After being away for two years with his Texas Ranger duties, Travis McMurray returned home for a month off. He was met by his sister, Sage, and roped into taking her to the town's annual barn dance. While there, Travis literally backed into a girl who called herself Molly and was wearing a red wig. The girl, he found out much later, was named Elisabeth Rainey Adams, She had run away from her father who wanted her to marry a fisherman twice her age whom she didn't love. Her father ran a boarding school for girls and had taught Rainey to be afraid of everything, even going outside. Her father never thought she would leave. She worked at the school but her father never paid her and he beat her mother.Rainey ran away from him at the dance but Travis kept looking for her and noticed when she slipped outside. He followed her to where the horses were tied. As she un-tied them, he tied them back up. Travis followed her thinking she was preparing to steal a horse. He had seen it done before where someone scattered un-tied horses in order to steal one. It would take awhile for anyone to notice that one was missing. Since that wasn't going to work, she stole a horse from one of the wagons at the dance. The one she chose to take just happened to be one of Travis' matched set of bays.Travis set out in the morning to find Rainey and the horse. He thought that she might have left with a wagon train heading north. Travis caught up with the wagons and she wasn't there. He traveled with the wagons for awhile and they were attacked. His brothers, Teagen and Tobin, had found out that the wagon train was going to be attacked and went to help. Rainey wasn't with the wagon train because she had over-slept and the horse had run off. Teagen found the horse and had stopped at the trading post. Rainey went to the post dressed as a boy to see what was going on. Teagen asked her to take the horse back to Whispering Mountain Ranch while he went to help Travis. She did and stayed until they arrived back home with Travis, who had been shot. Rainey took another horse and ran off again to find work in Austin.Travis's wounded leg was shot in a place where it caused him a lot of pain and was slow in healing. His brothers carried him up to the summit of Whispering Mountain to see if he would dream of what his future would be. He dreamed of being surrounded by a bunch of books and a gun in a Bible.Rainey sold the horse she took and used the money to buy some new clothes. The lady at the store who sold her the clothes told Rainey that she could clean up and change into the dress in her house in back of the store. Rainey told Pearl all about her travels and why she was on her own. She told Pearl that she was looking for a job. Rainey spent a couple of days looking for work with no luck. Pearl came to see her and said that Rainey could use her kitchen to bake pies if she would watch her son. Pearl could spend more time at the store and her husband could make more money delivering items. Pearl also suggested she write to Travis to find out if he was alive. Rainey and Travis started writing to each other. Travis was spending a lot of time reading law books and trying to figure out what to do with his life now that he could no long ride a horse. His days of being a Texas Ranger were over.Teagen arrived home one day with a boy in a cage. The boy had been kept by the band of bandits that had attacked the wagon train. Travis let him out and the boy jumped out and clung to Travis. The family called him Duck because he arrived during a rain storm followed Travis everywhere.Travis and Rainey wrote back and forth to each other until Rainey wrote about two barmaids who wanted to kill their boss. Travis then decided to find Rainey. Sage, Duck and Travis all went to Austin where Travis using the excuse of taking his bar exam to become a lawyer. He found Rainey and she panicked when he asked her to marry him. She wanted to prove that she could live on her own because she was told for so long by her father that she couldn't. She wasn't ready to commit herself to a marriage like her parents had. Her parents were the only example she had and she wanted no part being owned by a man. Travis met up with some of the Rangers while in Austin and became friends with a lone Ranger named Mike Saddler. He lost a bet with Mike and had to buy him breakfast one morning. Sage and Duck went with him and there was an instant attraction between Mike and Sage. Travis found out that a group of outlaw brothers, one of whom he killed, were expected to come after him in Austin. The arrived and attempted to kidnap Sage. Sage had come to the boarding house where Rainey lived for a dress fitting. Three dressmaker sisters and a widow lady lived in the same boarding house. Rainey and the widow overheard the kidnapping plan but couldn't get downstairs in time to stop it. Rainey put on Sage's cape so they took her instead. The widow shot another of the brothers. Travis went after the two that took Rainey and found her after she had stabbed and killed another of the brothers. When Travis came back to town with Rainey, she went back to the boarding house and found one of the barmaids dead and someone was in the house and shot and killed the landlady. Sage and Mike went back to Whispering Mountain, making sure they weren't followed. Rainey and the widow went back to the restaurant the widow had owned with her now dead husband. They cleaned it up and Rainey used it to bake her pies that day with the Rangers watching over her for the last of the brothers to try and get to her. The last of the brothers was caught trying to come in through the cellar. The next day, Rainey found out that Travis had won the place in a poker game from the widow and gave it to Rainey for her pie baking. The slave of the landlady, Mamie, returned to town as a free and married woman and agreed to work with Rainey. That evening, Travis went to be sworn in and the father of the brothers was there and pulled a gun on Travis. Travis had told Duck to hide if anyone pulled a gun on him. Duck hid at the ceremony, telling Travis that someone had a gun. Travis remembered his dream and saw a Bible that the bailff had. He grabbed the gun out of it just like in his dream and shot and killed the father. Rainey came and kissed Travis and the judge told them that if they continued to act like that in public he would have to marry them. He swore Travis in as a judge and married Travis and Rainey.
