Seasons of Glory

Porter's forte is Wild West romances, and this final entry in the Lawless sisters trilogy (Hannah's Promise; Jacey's Reckless Heart) is set in the very wild Southwest of 1873. Three people have been brutally murdered on their ranch and an all-out range war between rival cattlemen seems imminent, yet women casually set out via horseback and buckboard for visits to far-flung homesteads, without armed male escort. Better yet, their menfolk seem surprised when said women are kidnapped by nasty gunslingers. Porter is a popular writer, but this story's hard to believe, much less read. Vapid heroine Glory Bea, does a lot of weeping and wailing, and cowboy hero Riley Thorne's as dumb as they come. They may deserve each other, but the reader doesn't. (July)