Queen of the Legal Tender Saloon is a refreshing, insightful look not just at modern life in Montana, but at life and love, personal growth and a woman making it on her own in the world of cowboy lore. Author Eileen Clake writes as powerfully as Pam Houston, with insight and strength wrapped around lifelike characters that have the same wants and needs, strengths and weaknesses found in all of us, yet tempered by the world of the modern cowboy. You can't help but to get hooked on the prose, captured by the plot. It's the perfect companion with which to curl up by the fireplace on a long winter weekend.

What a wonderful idea: Montana through the eyes of a dental assistant. The Big Sky State is, after all, comprised far more of civil servants and teachers and CNA's and truck drivers than the cowboys and far-sighted writers that we tend to idolize. Thank goodness for a well-spoken author who looks at Montana's foibles through the eyes of a believable character. Thank goodness, too, for a fine portrait of a Montana town and valley. And bravo for the cover artwork. What a relief to find a bold artistic cover statement--as opposed to another look-alike muted dust jacket!

An intimate portrayal of a young woman's pilgrimage to small town rustic Montana. Ms. Clarke captures the essence of this close knit community with endearing characters in search of good times amidst their struggles. A lively story with true grit, heart and soul.

one of my most treasured books. If you are a Brautigan fan you must have this book.It is funny and insightful short stories and one pagers.It is timeless the way Brautigans eyes saw his world around him and how unique his visions were.

if you picked up this book because you've read brautigan before, skip this review, you don't need it. However, if you have no clue as to who could this guy envisioning an express between Tokyo and Montana, and you also think its a futile, impossible task, you're in for quite a treat. This book unfolds like an artichoke's flower, bursting out in strange but remarkably possible colors. Brautigan was someone who felt he had to write, you can tell by how he treats his words, with the utmost care and flippant caresses: How to explain an earthquake to a retarded child? try telling him wind is blowing through the ground, page whatever. Need i say more? Probably, but the pleasure is in discovery, not recognition.

Short stories loosely grouped to form a novel about the time Brautigan spent traveling back and forth between, as the title implies, Tokyo and Montana, this stands as one of the author's best, and undeservedly underrated works. Chapters such as "Old Man Working in the Rain" and "Very Good Dead Friends" will leave Brautigan fans, as well as those just getting to know his work, breathless with emotion. A work that in some places containts evidence of Brautigan's growing depression and dissatisfaction with life as age sets in, it is also one of his most personal, mature, and reflective creations. It is well worth searching for, but unfortunately hard to find.

WOW it was hard to rate this as a whole because the tales are very different. This is a trade side reprints of stories that have been reprinted several times.
(the weakest of the three) JAK's The Waiting Game is not one of her best earlier works. Still a good read, but the female character is really stupid at times and it hurts the rest of the book. The male character more than makes up for the silly female, but he can only do so much. This has been reprinted several times by itself so I suggest you check you old series romance and recent JAK's before you buy this one.

Delinsky's Montana Man is one of her best early works. She shows a strong hand in male-female attraction and it was riveting.

Anne Stuart ( one of my favourite writers) gives us a touching story of second chances. And as usual, Stuart is the BEST at the bad boy being redeemed by love. Emerson Wyatt McVey was a ruthless corporate executive that destroyed hundreds, maybe thousands of lives by closing factories. On a Wintry holiday night, his car goes off the road and he dies, but he is given once chance to come back as another man and make right three lives he destroyed. Carrie Alexander is one of those he destroyed and it is through her love McVey will be redeemed or not. A beautiful holiday tale, with Fallen Angel being a special special Stuart tale.

It is very unusual in a collection of stories to enjoy all 3. I definetely enjoyed all three. TOo Wild to Wed by Jayne Ann Krentz was great! Montana Man by Barbara Delinsky was super as well, but I kept thinking that I had read it or a story just like it before. Falling Angel by Anne Stuart was also good - but not quite a believable.

Jayne Ann Krentz and Barbara Delinsky deliver their gifted tales of strong female characters who create their own dilemmas. Krentz's professor, Letty, and Delinsky's hitchhiker, Lily, both meet her own Mr. Wrong who worms his way into each heroine's heart by trying to rescue her from a risky situation to become her Mr. Right. I always enjoy both of these authors and have added Anne Stuart to my "must read" list. Anne Stuart brings Gabriel, a beautiful angel of slippery status, back to Angel Falls, Minnesota, with 30 days to right the wrongs he visited on 3 people before he died. His new visage enchants Carrie Alexander when he arrives at her door Thanksgiving day after his truck slides into a ditch during a blizzard. Gabriel's attraction to Carrie makes him wonder how he will correct his sins against her and two other unnamed people in time to make it back to heaven, when all he wants to do his stay with her at the risk of eternity in Hell. The ensuing interaction between Gabriel and the people he meets results in an entertaining love story.

This whole series of books was a nice vacation for the brain. When you're tired of hearing about tragedies and violence and worst possible scenarios, when you've used your brain all day and just need a little quiet time, these are just what the doctor orderred. They are broken down into tiny little books, too, so you can begin and finish them in an afternoon. No high-brow intellectual stimulation, but better than the TV soap-opera drivel. Check them out they're fun!

