Book Review: No Way Up by Mary Connealy

When Cimarron ranch patriarch Chance Boden is caught in an avalanche, the quick actions of hired hand Heath Kincaid save him. Badly injured, Chance demands that his will be read and its conditions be enforced immediately. 

Without anyone else to serve as a witness, Heath is pressed into reading the will. If Justin, Sadie, and Cole Boden don't live and work at home for the entire year, the ranch will go to their low-down cousin Mike. 

Then Heath discovers the avalanche was a murder attempt, and more danger might follow. Deeply involved with the family, Heath's desire to protect Sadie goes far beyond friendship. The danger keeps them close together, and their feelings grow until being apart is the last thing on their minds.

My rating:

I read No Way Up two or three years ago and rated it three stars. So I picked it back up a couple of weeks ago in the mood for a western and decided to give it another try.

Obviously, it was a mistake.

It started out well and with a bang that kept me hook—Chance Boden, ranch boss, is critically injured in a landslide, and the only person who has the know-how to save him is Heath Kincaid, one of the hired hands with him that happened to have just the amount of medical knowledge needed.

Annnnd then it went downhill.

The plot:

The plot itself is good. An old rancher is being sent away to a specialist and gives his children an ultimatum: never leave the ranch for a year or lose the whole thing to their swindler cousin. Now, Chance was cantankerous and obstinate about it, but I understood that he just wanted his children to understand the legacy he was leaving them.

But good grief. He drove me insane sometimes.

The rest of the book—looking for a murderer, trying to climb to the top of an unclimbable mesa, and stubborn siblings—was a toss-up between me wanting to throw the book across the room and me wanting to keep reading while refraining from rolling my eyes. It wasn't cheesy . . . but . . . well, just read the rest of the review and you'll understand why. ;)

The characters:

I enjoyed Heath's character. He was probably my favorite, actually. I really loved his dedication to the Bodens, since they reminded him of his own big brothers. Ahhhh, his big brothers. I loved all of the references to them.

Sadie was . . . a tomboyish young woman with a stubborn streak as wide as her father's. What drove me nuts about her was how flirtatious she was with Heath. I mean, I get it; it's her personality. But STILL, people. Please refrain. I could definitely relate to the being-smothered-by-big-brothers aspect, though.

Cole and Justin. As alike as night and day. Cole, the shrewd businessman with a flair for words. Justin, the rough-and-tumble middle child that never was really good at settling arguments with anything other than his fists. The way they showed nothing but contempt for each other surprised me with how accurate they actually were. Constantly fighting, yet when an outside party insults one of them? Watch out!

I loved John. The wise old ramrod. 'Nuff said.

Randoms:

Ahh, the romance. Hm. Very cringe-worthy, if you ask me. The two main parties constantly flirting with each other. Thinking about each other constantly. Loving the kissing. *Shudders* oh, the kissing.

So, the writing. In my honest opinion, the writing needed help. The book seemed poorly written to me, and I found several typos, which I normally wouldn't mention, but . . . I think traditionally published books are looked at as 'perfect' and polished. This one . . . was far from it. *coughs*

The INJURIES! Y'all this book had injuries! So fabulous. *cackles*

Have you read any other Connealy books? Would you recommend them?