Shotgun Groom

In Tennessee, a man who goes back on a marriage contract is prodded to remember his arrangement with the help of a shotgun. And Lily Towns has decided that if Matt Logan goes back on his promise of marriage, she'll bring Tennessee jurisprudence to Texas. But when Lily arrives in Blue Station, Tex., sometime in 1875, it turns out that Matt, her childhood love, hadn't made the offer of marriage. Rather, his dying brother Jim did in order to provide for his brother, their ranch and his own two motherless children. It's a hard life, and Matt believes that between hogs, hard work and Comanches, he can persuade Lily to skedaddle back East. If there are a few faux pas--Jim's treacly poppet of a daughter; Lily's droll dance around the fire in a Comanche wedding dress--Chastain's (Raven and the Cowboy) dialogue is fast-paced, her heroine is amiably determined, her hero appealingly noble, and, best of all, she's created a different and more realistic ranch. The Double L is not the vast domain of some wealthy landlord, but rather a rough-hewn place where a family takes a stand against the predations of nature and man. (Feb.)