Even though I wasn't very enthused with MIRANDA, I was ecstatic about JESSICA. Linda came back to her senses and created a character in line with Evangeline, Rachel, and Savannah. Jessica is a very strong and insightful character. The sexual friction between Gage and her is classic romance. I would definitely recommend this book in the series to everyone. I was also happy to be able to visit some of my favorites characters again. I can't wait for the Christmas book. I'll be counting the days until then.

In 1880, Jessica Barnes flees her eastern home to escape the unwanted advances of her boss. She journeys to her brother's home in Springwater, figuring she can assist him with the newspaper he operates as well as spend time with her two nieces. However, when she disembarks from the train, a stunned Jessica finds out that her brother and his spouse are dead. She is the sole guardian of twin girls.

Jessica quickly believes that Springwater's mayor, Gab Calloway, was involved in the untimely death of her brother. She wants nothing to do with the loathsome man even as he finds himself drawn to her. Gab shows her proof that he owns her brother's newspaper. Using her two charges as blackmail, he forces Jessica to marry him so the twins can be fed and clothed. Though he may legally have her, only time will tell whether he can capture her heart like she has captured his.

Anything Linda Lael Miller touches is magic and her latest western romance, SPRINGWATER SEASONS: JESSICA, will augment that deserved reputation. Like the previous tales in this series, Jessica's story is wonderful tale because of the intriguing battles between the lead protagonists and within themselves over not wanting to fall in love. The fast-paced story line never slows down as Ms. Miller provides her fans with her trademark action-packed romance.

Harriet Klausner

It is probably a tribute to Montana, 1948 that this prequel is entirely unnecessary, but Justice still seems to add little to the story. I think Montana, 1948 is superb, but could have done without this prequel. Still, if read on the heels of reading its sequel, this little addition does not disappoint.

All of the characters have a defined personality. You know where they came from, what they feel and can get a sense of why they act the way they do. I think it's a wonderful idea to write a preface just to describe the characters. Now in the book he can get right to the point of the story.

One of the best regional books I have read. Watson is an extremely skilled author with the ability to vividly evoke a time or place, seemingly effortlessly. 'Outside the Jurisdiction' is probably the best story in the book. Watson depicts the harsh and brutal life many westerners lived in the early part of the twentieth century. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Maybe Toni Volk only has one good novel in her, because Maybe in Missoula isn't just inferior to her first novel, it's downright bad. The characters are flat and empty and the plot is dull. Annie is a woman with no direction--she takes a big step leaving her husband and then just seems to drift along in life, making very little decisions about her own life. The only positive thing I can say, is that the reader does get a nice feel for life in Montana. Volk obviously knows and loves the area.

This novel, Maybe In Missoula, is beautiful, and its rich landscape and lovable, eccentric characters irresistible. Introspective Annie addresses many of the questions and dilemmas I, as a women, have grappled with myself, sex equality and its possible consequences, for example. Though the author speaks openly about women's issues, her treatment of the male characters shows a great compassion and understanding of the male point of view. In fact, it is Annie's ex-husband Morton who evolves the most of the three main characters. Definitely a must read.

Just finished re-reading "Maybe In Missoula". What a good read! I'm enjoying it even more the second time. I absolutely love all the characters and the way they think. Ms. Volk is so good at picking quirky little stories that each character is thinking about that tell so much more about the character than any direct information ever could. I'm just so impressed with her writing! Volk has this subtle sense of humor and wisdom that pervades everything she writes. It's as though she sees the truth about human nature in its occasional bumbling fallibility but nevertheless essential goodness, and she just has to smile about it. You will too, I'm sure! Also, when you've finished this one, check out "Montana Women". It's a winner, too.

Madalaine, his lover, persuades Gabriel Du Pre, Montana fiddler and occasional detective, to discover how the Persephone Mine is destroying the health of those who live on the nearby reservation. It is obvious that something is seriously amiss, but nobody has been able to pin it down. Du Pre finds poison springs, but no evidence as to how they arose. His wealthy friend, Bart, provides expert help in the person of two retired mining engineers to help Du Pre bring the mine to justice. Bowen fails badly with this book, perhaps because he cares so much about the problems he exposes. The book contains plenty of information but very little plot development. Tired and boring repartee is supposed to divert attention from the holes in the action. Bowen has written six previous books, all excellent. Buy one, or even better, all of them, and skip The Stick Game.

Great book, a little out of the ordinary for Bowen as there is very little mystery, but the discussion of the ways the West is being used up for the profits of BIG BUSINESS while the residents, both Native American and the latecomers who love it is worth the price.. The fate of Du Pre's old police cruiser is a highlight not to be missed.

Aficionados of Peter Bowen's Gabriel Du Pré mysteries already know that life is grim in the Big Sky Country. It doesn't matter whether you're a ranch hand, a fiddler, a rich alcoholic, or just passing through. In fact the LL Bean-clad, Volvo-driving Yuppie tourists are the ones who usually take it on the chin, although Bowen only inflicts them with a verbal barrage in "The Stick Game." He is concentrating on more serious targets: alcoholism; and the mysterious illnesses, mutations, and deaths of children and animals on the Fort Belknap Reservation.

