When Sonny Mancuso was summoned to her ailing father's side, she jumped at the chance to leave Boston. The youngest and most exasperating of six girls, Sonny had been sent to her aunt in the hopes she would receive polish her father had not been able to provide. But all Sonny ever wanted was to be needed by her father. Now was her chance to prove she could be as good as, if not better, than the son her father never had. The Rocking M would not only survive the current threat it faced, but under her care it would thrive.

When he was fifteen, Sonny's father had rescued Lance Harmon from the slums of New York. Lance fell in love with the land and learned enough to become Vince's top man. But the land was not the only thing Lance fell in love with. Sonny brought light into his life from the very beginning, and the fire burned stronger after her return from the East.

Sonny sees Lance as a threat to her position at the ranch, fearing her father sees Lance as the son he'd craved. Nevertheless, her attraction to the handsome foreman is strong. Lance resolves to hide his feelings for Sonny, not wanting to bring pain to her, as all men had to his mother. He will not ever do that to a woman.

Ms. Crooks gives readers a nice read in her debut novel. While the theme of the story is familiar, she infuses it with an original style full of western flavor and vivid characters. A talent to be watched!

Pam Crooks is a bright new star making her debut into the world of romance with this endearing story of two hearts searching for love.

Sonnie Mancuso returns to her father's Wyoming ranch after learning her father has fallen ill. After years of attending school in Boston and studying animal husbandry, Sunnie is prepared to take over the ranch, but she is unprepared to find that someone else has already fulfilled that position: Lance Harmon, a ranch hand that had grown up on the Rocking M.

Lance had always watched and dreamed of the beautiful Sonnie Mancuso from afar. Sensing her need for her father's love, Lance could identify with wanting a love that always seemed elusive. Orphaned at a young age, Lance was brought to Wyoming by Sonnie's father, Vince Mancuso and given a job on the ranch. He grew up learning everything about the Rocking M and harboring a secret love for the youngest Mancuso daughter.

Now Sonnie is back just when there is trouble at the ranch. Danger and threats are coming from every direction. Slowly, Sonnie realizes that Lance is the one she can trust and depend on. After a soulful kiss, a yearning of her own spreads like wildfire. Together Sonnie and Lance would face the danger and fight for their beloved ranch.

Pam Crooks has captured the essence of the western romance with true to life situations and laces the love story with just enough spice and building passion. Pam Crooks will surely have her place among the historical romance writers.

Wyoming Wildflower has a wonderful blend of all the things that make a romance novel what it is: vivid imagery, historic detail, and of course, steamy scenes. The relationship between Sonnie and Lance keeps the reader's heart racing. Be sure to keep an eye out for Ms. Crooks!

This was a pretty interesting book. Timmy's family doesn't have a lot of money, and after a bad winter they lost quite a few animals. They cannot afford to keep their ranch. Timmy does all she can do to save her ranch, but she doesn't know how much she can do without much money. None of her family wants to leave the ranch, but pretty soon there isn't going to be a choice.

I am an elementary school librarian in Colorado and this is a terrific book for anyone who loves the outdoors and the west. The passages at the beginning of each chapter are wonderful descriptions of the changing wildlife and environment. The story is compelling and the characters are real and likeable. I don't usually post reviews like this...but I really like this book and encourage others to read it!

This book wonderfully touches on the girl and horses mystery in a realistic, accurate manner, especially since it is written by a man(someone who has not expericed this first hand). The book is very well written, every other sentence being one you want to copy down into your quotebook.. even non-horse people can appreciate this story because it is not only a horse story, but about people in general.Beautiful!

Elena of the Stars is definatly one of the best books I have ever read.The story of Elena's struggles to discover who she really is takes place in the vastness of Wyoming, where she is sent to visit the grandfather that she hardly knows.He teaches her not only how to ride like her famous rodeo grandmother, but about how some things experienced in life can not be explained. And in turn, she teaches him that life is not just about what you lose, but what you gain from losing it. Elenas parents thought that sending her to Wyoming would calm her restless spirit, but instead it awakened something inside her that had been hidden. She discovered that she posessed the same connection with horses that her grandmother had and that when she rode, she felt a peace that she had never felt before and a oneness with the animal. I loved this book because it taught me that not everyone fits the mold that is set out for them and sometimes it takes an amazing experience to discover who you really are.

Action packed, mysterious heroine, sullen and brooding but confident gunslinging special agent hero, and a 'whole pasel of outlaws and villains' make this 1875 western a real winner!