Jodi Thomas has done it again for me. I love how she can write such a genuine story that draws me in each time. I didn't think she could top the Wife Lottery Series, but I have to say I will probably have to eat my words. There is only one Carter McKoy for me, but Travis, now he certainly earns a place on my hero shelf. I enjoyed the complexity to Rainey's character. She wasn't unrealistically goody-goody or innocent. She made some decisions that weren't always highly ethical or selfless, although she is definitely a person of both strong morals and generosity. She led Travis a merry chase, however I can see why. I loved that Travis understood Rainey's issues and gave her what she needed to feel safe as a wife. While I was shouting, "Marry him already!", I could also understand why she was afraid/reluctant to do so. I think that even to this day, women do have to think long and hard about who they choose to marry, and moreso back in this time period where women had little rights or independence in a world that seemed to be wired for men. I like the way Ms. Thomas deals with these issues, not in a preachy way, but very matter of fact. She writes about several women who are in different situations, but all have to operate in a world that is dominated and controlled by men. With Rainey, the reader is able to examine that dynamic of a woman juggling the love of a man with a need for her own independence and control over her life, and I was able to empathize with and respect Rainey and root for her to gain both things in her life. Equally complex was Travis. He's that tough, capable western hero that I love to bits, but he also has vulnerabilities, not in the least as a man of mixed heritage, with an Apache heritage that is written on his features in a society where Indians are the enemy and hated and feared equally. Also, he faces a life-changing injury, which requires him to look seriously at what his identity is as a person. Will he be happy and productive if he can no longer work as a Ranger? What's left for him if that is gone? I liked that Travis fell hard for Rainey and he had to deal with his sense of awkwardness in how to pursue her and romance her as a man who never thought he'd marry and start a family. Would he be happy with a friendship with his 'fairy woman' or would he be satisfied with nothing less than her as his wife? He couldn't have been more appealing to me.I also liked how Ms. Thomas handled the issue of slavery. When I saw that this was set in 1854, I sighed. I really, really hate dealing with the slavery issue in historical romances. I'm black, so when I read these books, I think about how it must have been for black people to be slaves in this part of American history, and when I think about this, it makes it harder to enjoy the romance part of the book. In this case, Ms. Thomas managed to keep my conscience happy with those aspects of the book, and was able to keep that from detracting from the story, and it was realistic how she dealt with Mamie's situation.Can I say how much I adored little Duck? What a sweet little boy. I just wanted to hug him. And Travis was such a good adoptive father to the orphaned, traumatized little boy. Nothing more sigh-worthy to this reader than a tough hero who is good with kids! Travis' relationship with Duck brought another layer of fantastic to this book, which was already pretty darn fantastic to begin with.What can I say? Jodi Thomas has it when it comes to writing romance. She doesn't rely on a lot of bells and whistles. She brings simple to an art form. She just has what's needed: intriguing, lovable, relatable characters, an interesting storyline, great dialogue, and excellent western world-building and action that makes this Western-lover a happy camper.I can't give this book less than five stars. That just wouldn't be right! Highly recommended!
What do You think about Texas Rain (2006)?
Texas Rain is a great start for the Whispering Mountain series. Travis is the star of this book, with a young girl Rainey being the heroine. Their romance is somewhere between a love-at-first-sight and building a relationship that lasts throughout the book. For about half the book the couple are separated, but still keep in contact through letters. Rainey is a wonderful heroine who is self-reliant and smart. Travis takes a little more time to warm up to, mainly because he is wounded for most of the book which puts him in a bad mood. When he and Rainey do get together, there are some times were you want to smack Travis in a "why would you say that?" kind of way, but he is overall a good man that I really like. This book has plenty of adventure, romance, and drama which makes it a fun read. Very easy to re-visit after finishing the series. I love it!
—Lafanda
Originally posted at Once Upon a ChapterRainey Adams is on the run. She's trying to get away from her father and his uncaring nature. His only interest is his bottom dollar and keeping his daughter under control. In a show of bravery that she doesn't have (or perhaps it was mostly desperation) Rainey runs out west. Out west she can become a new person and she won't have to worry about her past or her father's plans. Her greatest fear is that her father will come after her and drag her back to Wa
—Stephanie (Once Upon a Chapter)
I liked Travis, and really liked Rainey. But to me the book was too long. It seemed to drag, even though I liked all the plot points.Rainey has run away from her father who wants to marry her off and has always treated her badly. She and Travis meet when she steals his horse, then returns it when he is injured in an outlaw attack, then steals another horse and escapes to Austin. It was all a bit convoluted.Liked the descriptions of Travis recovery, and the plot line with the small boy.I don't know...just kind of wordy and all over the place.
—Brenda Margriet
