Customer Reviews

The Texan

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Bitter Creek Series, are modern day Western Romance/Adventure stories, by Joan Johnston. In this the second of the series, "The Texan", Bayleigh Creed and Owen Blackthorne are thrown together to try and find their brothers, who are both someway involved in an intriguing and tense mystery concerning the theft of some deadly VX nerve gas. The Creeds and Blackthornes have been bitter enemies for generations, and although the romance that blosoms between the two is predictable(their siblings fell for each other in the first of the series,The Cowboy), there are several other stories going on that will keep you from putting this book down. The hunt for the brothers and the stolen XV nerve gas, puts them in danger at every turn, and the mystery of finding out who the bad guys are, is captivating. Other family members have various sagas going on as well. The young Summer Blacthorne, and "Bad' Billy Coburn start becoming more then friends, and their story heats up with complications. The older generation doesn't get left out either, as the parents story goes back to long before the children were even born. Joan Johnston puts some great finishing touches on the end, but as always, leaves you wanting more. The third in the series,The Loner, picks up the unfinished stories.

Miss Johnston adds just enough of the previous story to fill you in on the background of the characters and the families, so if you haven't read the first one, you will not be lost. She also gives you a good taste of the prequel series, "Sisters of the Lone Star", so that not only will you get an idea of the family history dating back to before Texas was a State, but will leave you wanting to read about the predecessors as well. Those books are (in order), Frontier Woman, Comanche Woman and Texas Woman (Sistersof the Lone Star, #1). All full of fabulous Western adventure,intriguing family sagas, and the steamy romance that Miss Johnston always brings us.The characters are always strong and interesting, and the stories seem well reasearched and they bring realism and sometimes a bit of a history or current event lesson to the story.

If you have not read any of the books mentioned above, and are interested in those as well, please see my reviews for details.
I am looking foward to reading "The Loner", as well as to start in on some of the other series in the Joan Johnston collection.

Enjoy the read...Laurie

In Amarillo, still hurting from the murder of his father at the hands of a Blackthorne, teenager Luke Creed accuses Clay Blackthorne of stealing deadly VX-nerve gas mines. Besides the potential danger of the gas, Clay's twin brother, Texas Ranger Owen, has an added incentive to finding the culprit who murdered a peer.

Not long after his public condemnation of Clay, Luke vanishes. Owen wonders if Luke knows more about the missing VX-nerve gas than he said during his mouthy accusations. Luke's older sister Bayleigh refuses to help her family's enemy when Owen turns to her. Instead, she offers a deal in which she accompanies him as he searches for her sibling. On the road, they fall in love, but besides the family feud to contend with, it appears as if law enforcement types from the National, Guard, Texas Rangers, or the Feds may be behind the theft.

As with THE COWBOY and "The Captive Hearts" series, the acrimonious feud between the Blackthorne and Creed clans serve as the impetus for the fast-moving novel THE TEXAN. The story line is filled with action, adventure, and an exciting contemporary romance. Luke and Bayleigh have a lot to overcome besides family problems including the danger of an unknown assailant before they can forge a lasting relationship. The characters remain strong and Joan Johnston's myriad of fans will feel fully entertained and want to read the next feuding novel, THE LONER.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed the book even though it didn't get me hooked compleatly. There are too many stories going on with the other caracters that messes up with the flow of the story. I gave it 4 stars since the author is a favorite of mine, but I will stick to her historical books rather then contemporary. All in all it was a very good read if not excellent.

.......far-fetched. If you want to lose yourself in a novel as you would a movie then you'll enjoy this book.

As previously stated by other reviewers, the story is about the relationships between the members of two fueding families. Sparks fly in more ways than one throughout the novel, and those were the best parts of the book by far. My only complaint would be that the ending left a lot of loose ends, which are probably tied up in the third book of the series.

This was my first book by this author and I would definitely pick up another.

I recently started rereading the books in this series, and found that even the second time around The Texan captured my heart. It's a little farfetched with the story primarily one of good guys chasing bads, the couple trapped in a desert location (Big Bend) and forced to depend on each other... But Johnston tells the story with warmth and heart. This is the second book in the series, The Cowboy was the first and The Loner is the third. Although it is helpful to have read the first before reading the third, it's not essential - you'll probably want to read it anyway after you finish this one!

I loved this book. I read it in less than 24 hours. I could not put it down. I can't wait until the next installment in the series. I loved that the hero and heroine also win in the end and even get what seems out of reach for them.

..For a romance.
while i wouldnt give it 1 star i have to agree about it being poorly written. i'm no professional but i do know a thing or two about transitional scenes and writing in general(my mother is a writer and i always tagged along to her "writers critique" classes at FSU).
the author does a poor job of telling the passage of time. there were more than a few times when i tripped while reading because of that. one minute they are standing on the ground bantering and the next thing you know they are halfway to their destination without you even noticing..... i guess its her way of speeding things along? kinda like when you're watching a movie and the screen fades out and blinks into a new scene?! it would make a better movie script than a novel. i would actually like to see it made into a movie. but i still enjoyed the thrill. i always liked stories where a man and woman have to rely on each other to survive.
i bought it on a whim back when it was brand new and only got around to reading it last week! sorry, but i was in college back then! it only took about four days to finish reading it because i just HAD to solve the puzzle! but really i could have done without all the sub-plots going on at random intervals. i suppose one reason it annoyed me was because i didnt read the first book. and the ending was all buggered up with the loose ends... but i also suppose thats because there is another book to follow?

All that aside, from the point of view of someone who just stepped into the middle of the series I would say its good enough to stand on its own.
even though its part of the back bone of the story I didnt like the bitterness of the leading lady. she kept throwing up the same argument every time she wanted to talk herself out of liking the leading man and it just got old. she had a lot of common sense except where he bitterness was concerned.. He was nicer than i would have been! it just made her look like a blindfolded, narrow minded, idiot. then again.... people who hold grudges "FOR" other people usually are blindfolded, narrow-minded idiots.

Should have read this one sooner. It was very good and very believable. The setting was perfect. liked it better than her latest and put it up with my favorites in the last year, Fantasy Lover and Anything, My Love.

This was my first time reading Joan Johnston book. Once I finished it I ran out and bought The Cowboy which I also recommend. Keep up the good work.

The cowboy was the first book that I have read of Joan Johnson's I loved it... and The Texan is just as good... Iam looking forward to the next book The Loner. I loved the twists and the turns...