The Duchess and the Cowboy (A Denim and Lace Victorian Western Romance #1)
Published July 23rd 2019 by Stone Horse Press, Kindle Edition 236 pages
Pride and Prejudice meets the Wild West
A young British duchess fleeing from her husband’s murderer. A widowed American cowboy with a small daughter. Their second chance at love.
At twenty-one, Jane Langley the Duchess of Chatham, is too young to be a widow. Her husband’s misguided duel with his ruthless younger brother leaves him dead. The new duke’s menacing threat to Jane—marry him or else—has her fleeing her home to America for safety and an opportunity to where she can buy her own property. Although Jane worries about her new role as a landowner in the Wild West, she wonders if a proper British duchess will be accepted in a land that lacks propriety. Does Carson City have a high society? Or does she become a pioneer woman? Her concerns change the morning she meets the ruggedly handsome cowboy, Mr. Bellamy.
Heath Bellamy is no stranger to misery. He lost his wife shortly after their daughter was born, and for the past two winters, the cruel Nevada blizzards killed too many of his ranch’s cattle. They need grass to survive. When a new owner takes over the neighboring big spread, he sees the possibility of the herd grazing on her land.
When their relationship turns from friendship to deep affection, they must decide if love is worth risking getting their hearts broken all over again.
"The Duchess and the Cowboy" is a historical romance novel of approximate 66,000 words. No cheating. No cliffhangers, and a guaranteed Happily Ever After!
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Addictive...best of two worlds. Totally enjoyed this merging of two sides of the ocean. The issues between castle and ranch are fast paced and entertaining.
Rating: really liked it
Kool-aid. Reading this story started off pretty well, and was relaxing and fun to read, but like Kool-aid it got to be disappointing at the end.
Speaking of the ending, the story simply stopped. There was a grand climax, but then in a sentence the whole thing wrapped up. There was a brief, vague paragraph about people coming to the wedding (that was a foregone conclusion from early in the book), then the last chapter read like the beginning of Book 2. It switched character focus (suddenly seeing the story from the main character's brother's eyes), and the first part of the last chapter read as a synopsis of the story just read.
And then that chapter just...stopped.
On top of the choppy ending, the whole story read like pearls not quite strung together. There would be an interesting scene, but to move the characters to the next point, all crisis would suddenly be answered in a few sentences, then it was on to the next part. For instance, the group takes a 40-day voyage across the ocean in a few sentences. Upon arriving in New York City, the Duchess walks up to a bulletin board that just happens to have a piece of paper tacked to it that lists the perfect land to buy in Nevada. The surveyor she needs to set up the whole transaction happens to be standing nearby and overhears her musing about buying the land. She hires him after one question. And in a few sentences she was in Nevada fainting into the arms of a handsome cowboy.
The bad guy is all bad, the good guys are all good. Crisis are hinted at (walking in a cold storm with no coat for two hours), and resolved in a couple of sentences with no lasting aftereffects.
I feel like the writer has really good potential, some of her scenes were interesting and kept me reading, but at the end it was too predictable and choppy. Like Kool-aid it left me unsatisfied and with a bad taste in my mouth.
Rating: really liked it
The Duchess and the Cowboy - a review by Rosemary Kenny
Little House on the Prairie meets Victorian melodrama in Debra Efert's tale of love in the Wild West, in which a young English aristocrat is betrayed in the most vile manner possible by her own brother-in-law and forced to flee halfway across the globe to escape a terrible fate.
The Duchess and the Cowboy, newest novel in Ms Efert's Denim and Lace Western Romance series then introduced a widowed rancher with a tiny motherless
daughter and a starving herd to care for, as tenant for her pastures and soon recognising a similarly bereaved soul in his new neighbour.
Will friendship turn to true love - or will past tragedies resurrect a ghostly barrier to their HEA?
Get your copy of The Duchess and the Cowboy by Debra Efert to find out - you're sure to love it - yee hah!!
Rating: really liked it
This was so much fun to read! I loved the interactions between Jane and Heath, especially how he took her to task for not managing her land and the people that worked for her. I enjoyed how Heath took Jane's brother under his wing to help him learn how to be a cowboy. The plot had lots of twists and turns and the dialogue flowed well. There is a wonderful HEA. I would definitely read more by this author and recommend this book to readers of clean romance, historical romance, and western romance. I received an ARC. I chose to write a review and share my opinion of this entertaining book.
Rating: really liked it
Wonderful RomanceI loved this exciting romance involving a success, a widow fleeing from the man who killed her husband, to a remote section of the United States. There she becomes involved with people who live much differently than she was raised. Delightful characters, and a romance with an unlikely hero that the author makes work. Plenty of action kept me engaged.
Rating: really liked it
The Duchess and the Cowboy is a delightful Victorian Western romance by Debra Erfert. In this book we meet Jane Langley, the Duchess of Chatham, who at the age of 21, witnessed her husband being gunned down by his younger brother, Greyson Langley, in a duel. Realizing that her evil brother-in-law is intent in destroying her life, she flees with her brother, Christopher, and 14 of the household staff to a new life in the American west. That where she meets Heath Bellamy, a rancher and widower. When they meet sparks fly. But they are from different worlds. They both are mourning. Can they even contemplate a life together? Will Lady Jane and her extended family find happiness in America? Will her evil brother-in-law continue his attempts to wreak havoc on her life? To discover the answers to these and other questions, you must read this book.
