My Rating: 5/5 stars
My Review:
I was drawn into Maggie’s story from the first page. Firebird is the perfect title for a sizzling Western romance about two imperfect people who find their way to one another. It is the 1870’s in the wild west and Maggie has been forced into the sex trade by her own mother. With dreams of living like a fine lady one day, her dreams seem far away when she finds herself on the streets selling herself to survive. Just when she doesn’t think things could get worse, what little freedom she had is taken away when two exploitative siblings pull Maggie off the streets. They see how they can make money off her delicate beauty – and with someone always watching the girls at the “academy”, it’s difficult to escape. When Maggie does make a daring escape with another girl, she soon finds herself in jail.
When Beau, a rough-edged but kind rancher sees Maggie in the cell, he sees an innocent angel who needs rescuing. He marries her on a whim and takes her back to his ranch in Texas (This was a common thing to do for the time period). Traumatized from neglect, abuse, and assault, Maggie’s head spins when she finds out that Beau isn’t an average cowboy – he’s rich. It’s not long after when Beau discovers the truth about Maggie’s identity, causing a rift in their new connection.
Once Puritan beliefs overtook the wild west, people became harshly judgmental about women who worked in certain careers to support themselves – and Beau judges Maggie harshly for her history at first. As time passes and the couple gets to know one another, Beau starts to notice how afraid Maggie is of being touched and there is so much more to her character than whether or not she was “pure” before they got married. This is why stories are wonderful – it shows what can happen when a man takes the time to get to know the woman he claims to love.
I can’t lie – the final line really got me. “I’d wait for you forever.”
I’m so happy to have been able to read another wonderful story by Penn Gates! Every one of her books ends up becoming my favourite story.
Where To Buy Firebird: You find purchase links on Goodreads!
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Thank you so much for reading today!
Musings Of A Wildflower 