many of Maggie Osborne's books, but she can be an unpredictable read. Some of her stories are very entertaining ("I Do, I Do, I Do" for example), and others just don't have much charisma. "Shotgun Wedding" is almost boring. It has some historical insight on the real ramifications an unwed pregnant mother might face, but as another reviewer said, Osborne never establishes the timeline. You never know what year the story is set in. There is no chemistry, really, between the two main characters. It's just not a compelling read.

Annie Malloy had considered herself to be a "New Modern Woman". She was independent, did not rely on a man, and never planned to wed. However, she went too far when she decided to take a lover. Even worse, she chose Bodie Miller, a bank and train robber. But no one would ever know, right? Then she found out that she was pregnant!

Sheriff Jesse Harden had been fond of Annie for quite some time. when he found out that she was pregnant, he offered her his hand in marriage. He had high hopes that he could turn this marriage of convenience into a true marriage of the heart. Only close family would know he was not the biological father of Annie's baby.

Bodie was angry when Annie refused to marry him, simply because he would not give up robbery and get an honest job. He was sure she would change her mind. He would do a couple of jobs with his two partners and return to find her willing. Instead, he returned to find out she had wed the sheriff. He was NOT happy.

**** Very well done indeed! It is not often that the heroine of a historical romance has done something so wrong. The author has succeeded in making a rather touchy love triangle in this delightful book. A real pager turner! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

In Marshall, Kansas, Annie Malloy enjoys being a member of the "New Modern Woman" until she realizes that she is pregnant out of wedlock. She goes to her lover, bank and train robber Bodie Miller, who offers to marry her, but rejects her insistence he turns respectable. Bodie informs Annie they will marry, but he will continue his life of robbery. Annie declines.

Sheriff Jess Harden asks Annie if he can court her, but she is upset and runs away from him. He thinks she rejects him, but instead Annie finds her delicate condition makes her unsuitable for the sheriff. Still he persists and as they fall in love, she wonders if he will be so kind with someone's child. Also Bodie plans to come back to take what is his as no one rejects him.

Fans of western romances will want to read SHOTGUN WEDDING, a powerful period piece that brings to light an era of change for women yet in many ways society remains the same. That is the brilliance of the tale. Maggie Osborne uses Annie's plight to contrast a modern nineteenth century woman stigmatized by her pregnancy as she fleetingly considers suicide to avoid the shame she brings to her family. Throw in a strong hero and a selfish villain (though Bodie's motives seem strange) so that the audience will gain immense pleasure from a superb story.

Harriet Klausner

I have been waiting for another good book from Maggie Osborne, and it's just not coming. I didn't enjoy her 2 previous books and I simply could not even finish this one. There's isn't anything to like about this couple and the heroine is so confusing....is she independant?...is she a spinster?...is she in love with this bank robber? And the darn bank robber had more time on the page than the main characters. There's no romance, no desire, no spark between anyone in this book AT ALL.

Oh and can someone tell me why it's being called a great western? Is it because the sheriff rides a horse? There is no reference to a time period in this story and Maggie Osborne's unique style of research is completely non-existent. What a disappointment.

When Jesse Harden finds out that the woman (Annie Malloy) he has always loved will face social ruin if she has her baby out of wedlock, he proposes to her to save her. Annie's strong, independent nature leaves the reader wondering if there will indeed be a marriage. In Shotgun Wedding, I not only found myself rooting for the good guys (and gals), but also feeling sympathy and understanding for the bad guy. In this case, it was the outlaw, Bodie Miller, father of Annie's baby. This author "humanizes" the characters in all her books, showing there is good and bad in all of us. Her use of humor during tense situations not only makes the dialogue enjoyable, but the storyline unique and memorable

Maggie Osborne has done it again! No one writes western romances like Maggie Osborne. In Shotgun Wedding, Annie Malloy is a New Modern Woman. She's 25 and yearning to cut those apron strings and experience life as her mother never has. She wants to be her own woman without anyone to answer to. Annie learns the hard way that independent or not, we all have to answer to someone for our decisions. Jess Harden is the sheriff. The walking epitome of handsome, virle man. He loves Annie, though hasn't told her and he comes to her rescue knowing he won't be her first love...or will he? Annie gives voice to all the women of that time who yearned for change and worked to get it. Her hard won lessons make her a better person. Jess is confident enough in himself as a man to give Annie her long for independence while gently binding her to him with ribbons of love. Bravo Maggie!

I agree it isn't Maggie Osborne's best. I wanted more building of the relationship between Jess & Annie, less "New Modern Woman" references over and over again.
And I hated that Jess flipped on her when he found out about Bodie, that kind of ruined SHOTGUN WEDDING for me. The same as I felt with PRAIRIE MOON when Cameron told his secret. That, plus the storyline here wrapped up too easily, too quickly, with not enough action, and tied up in a bow too simplistically. I disliked that Annie went to him at the boarding house. But it kept me reading page after page, burning the midnight oil during the middle parts.
Ione was likable, but seemed a walking cliche somehow. And they hit it off a bit too easily.
I loved the way Annie & Ellen connected in the last half, that was very nicely done. And Jess, our hero, was a husband to die for. I wish we'd had more of the two of them without Bodie.

I really enjoyed this western romance by Maggie Osborne. Annie and Jess were wonderful characters. Annie was a little confused as most women were at that time. Women's rights and independence were just coming to the fore. Annie's hard won lessons about flauting convention and the greater fights for rights yet to come was very real and touching to me.

Jess is the epitome of the strong, confident hero. Sure enough in himself and his love for this woman, that he can give her the independence she seeks, while still binding her to him with tender strings of love.

Great book and great romance. Bravo Maggie!

I had read other books by Maggie Osborne and was looking forward to another good read. Unfortunately, this novel falls short. Annie Malloy comes across as a spineless twit who makes one wrong choice after another. What does Jake see in her anyway? He is a strong character, but aside from his infatuation with her red hair and the way she acts "different" from other women, Osborne does not really develop a good romance between the two characters. Annie does nothing to build a relationship with the husband who saved her reputation from ruin. She basically put everyone's lives in danger and they all forgive her for it. I was actually hoping that Jake would come to his senses and leave her!

This is my first book by Maggie Osborne and needless to say, I enjoyed the book immensely! Never a dull moment in the story! I found the story heart warming and funny. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical romance!