Review: Cowgirl Trail by Susan Page Davis

I’ve had Cowgirl Trailsitting in my to-read pile for months, and just never picked it up, possibly because it’s part of a series, and I haven’t read the earlier books. However, once I started, I found it hard to put down.

Maggie Porter first met Alex Bright in 1877, when he was a handsome new cowboy on her father’s ranch, the Rocking P, and she was a teenager with a crush. Seven years later, she has just returned to the ranch after the death of her mother, and finds that Alex is now the foreman, the workers are unhappy and her father is not himself. Maggie tries to help the workers, but when problems get worse, she finds herself working as a cowgirl, leading the annual roundup to save the ranch while hoping she can also save her relationship with Alex – and perhaps let it develop into something more.

There have been so many books written about the American West during the nineteenth century that there is often a sense of ‘read that before’ with these Christian westerns. Cowgirl Trail was original (the clue is in the title. It’s a book about cowgirls as well as cowboys). Although it is Christian fiction, the faith aspects are very understated. Unfortunately, so is the romance aspect, but it is still a very good read.

This is the fifth book in the Texas Trail series, which is unusual, in that two of the books are by Susan Page Davis, two by Darlene Franklin and two by Vickie McDonough. Although the books in the series are related, this can easily be read as a stand-alone (but if you wanted to read the whole series, you probably should start with Lone Star Trail). An original and enjoyable read.

Thanks to River North (an imprint of Moody Publishers) and NetGalley for providing a free book for review.