Sabrina's Man (Volume 2) (Western Justice) Paperback – December 1, 2013

SABRINA’S MAN is the second installment in the Western Justice Series.Sabrina Warren is your typical spoiled southern belle. Used to getting whatever she wants, Sabrina pays little mind to anyone but herself. But, when her younger sister is romanced by a wicked con-man in disguise and is whisked away to parts unknown, Sabrina’s love for her sister fuels her determination to see her sister safely returned home.Waco Smith hasn’t had the easiest life, but things are looking up. As a partner in a successful hardware store and courting the lovely Alice Malone, Waco sees nothing but blue skies ahead. That is until he is forced to rejoin the Confederate Army. While away, his life is changed, turning Waco into a bitter and angry man. Turning to a life of crime, he finds himself serving time in jail when his act of heroism garners him the possibility of a shortened sentence. If he will help Miss Sabrina Warren free her sister from the clutches of the vile Trey LeBeau, he will be pardoned for his crime.Sabrina hates the fact that she has to rely on a criminal to help her find her sister. But she has no alternatives. Waco Smith is the only person who can work himself into LeBeau’s gang and devise a plan to free her sister. Along the way, Sabrina is transformed from spoiled debutante into a gritty and determined woman. Her impression of Waco undergoes a transformation as well, one that has her heart tied in knots.Gilbert Morris has a very deliberant writing style. Dividing the book into four parts, each section concentrates on a timeframe in each of the lead characters’ life, setting up the story for the time that their two paths cross. At first I found this distracting, now I realize it is just the style in which Morris prefers to write. Much like ROSA’s LAND, Morris takes a man that is not your typical hero type, and turns him into just that. Waco is quite and solemn, and his feelings for Sabrina grow slowly and without his permission. He sees himself as unchangeable and unworthy of her love, but that doesn’t keep him from protecting Sabrina and wanting to see her sister safely home.The Western Justice series is unique in its delivery, but it grows on you. I have already started RAINA’S CHOICE, and I’m excited to be treated to another fascinating story from Gilbert Morris.

SPOILER ALERTThis book hops around a lot. It gives the impression that the author has a list of plot points to cover, and periodically remembers the other plot points, and stuffs them in, higglely-pigglely. First it's Waco , now it's Sabrina, oops, this is supposed to be a Christian book so let's stuff in a devotional. Sidetracks are many, as are characters who give evidence they're going to be important later, but disappear. However, the greatest plot flaw is the plot about the outlaw Trey going to Memphis and eloping with Sabrina's little sister. Why on earth would an outlaw go from Indian Territory to Tennessee to pretend to be a refined man, and marry a sheltered teenaged bride? It's mind-boggling. It's as if this heinous act is tossed in to show us Trey is a very bad man...but oops, we already know that, from Waco's experience with him. The second major flaw is in characterization. Sabrina and Marianne have a level of freedom that the daughters of a wealthy man in 1870 would not have had. Marianne wouldn't have been allowed to 'court' with a man unknown to her family. And yet, her worldly father doesn't insist on meeting her new beau, doesn't hire a detective to see if he is who he says he is, or take any practical steps to protect his daughter. No, he is easily manipulated into giving her her way. His older daughter Sabrina hikes off to shop in New Orleans accompanied only by a female servant. She then decides that the right way to get her sister back is for HER to go to Indian territory and get her. Her father agrees with this. Apparently being the spoiled daughter of a wealthy man, who squanders Daddy's money on clothes on a regular basis, is ably prepared to ride through Indian Territory and retrieve her sister. She goes to Indian Territory all by herself, and along the way becomes a trail-hardened rider who can keep up with the cowboys. Little inconsistencies trickle in: Waco has a tan in 1870 because he worked on a horse ranch...in 1860, despite the fact he's been in prison for five years, where he goes without seeing the sun for months. That's one heck of a tan. And the dialog. Here's a sample: 'Prison changes a man for the better, or the worse, or it kills him.' Well, that pretty much covers the options about how it could change someone, doesn't it? And in this day and age, having your hero make a racist statement for no apparent reason? Just say no.

When Marianne was deceived and ran away with the wrong man, her sister, Sabrina decides to rescue her. After having trouble finding someone to help her, she ends up with Waco, a former criminal who is hurt and bitter. But two mismatched people can miraculously become what the other one needs when God gets hold of them.I'd read Gilbert Morris before and loved his books, but this one wasn’t what I expected. The headstrong daughters fit more in modern times than in the 1800’s. They totally disobeyed their parents all the time and did what they wanted. A proper lady, which Sabrina was, would have never gone west without a chaperone, either. Even some of the vocabulary like “crosshairs” came into use much later than 1875. The plot and schemes seemed pretty far-fetched. The dialogue and thoughts were often awkward, and the ending was weak. The novel seemed to set up for one thing to happen, but then something else did, and I didn’t think Waco would be at all satisfied with the circumstances. It was clean, however, and an easy read that did hold my interest.

Good