I enjoyed Ms. Eifert’s writing style. Her characters, both primary and secondary are dynamic in that we see them all evolve. Lady Jane is not the typical damsel in distress. She is a confident, strong, clever, and resilient woman. Heath is an alpha male; however, he has a compassionate heart. Among the secondary characters, I enjoyed Christopher. We see him evolve from a typical ton gentleman into a cowboy. I appreciated that Ms. Eifert had him discover a purpose to his life which contributes to his transformation. Another secondary character I enjoyed was Ella, Lady Jane’s personal maid, companion, and friend. We see her loose the stiffness of Victorian English aloofness and become more open and welcoming of the western lifestyle. Ms. Eifert did a good job in the character of Greyson Langley and his minion, Mr. Cuthbert. They were villains that readers could vehemently dislike. I only wish that Ms. Eifert relook at the ending. For me, it was abrupt. Perhaps she could work in an epilogue to smooth it out. The bulk of her plot was detailed and moved evenly. I realize this lengthened the story and that is probably why I feel the ending was abrupt. Otherwise, this is an enjoyable read.
Rating: really liked it
Upper crust meets the Wild WestA much better read than the normal Kindle free ebooks.
I'm a fan of a stories about a heroine venturing into the unknown and successfully forging a new life for herself.
I also love Wild West stories and adore historical romances.
This is almost the perfect combination.
It was fun to explore how members of the English upper crust had to adapt to American culture. It's such a good story, I did wish for more detail, eg about Greyson's reaction to Jane's disappearance, and how Jane, her brother and staff coped during the massive undertaking of a journey to America, Ella's makeover and emergence from her servant role.
The developing relationship between Jane and Heath needed some balancing out, I felt - it came across as being slightly prosaic?
Also, the characters occasionally struck me as being somewhat inconsistent, but it was still a good read with loose ends satisfyingly tied up.
Some budding romances popping up in the book also gives fans something to look forward, to later in the series.
Rating: really liked it
Henry Langley, Duke of Chatham dies in a duel with his brother. The brother Greyson walks away unharmed. After the funeral she is told he will be moving in and he expects her to marry him. What he doesn’t expect is for the widow to runaway to America! She packs up her staff and horses, her brother goes with her and she buys land in Nevada.
Heath And his family are in debt, trying to save the heard, he goes out to get supplies for the farm and runs into a lady who has abscond his horse’s. He agrees to help the women get home with a large group of people. He asks her is he can let his heard graze on her land.
I enjoyed reading this story.
Rating: really liked it
ThreatenedMystery and romance blend seamlessly in this faced paced novel that begins in England. Jane's husband had a love of the American West and was planning a trip there the following year. Jane just moved the date up a year.
Heath encouraged his father to mortgage their ranch in order to buy a neighboring spread, but when the weather causes the grasses on the range to fail to grow in the spring, the chance of losing the ranch troubles the family.I
You'll enjoy the rich characters and the adjustments of two young English aristocrats as they try to adjust to the wild west!
Rating: really liked it
Sweet romance, with a bit of English royalty and Western Cowboy.Lovely Duchess Jane is witness to her husband’s murder and flees to America with her brother.
Jane purchases a ranch and with her brother Christopher head to Nevada.
She meets the handsome cowboy Heath, and thereby starts their story. He and his family have a cattle ranch that is struggling to survive the last heavy winter.
A HEA with small twists.
A delightful story and very enjoyable read.
Rating: really liked it
Well researchedThe story is stilted as if the author is wary of actual feelings or copying Pride & Prejudice in actual structure. The P&P box did no favors for the story. Jane was not snobby and Heath was not preachy enough to pull off a retelling. The added melodrama detracted from the romance even more. If you want a Duchess and cowboy story may I suggest Johanna Lindsey's Savage Thunder.
Rating: really liked it
Let go of the past, the best is yet to happenAdapting to a new country with a whole household of servants was what she did. Her brother gave up his life in England for his sister, as she was threatened by a cruel brother in law, who had killed her husband. It's such a great story of courage, adaptation, and love
Rating: really liked it
Jane watched her husband die in a duel between him and his brother. She was scared of her brother in law and when he told her she would marry him as soon as she came out of morning, she decided to leave England and move to America. She bought a ranch. Heath lives on the ranch next door and catches her when she faints in front of him. This is an interesting book.
Rating: really liked it
Always looking for a 'novel' plot in a book and this combination of genres between British royalty and American western definitely fit the bill. As an avid reader, one becomes weary of the same old repetitive themes, but this one is definitely 'outside' the box. Creative, fast-paced, and entertaining all combined for an enjoyable read.
Rating: really liked it
She was running away from a murderShe left England to hide in Nevada from the man who thought he could force her to marry him after he killed his own brother , her husband. I liked how strong the story made her when she needed to be and how much she was a lady when she wasn't being strong
