Shotgun Wedding

Annie Malloy considers herself a new and modern woman, however the times haven't caught up to her way of thinking, and when she finds herself pregnant she has to bend to society's standards to make things right for her family. She marries Jess Harden, the town sheriff, (who, by the way, has had a thing for her for awhile) and what starts as a marriage of convenience, soon becomes... Well, let's not spoil the ending. A sweet romance set in the old west that will tug at your heart strings. And hopefully make you a Maggie Osborne fan. I am!

When Jesse Harden finds out that the woman (Annie Malloy) he has always loved will face social ruin if she has her baby out of wedlock, he proposes to her to save her. Annie's strong, independent nature leaves the reader wondering if there will indeed be a marriage. In Shotgun Wedding, I not only found myself rooting for the good guys (and gals), but also feeling sympathy and understanding for the bad guy. In this case, it was the outlaw, Bodie Miller, father of Annie's baby. This author "humanizes" the characters in all her books, showing there is good and bad in all of us. Her use of humor during tense situations not only makes the dialogue enjoyable, but the storyline unique and memorable

Maggie Osborne has done it again! No one writes western romances like Maggie Osborne. In Shotgun Wedding, Annie Malloy is a New Modern Woman. She's 25 and yearning to cut those apron strings and experience life as her mother never has. She wants to be her own woman without anyone to answer to. Annie learns the hard way that independent or not, we all have to answer to someone for our decisions. Jess Harden is the sheriff. The walking epitome of handsome, virle man. He loves Annie, though hasn't told her and he comes to her rescue knowing he won't be her first love...or will he? Annie gives voice to all the women of that time who yearned for change and worked to get it. Her hard won lessons make her a better person. Jess is confident enough in himself as a man to give Annie her long for independence while gently binding her to him with ribbons of love. Bravo Maggie!

I really enjoyed this western romance by Maggie Osborne. Annie and Jess were wonderful characters. Annie was a little confused as most women were at that time. Women's rights and independence were just coming to the fore. Annie's hard won lessons about flauting convention and the greater fights for rights yet to come was very real and touching to me.Jess is the epitome of the strong, confident hero. Sure enough in himself and his love for this woman, that he can give her the independence she seeks, while still binding her to him with tender strings of love.Great book and great romance. Bravo Maggie!

In Marshall, Kansas, Annie Malloy enjoys being a member of the "New Modern Woman" until she realizes that she is pregnant out of wedlock. She goes to her lover, bank and train robber Bodie Miller, who offers to marry her, but rejects her insistence he turns respectable. Bodie informs Annie they will marry, but he will continue his life of robbery. Annie declines.Sheriff Jess Harden asks Annie if he can court her, but she is upset and runs away from him. He thinks she rejects him, but instead Annie finds her delicate condition makes her unsuitable for the sheriff. Still he persists and as they fall in love, she wonders if he will be so kind with someone's child. Also Bodie plans to come back to take what is his as no one rejects him.Fans of western romances will want to read SHOTGUN WEDDING, a powerful period piece that brings to light an era of change for women yet in many ways society remains the same. That is the brilliance of the tale. Maggie Osborne uses Annie's plight to contrast a modern nineteenth century woman stigmatized by her pregnancy as she fleetingly considers suicide to avoid the shame she brings to her family. Throw in a strong hero and a selfish villain (though Bodie's motives seem strange) so that the audience will gain immense pleasure from a superb story.Harriet Klausner