A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer

Earlier this year I read the first two books in the Archer brothers series, Short Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher, and I loved them both! There is only one unmarried Archer brother remaining, the baby of the family, Neill Archer, so I was both pleased to see that his story was available, and sad that it was only a novella length story.

Neill is sick of being seen as a boy by his brothers – he’s 28 years old now and he’s planning on setting up a place of his own, in partnership with his friend Josiah.  While Josiah stays at home and works there Neill is travelling from place to place getting what work he can. He arrives in a new town and makes it known that he’s looking for work. He finds a note asking him to replace the roof for Mrs Danvers, a widow. He envisions a poor, defenceless old lady, and when he sees the rickety shack she’s living in, he is indignant on her behalf.

However Clara Danvers is not what he’d imagined. She’s a mere 20 years old, heavily pregnant, extremely unfriendly and the most exotic beauty Neill has ever set eyes on.  The attraction between them is mutual, but Clara has been hurt before so she’s not interested in finding herself a man.

This man’s eyes were warm and honest. Kind. And they had lovely green flecks that added a sparkle to the brown depths.
Clara took a step back. No need to look that close. He was a workman, nothing else.

The only thing Clara is focused on is preventing her father in law from stealing her baby when it’s born. For this she needs to keep her guard up at all times for a physical attack or kidnap, and she also needs to make sure she doesn’t set a foot wrong, as her father in law is seen as a pillar of the community. So she needs her shack to be in good condition. She’s done what she could to maintain it, but she has limited materials and tools and she physically can’t manage to fix the roof. Clara is of Comanche blood, so a lot of the townsfolk are wary of her, she has no family, now no husband, and no friends, aside from the anonymous benefactor who sent Neill to her.

Reluctantly Clara accepts Neill’s help, and despite herself she begins to warm to him, telling him the sad tale of how she ended up alone and the wife of a man who married her for really hurtful reasons.  She isn’t filled with self pity, though; Clara is just getting on with things, and focusing on protecting her baby

Clara Danvers was no fragile flower. She was a coyote who’d learned to scrape and scavenge and protect what was hers.

Neill is desperate to protect Clara, both out of compassion to keep her and her baby together, and also because he’s decided he wants to marry her. Aside from the fact that he can see she is full of admirable qualities and beauty there is also something else drawing him to her:

No one had ever needed him before, not to this extent. The youngest of four brothers, he’d always been included yet never felt truly essential. Until today. Clara needed him.

Although I really enjoyed this story, I couldn’t help but feel that it was just too short. The relationship between them developed too quickly. In one respect, this made sense because there was a limit to how many days he could stretch out working on her house, and since she was heavily pregnant there was a timescale there too, but I think the story really could have benefited from being longer. The story only covers a short timescale but I would have liked more detail, for example, there is a 2 day journey which is described in just a few pages, when I would have liked to see their relationship building. I also felt the pacing was uneven; it starts out at a moderate speed then gets faster. In common with the other Archer books this book has Christian themes, but they are not explored in great depth.

We see the other Archer brothers too, but unfortunately only very briefly. I’d really recommend reading this book, both to find out what happens to Neill and because even though I felt it was too short, it’s still a really good story!

You can buy this story on its own as a novella (but be warned, there is a sample at the end, meaning you get a gaaaaaaah! moment when you reach 58% and the story is over!), or as part of an anthology called A Match Made in Texas which also has stories from other authors.

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Crockett Archer is on his way to a job opportunity, his first as a preacher.  He’ll be orating, as will another candidate, but Crockett is confident of his chances.  However, he never makes it to his job interview – the train gets held up by some surprisingly old bandits, are not looking for valuables, they are looking for the preacher.  Crockett finds out to his astonishment that he has been kidnapped... as a birthday present! 

Joanna Robbins, daughter of Silas Robbins, ranch owner (and some years previously, a train robber) is struggling spiritually.  The area they live in lost their preacher some time ago and a replacement has never been found, meaning that many people in the area can’t go to church as the nearest one is too far away.  She worries greatly for her father’s spiritual wellbeing – he has always been anti-church, deeming the clergy as hypocrites.  Both Joanna and Silas are still mourning the loss of Martha, Silas’s wife and Joanna’s mother, who was a woman of deep faith.  Martha always hoped that Silas would find his way back to God, and Joanna has now taken on this worrying, and doesn’t feel up to the task.

Joanna is horrified at what her father has done, although she appreciates that his motivation was her happiness.  She confides her worries to Crockett and arranges for him to reach the next town, in order to try and save his job prospects, but the job has already been given to the other candidate, as the townsfolk took it as a sign from God when Crockett didn’t show up.  Although disappointed, Crockett begins to wonder whether it was in fact a sign from God, that he should help Joanna try and bring her father closer to God, and provide spiritual guidance for the area.

This is the second story about the Archer brothers. I haven’t read the first, but I didn’t feel lost, I think it reads well as a stand-alone.  Crockett and his brothers basically had to bring themselves up and as a result he is very resourceful and hardworking.  Rather than being the type of preacher that Silas is used to, who says all the right things, but doesn’t follow his own teachings, Crockett genuinely believes in his message, and is admirably trying to live his life accordingly:

‘He might be preaching on Sundays, but the rest of the week he’d be living out the message on a more practical level.’

Joanna has a similar spiritual depth and works hard to live up to her Christian values, although she struggles with her self-esteem.  She is a very good and lovable character, and you are completely in her corner from the very beginning.

This is a Christian romance, and while it isn’t so evident in other Karen Witemeyer books the Christian theme is very strong indeed within this story, due to its subject matter of trying to bring a man back to his faith. There are some dark moments within this book, and plenty of action.  Luckily, I started reading it pretty early in the day, as I am not sure if I could have put the book down at some points until I was sure everything would turn out alright! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it, as long as you don’t mind a strong Christian theme.