Christalbel Van Alen has escaped a mental institute and is being pursued by a relative who wants her dead! She, the only witness to a murder, disguises herself as a widow and is traveling to find the smallest ghost town in the west to create a new life for herself. However, her dreams are disturbed when her stagecoach is captured by outlaws and the prisoners are taken captive for ransom.

There Christal comes face to face with a real life gunfighter, an enemy whom also becomes her saviour. MacCauley Cain.

But Christal runs again when she feels threatened of her past being discovered and true to life, her past finds her. If you enjoy outlaws, gunslingers, bounty hunters, saloon girls and cowbows (the genre) and mysterious heroines or heroes, then you'll love Fair is the Rose. Fair is the Rose keeps you turning page after page and on the edge of your seat.

Personal note: I admit I own tons of Meagan McKinney's novels purchased from 'dime stores' and have never read any, until I read 'Fair is the Rose' and I began searching through my hundreds of romance novels to find ALL of McKinney's writings. She quickly became one of my favorites. But one thing I noticed in 'Fair is the Rose', the heroine never bathed! Talk about scent of a woman!

From the synopsis, the book may sound sappy, but it isn't. The hijacking and the events that took place left you breathless, and when they find each other again -quite interesting. I didn't give it 5 stars because the ending could of been better.

Overall, if you want a book that takes you back to the 1800's, with a runaway, murder, and some outlaws thrown in, this book is for you.

Walinchus does a good job of breaking this incredible river down into its smaller components. However, his synopsis lacks detail; for example he does list the dominate hatches and compatible flies but does not suggest sizes for all. He includes a few small maps for each section, but they too lack in detail. All in all this is a good guide book for a first timer to the area and will definitely help you catch more fish.

Walinchus does a good job of breaking this incredible river down into its smaller components. However, his synopsis lacks detail; for example he does list the dominate hatches and compatible flies but does not suggest sizes for all. He includes a few small maps for each section, but they too lack in detail. All in all this is a good guide book for a first timer to the area and will definitely help you catch more fish.

Spence tells about some of the cases he worked on during his career. Some were nationally famous, others not. He offers comments about various topics, and also talks about his life. This book lacks an index and photographs. The wordiness of this book reminds me of 19th century novels. Spence tells about his career as an insurance company lawyer. In effect, he showed up after the accidents and halted compensation to the victims. Until he rejected this work and vowed never to work for a corporation again.

Spence represented the Silkwood estate against the Kerr-McGee company. Karen was killed on her way to meet a reporter. Her plant manufactured plutonium for breeder reactors; this was a deadly threat to the profits and influence of Big Oil and their puppets in government. Karen allegedly fell asleep at the wheel after leaving a cafe. Didn't something like this happen to one of the witnesses at the Grassy Knoll?

Page 183 tells how support for the anti-nuclear movement came from "certain charities and funding organizations". Are these the hidden hands of Big Oil? Page 216 quotes a witness "there is no safe level for radiation". Spence argued "if the lion gets away, Kerr-McGee has to pay"; any deadly thing (like plutonium) requires absolute control by the owner. He won the case, but it was overturned by appointed judges (p.458-460). Page 328 tells of advice on cross-examination of a witness. "Don't get angry. Don't rise to the bait. Answer only when you're ready. And if you're confused, say so, and above all, tell the truth. Its easy to remember the truth."

Spence is opposed to the death penalty (like Earl Rogers). But pages 367-371 give the strongest argument that I've read for the death penalty. Not as punishment or a deterrence, but simply so society can survive without fear. Pages 379-383 gives his talk to an ABA convention on the subject of trial lawyers. They are the foot soldiers in the front trenches of the justice system. I think this is one of the most important parts of the book. Our lawyers are the virtual descendants of warriors who settled trials by combat.

One case was the murder charge against Ed Cantrell. I wonder if he was the scapegoat for the alleged corruption in Rock Springs Wyoming> TV and newspapers created something out of nothing (pp. 453-457). Anyone who believes everything the media broadcast and print must read this. You may then be able to understand the reporting on some other trials.

It really only deserves 4 stars if your a Spence fan or a hard-core true crime fan. It's the same style as all of Spences others, if that's good or bad I can't say. Find out about his Karen Silkwood radiation case along with his defending a cop that killed another cop and his prosecuting the man that blew up his lawyer buddy and his family. P.S. SOMEONE ON THIS SIGHT IS SELLING IT FOR $...!? I'VE PASSED UP MANY USED COPIES FOR $... OR LESS.

