A Texan's Luck

October 11, 2004
While Thomas recently made a splash with two contemporary novels, The Widows of Wichita County
and Finding Mary Blaine
, it's her nearly 20 historical romances, set in her native state of Texas, that have earned her two RITA awards. This psychologically, as well as physically, action-packed tale demonstrates why. Third in her Wife Lottery series (after The Texan's Wager
and When a Texan Gambles
), it follows the fortunes of 15-year-old orphan Lacy Larson, youngest of a gutsy trio of pioneer women auctioned off to avoid jail after killing Zeb Whittaker, an avaricious buffalo hunter who'd attacked them. For mysterious reasons, Walker Larson, Lacy's married-by-proxy army captain hubby, doesn't want a wife, much less one his father has purchased for him. But when Zeb Whittaker turns up alive five years later, desiring revenge, the reluctant absentee groom is assigned to protect Lacy. The result is a tale with more than enough fast-paced adventure to satisfy suspense buffs. But, as always, it is Thomas's slower-paced handling of the romantic dynamics between her emotionally warm but wounded characters that is the novel's strength. Agent, Ruth Cohen.

November 15, 2004
Lacy, 15, and her two friends fight off Big Zeb Whitaker, a ruthless outlaw who tries to rape them. Convinced that they've killed him, they turn themselves over to the sheriff in Cedar Point, Texas, a town with an acute shortage of available females. The devious lawman tells them that if they participate in a wife lottery, he'll drop the charges. Lacy is bailed out by a man who owns a printing shop. He marries her to his son, Captain Walker Larson, by proxy, and raises her like his own daughter. Three years later the elder Larson dies, and Lacy shows up at the captain's outpost, meeting him for the first time. After a hasty and reluctant consummation, Lacy heads back to the shop. When Big Zeb is released from prison, he vows revenge on the three women. Walker shows up under orders to protect Lucy, but she doesn't want anything to do with him. This can't-put-it-down tale is the perfect ending to Thomas' most excellent trilogy (" The Texan's Wager," 2000; " When a Texan Gambles," 2003).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)