Cracker Cowgirl by Kissa Starling

Title: Cracker Cowgirl
Author: Kissa Starling
Publisher: Red Rose Publishing
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

Halley’s lost a lot to the war including two family members. When the chance to fight in the cavalry comes along she decides not to let her gender get in the way. She can wield a whip ten times than any old man and fire a shotgun right after. What she finds in the woods may not want to be found but she’ll bring it home and put it to good use. Posing as a good ole boy proves to be harder than she initially thought and it makes transporting her chocolate gift more difficult than she expected.

Review:

Historical stories often focus on women left alone as a result of war, fighting to protect their land and homes. Sometimes in these stories the women find it easier to act as men to be taken seriously. This is the concept behind Cracker Cowgirl, the story of Halley who is determined to join the Cow Cavalry who help protect the local rivers and farms. When she is turned away because she is a woman, Halley comes up with a plan to disguise herself and use the skills she knows are just as good as any other man around. While out on her first night with the cavalry, Halley has a surprising encounter in the woods.

This story definitely has a good basis with an interesting idea, but since it’s executed as a short story it feels like an abundance of necessary detail is left out. Fleshing out the story a bit more by adding details around the time period, setting, mood, and voice of the story would have helped to tighten the plot and to pull the reader in. The story is set in a very specific time period, but the reader is dropped into the story so quickly it’s hard to place the setting before the story sets off at a running pace.

The characterization of Halley felt inconsistent at times. She’s tough and wants to help protect the local farms, but then she falls back into cliché feminine reactions to her surroundings. I had a hard time accepting the disparate reactions, especially after the initial setup that enforces how she’s just as capable as any man around. I would have expected Halley to be much tougher, especially given the time period when the story is set.

The writing of the story is good and easy to read, and I am curious what the story would have been like if the author had expanded the length. The romance aspect was a bit contrived and hard to accept, but really is a small part of the story. Unfortunately, it’s hard to truly embrace the characters or to become invested in the story. Based on the writing style, I would be interested to read another story from the author, but this one just didn’t work for me.