Romance Book Review: The Education of Madeline

The Education of Madeline
Author:Beth Williamson
ISBN: 978-0758234698
Genre: Historical/Western

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Description:
Plum Creek, Colorado 1872
The Right Man Comes Along
Madeline Brewster practically owns Plum City, Colorado. But at thirty-two, she knows she has missed any chance for happiness. Until she finds a tall, strong, handsome Irishman on the wrong end of the hangman's noose. Suddenly this unconventional woman comes up with an outrageous idea.
Teague O'Neal has rugged cheekbones, tousled black curls, and eyes as blue as the sky, even if he is caked in Colorado mud. The men insist they caught him horse-thieving, and there's something desperate about him that says he'd do anything for a buck.
Maybe it was pure chance, or maybe it was something more that brought Madeline and Teague together. But one thing's clear, between a woman who has just about everything she could ever want, and a man who's lost that and more, they might find something in between worth living for.

About the Author from her Website:
You can't say cowboys without thinking of Beth Williamson. Her love for all things western shines through in her writing. A true Scorpio, she once described her "word" as passion. Read her work and discover for yourself how hot and enticing a cowboy can be.
Beth is the author many novels and novellas with Samhain Publishing, Loose Id, and Kensington Publishing, with many more in the works for the coming years.
Born and raised in New York, she holds a B.F.A. in writing from New York University. Currently, Beth lives just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons.

My View:
Not generally one to like period pieces or westerns, I was pleasantly surprised after reading "The Education of Madeline". I loved the authors writing style and the plot behind the story. The fact that women were so mistreated in those days is well documented and the author incorporates the issues well in her book. I liked both the heroine's strength and the hero's weakness for her. Both tortured souls Madeline and Teague make a perfect match.

Madeline is living in the shadow of her dead father, a man who owned half the town including the bank. He was not well liked by the people in town and when he dies the hatred for him transfers to Madeline. The town calls her the "Black Widow". Looking for revenge the town sheriff and judge decide to go after her bank assets and frame Madeline for the crime.

The sheriff catches Teague in the act of doing something stupid and he is pushed into helping the sheriff and the judge spy on Madeline. It isn't until Teague gets to know Madeline that he realizes that he wants to switch sides and help her instead.

When Madeline meets Teague at the wrong end of a rope, she decides he is perfect to help her with a little education she feels she is lacking. At 32 Madeline has never been with a man before. Without any likely prospects in the small town she's from, she decides that this man might just be desperate enough to take her up on a business proposition. She saves him from a noose and he gives her a few lessons in lovemaking. Teague can't help but take the bait. The attraction between the couple sizzles off the pages. This book has the perfect ending.