Review: A good short story about Blake West and his Miss Firecracker
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 18, 2011
Miss Firecracker is the love story of Blake West and Willow, the former Miss Firecracker.  The book begins the morning after Willow's wild night of celebrating the end of her year as Miss Firecracker, a restrictive beauty pageant title that prevented her from dating or other "wild" behavior.  Willow did some damage to the bar the night before, and rather than arrest her, or let her pay for it out of her pocket, the sheriff decided she must waitress at the bar, using her tip money to pay for the damages.  Blake West is visiting from out of town, and managing the bar for the owner that is on vacation.  The sparks fly between Blake and Willow from the very start of the book.  Blake sees Willow as a sexy, strong, woman and is not uncomfortable with her position as foreman for the town's construction company, unlike most of the men in town.  Blake is far away from the West/McKay part of Wyoming, so Willow knows nothing about his "wild McKay cousins."  Their love story goes quickly, with the conflict and resolution occurring in less than one week.This was a quick read, lasting only a couple hours.  I thought this was a fun read.  However, when comparing it to the Rough Riders books by Ms. James, the love story wasn't nearly as consuming and addictive, I think because it is told so quickly.  This could be read as a standalone, but I think the story is richer if read in the context of knowing about the McKay cousins (who star in the Rough Riders books).  In the Rough Riders books, the McKays all have roles and plots in the story line.  In this book, since Blake is in a distant town, he only mentions the McKay cousins, but you don't actually meet them.If you want some back story on Blake, I would advise reading Rough Riders book number 6, Branded as Trouble before reading Miss Firecracker.  Unlike many reviewers, I believe the Rough Riders books can be read out of sequence, because that was what I did.  I read one of the later books, fell in love with the McKay/West family and the Rough Riders series, and have since read most of the Rough Riders books.  There is another West boy story, Mistress Christmas that occurs chronologically before Miss Firecracker.  I read the West boy books out of sequence, and feel that it is fine to read Miss Firecracker without reading Mistress Christmas. Though, Mistress Christmas is so good, I think you'd enjoy reading that one.  If you would like both stories in a paper format, check out the bookWild West Boys, it contains Mistress Christmas and Miss Firecracker. I've read most of the books about the McKay/West family, so if you're curious you can read more about them in my other reviews.