REVIEW: Morrow Creek Marshal by Lisa Plumley

MORROW CREEK MARSHAL by Lisa Plumley is an easy read that brings the flavor of the old west alive in 1885 Northern Arizona Territory. A dance hall girl and a drifter voted in as temporary sheriff spar and flirt, while a gang of outlaws plan to use their relationship to their advantage.

Marielle Miller earned enough as a dancer over the years at Murphy’s saloon to care for her younger brother. This has left Hudson feeling as if he should protect his sister in the saloon every night. Unfortunately, that gives Hudson too much time to spend gambling and hanging out with the wrong people. When Marielle injures her ankle, the last thing she wants is to have a drifter like Dylan Coyle feel responsible for her welfare.

Dylan Coyle is on his way out of town, after his last job as security for one of Morrow Creek’s proprietresses, when he witnesses a cowpoke getting a bit too fresh with one of the saloon’s dancers. Trying to settle things in a peaceable manner doesn’t work when the drunken cowpoke accidentally pulls the dancer off the stage. Dylan catches her beneath his own fall, but the woman doesn’t recognize anything he’s done as helpful. She insists he has caused injury to her ankle and should pay her wages while she mends.

MORROW CREEK MARSHAL is book ten in the MORROW CREEK western historical series by Lisa Plumley. I remembered THE SCOUNDREL, the second book of this series, which I loved in 2006 so I requested this book for review without considering the number of years and books published in-between. Although I understood what was going on in book ten, I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I was more familiar with the series’ arc. It just seemed more like a list of names when several secondary characters made an appearance. This detracted rather than added to this novel for me. I suggest reading several books in this series before book ten, which seems to wrap up some relationships, to get a better understanding of the townspeople’s connection with each other.

Dylan and Marielle are argumentative from their first meeting, but Marielle’s brother’s trouble forces her to make nice with the new sheriff. Conveniently, the town feels Dylan should stay with Marielle to help them both while she’s laid up. Before long the sparks flying between Marielle and Dylan are flirtations neither of them can deny.

Marielle’s dance hall girl status, as well as her age, make her an unusual heroine for a historical. Dylan’s tough guy persona isn’t surprising but his soft side is, as well as his confusion about Marielle’s reaction to it. Dylan isn’t too savvy as to the thinking of women, which gets him into trouble for his assumptions. Marielle is a bit more forward than I expected for an innocent who works in a saloon. Marielle’s brother also finds romance, although there isn’t as much detail about his relationship as there is about Marielle and Dylan. I prefer more page time for secondary characters in a series so that I understand their relationships and camaraderie, otherwise it feels more like filler than an emotional connection. I related better to the main characters by the end of the book, even though I wasn’t thrilled with some of Dylan’s actions.

A cute story, MORROW CREEK MARSHAL by Lisa Plumley will satisfy fans of the MORROW CREEK series with some cameo appearances of their favorite characters. This book is an easy read that brings the flavor of the old west alive in 1885 Northern Arizona Territory.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies and The Zest Quest. Digital ARC provided by the author.

Morrow Creek Marshal by Lisa Plumley
Series: Morrow Creek #10
Category: Historical Western
Publisher: Harlequin (November 17th 2015)
Rated 3.5 out of 5

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