Great read after watching History channel's special. Locals recommended this as one of the best, and it is.

I picked this book up at Ft. Laramie on a recent trip through Wyoming. Since I had a little background on Tom Horn, it was interesting to get reinforcement on data I had previously been exposed to and education on much more. I was previously unaware of his impact on Geronimo's surrender, and his Pinkerton activities.

See my review of Carlson's book on Joe Lefors for more impressions.

I recently used this book for an overnight hiking/fishing trip in the Winds. I found the information on distance, total elevation, and elevation gained (or lost) quite useful. Also, I wanted to fish in the Winds, so knowing which lakes have fish was very useful. However, there are a few aspects of the book that I found lacking. First, although it is billed as a hiking and fishing book, the information on fishing is confined to just identifying fish species in the lakes. A few paragraphs of information on the fishing methods used by successful fisherman would have been helpful, and some information on the biology of the local fish would have been interesting. Second, there is a general map in the beginning of the book on the locations of trailheads, with little else. There are various other maps throughout the book that detail information in the particular chapters. If you are confining yourself to single chapters, then the maps are okay. However, trying to flip back and forth between maps was not easy. The book would benefit greatly from a better overall map, as well as a more easily cross-referenced set of maps throughout. Lastly, I used the book to plan my trip to Twin Lakes, and then on to Gadsby Lake. I easily found Twin Lakes, but because of a small error in identifying what hill the author described to go around to get to Gadsby Lake, I made a long and tiring trek to locate the lake. I ended up exhausted and never reached the lake. That, of course, is largely my fault. However, a guidebook should be more explicit as to which hill to go around, especially when the area is surrounded by several hills.

A detailed hiking and fishing guide and more. The author resides in the vicinity of the Wind River Mountains and clearly is has an abundance of general knowledge of the area. Her book not only has excellent hiking and fishing information but much other information. There is a comprehensive index as well as an extensive appendix with much information such as an index of Wind River Peaks and their elevations, first ascent information on various peaks, lodgings and outfitters in the area, a list of endangered, threatened, and sensitive species of wildlife and sensitive plants, and visitor use statistics in the Bridger Wilderness. The book begins with a review of Wilderness Regulations since most of the Wind River Mountains are located in Wilderness Areas administered by the US Forest Service. There are short sections on minimal impact hiking and camping and on bear safety. After a short, but fascinating, section on the history of the Wind Rivers, there is information on the geology and wildlife of the area.
The core of the book, of course, is the information about the hikes. Hikes are grouped according to the trailheads they start from. Detailed driving instructions to the trailheads is provided. One can fairly easily plot multi-day backpacking trips by thumbing back and forth between the maps for various hikes Each hike's distance, elevation gain and loss, and the maximum elevation reached is cited. Relevant topo maps for each hike are listed as are fish species likely to be encountered in the streams and lakes reached on hikes. A nice feature of the book, not found in some other Wind River hiking guides, is that significant attention is paid to so-called "non-maintained" hiking trails--that is trails that are not cleared by the forest service or whose signs are being left to deteriorate or have been removed. The author points out the location of these trails, which often are not to be found on either the Earthwalk or USGS topo maps, and she also suggests where a cross-country route may be more scenic or more adventurous than staying on the trail. Another plus is the author's familiarity with the local history of the Wind River area. For example, she frequently describes the derivation of the names of mountains or lakes, often with brief, colorful anecdotes.
This book is 255 pages long and there is a 33 page section devoted to fishing in the Wind Rivers. This reviewer is not a fisherman, but I would think that the maps of the streams and lakes and their drainages and the fish they contain would be very useful to fishermen. Fishing licenses and regulations are discussed and Finis Mitchell's devotion to stocking 300 lakes with fish is reviewed in detail.
This book is highly recommended for dayhikers, backpackers, and fishermen. Hikers who are interested in walking on non-maintained trails or hiking cross-country may especially appreciate this book. The author clearly is familiar with the local history of the area and this too adds to the book's interest.

A beautiful book. Get insight into the delicate ecosystem, the people and the wildlife in this amazing natural wonder.

Another wonderful book from National geographic. Get insight into the world's nest natural geysers. A must have for people planning to visit the beautiful park.

This thin volume of 100 pages is loaded with first person interviews from people who were there through the era. Included are stories of immigration, working in the mines, living through the Great Depression, the conflicts with the United Mine Workers, management, strikes, etc. The narrative is told in the first person and gives one the feel of being there. Its nicely done. Oh, that we had a hundred more like it.