Bowen's detective-hero, Gabriel Du Pré is a laconic fiddler who lets his music and his deeds speak for him. He and his long-time mistress, Madelaine are Métis descendants of the French Voyageurs and Plains Indians.

Du Pré's rich friend Bart is also unusually laconic in this seventh mystery in the series. Most of his lines consist of one-word expletives. However, Bart's language can be excused since he is very stressed out by his friends' rude jokes about his new lady friend, not to mention the realization that he owns millions of dollars of stock in a local gold mining company that is injecting poisons into the water table.

In what might be the most cheerful scene in "The Stick Game," Du Pré blows out the transmission on his old police cruiser, loses his brakes and goes shooting through a series of downhill, hairpin turns at eighty miles an hour. He and Madelaine narrowly miss an oncoming eighteen-wheeler, go twanging through a barbwire fence, and finally slow to a stop in a rancher's stock pond:

"The water was only two feet deep.

"Du Pré mopped at his face with a greasy towel that lived on the floor of the cruiser. He could see.

"'Hey, Du Pré,' Madelaine laughed, 'That was some fun yes! I am paying two dollars that ride at a carnival! Hah! We have good luck!'

"'S__t,' said Du Pré."

These are some tough people in Bowen's book. I think you'll end up feeling good about the life-affirming way that his characters deal with their problems. Rich Uncle Bart helps smooth the way for some, but this is a barbwire book---you'll find it poking you in some unexpected places.

The book reflected the author's love of fly-fishing. However, the way in which it was written would make it appeal more to women than men. If one was intending to purchase this for an older male it probably would not be appreciated.

I had the privilege of being guided several times by Jennifer Olsson before she retired, and I found her dedicated, enthusiastic, patient, humorous and empathetic. Her stories reflect all of these qualities. In the same way that she made sure each client had the kind of fishing experience he or she had come to Montana hoping to have, Jennifer gives her readers the chance to find what they're looking for in each of these narratives. What's missing (not lacking) is the & q u o t ; Y o u -too-can-catch-huge-trout-if-you'll-only-master-this-simple-technique" bombast found in so many other fishing books. What's here for many, I think, is the answer to the often asked question, "What is it that gets you so excited about fly fishing?" Read the book. If you don't know anything about fly fishing, you'll learn much about the sport and all the different kinds of people who are drawn to it. If you're already a fly fisher, you'll often find yourself smiling a been-there-done-that smile. Either way, when you put the book down, you'll probably want to go fishing.

This book was not a very long read but for this particular novel I think that it is better that way. This book could not have been carried on for a long time and still kept the readers attention. But thanks to the fast pace nature of the book, it was fun to read. I finished this 119 page book in one night but I couldn't put it down. This book is always adding another piece or leaving you wondering what is going to happen next. The author does a great job at keeping the reader interested and involved. The only reason I didn't give this book five starts was because we never really get to know the characters that well. The twists and turns in this book are put together in a way that isn't overwhelming. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a first-class quick read.

This book is about a young woman who faces many problems with her family, friends, and herself. Her dad died many years ago and she doesn't get along with her mother. She has a crush on a guy named Raf, who she rarely sees and her grandpa is always running away. When her grandfather runs away, yet again, she sets out to look for him on her own. Her adventure leads her to find out who she really is too.
This story had a plot that always left me hanging. The way she goes about doing things is probably a little different than some of us and it's always interesting to see how she will deal with obstacles that come her way. The author does a fantastic job of letting you get to know the characters really well without making the reader bored. There is always something going on in the story that makes you want to read on and on until you're finished! I started reading the first couple of chapters and the next thing I knew, I was done! The first couple of chapters are a little less interesting but the author gives the information needed, and then moves along to the fascinating more detailed plot.
This book was especially interesting to me because my family has always loved Montana and fly-fishing, and I was able to relate to some parts of this story. I would recommend this book to younger readers, maybe between the ages of 10 and 13. The book says that it should be for ages 12 and up but I believe some younger kids might enjoy it as well.

Mr. Arkava's sense of Montana is overwhelming - like he spent all his life here. As a home-dweller in Montana for 43 years, I can tell you that the moon shines loud, the animals sing to you at night, and the sun beats hard in the summer and retreats mightily in the winter.

There is also the gaze of the old mountains on young hearts (yes, even though my face is full of wrinkles, I still have a very young heart which beats faster with each word I write) and the majestic views of a still young land from the peak.

I admit the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness is even more beautiful than my hometown of Big Timber. I sent this book to three of my four kids to remind them how beautiful this place is (my eldest child, Barbara, still loves her mother and hasn't moved away even though HER three kids have long left).

Being a hiker and nature lover, I found this title one of the best hiking guide books so far. The author convinced me to try the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, his detailed description of trails in this wilderness is a first. It ties in well with another book, "The Pintlers, Majestic They Stand", both of history and mountain adventures in the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness over a century ago.