I adore Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon, and had high hopes for Gingham Mountain. These sassy westerns are filled with romance, heart, and characters that leave you in stitches. Gingham Mountain is a wonderful addition to the series.

Hannah Cartwright lands in a small Texas town desperate to save orphans from the dastardly Grant. Grant has dedicated his adult life to adopting the orphans nobody wants off the orphan train. When two are left in the opening chapter, he naturally accepts them into his family. Hannah has fears that the children will only be used and abused by him. And thus begins this wonderful romp.

Mary is back with her delightful humor, but also with a wonderful dose of warmth and emotion. She doesn't swing to the extreme of humor or romance, but instead blends the two in a delightful concoction that keeps the pages turning. There's also the dash of suspense that builds at the end of the book. And I love the surprise for readers who adored Calico Canyon. This book is a keeper -- even if I need another bookshelf!

Again, Mary Connealy delights us with rollicking fun in Texas-a handsome, endearing hero, a feisty heroine and a passel of fun-loving, heartwarming children-trademarks of Mary's Lassoed in Texas series. Along with the romance, Mary delights us with a splash of little known history-the orphan trains bringing young orphans from New York City out west to hopefully be adopted by loving families-an ideal that didn't always pan out. She also throws in suspense to keep you rooting for the hero and heroine and then delights you with the total romantic mix. We are treated to a glimpse of how Grace and Daniel from Calico Canyon are doing which brings a smile. Like Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon, Gingham Mountain is a book you can't put down.

Gingham Mountain is a wonderful way to end the Lassoed in Texas trilogy. With a hilarious and heart-tugging cast, Gingham Mountain is an engaging and tender story of love. Love for those in need, love for family, and even falling in love with the person who exasperates you most on this planet. Grant and Hannah are a delightful couple and Gingham Mountain is a terrific read. It made me smile. It made me think. And best of all, it made me care.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mary Connealy's Gingham Mountain, a fast-paced story with larger than life characters that tugged at my heart. A master of comedy and human nature, Connealy kept me chuckling as I turned the pages. I'm sorry Gingham Mountain is the last book in Connealy's Lassoed in Texas series. The story is pure delight!

Petticoat Ranch was a fun read... I think I gave it 4 stars. Calico Canyon was WONDERFUL and I'm certain I gave it 5. I was sure that Gingham Mountain would be a let down after its predecessor-- I was MISTAKEN!

Grant No Lastname was an orphan growing up. Now, at 26, his heart belongs to saving orphans one at a time. He's rather unkempt because all he has he gives to his children and opens his home to the "leftovers" of the orphan train.

Hannah is the "little sister" of Grace (from Calico Canyon), also an orphan who was adopted by a brutal slave-driver. In Calico Canyon she takes in a mute girl with a limp who turns out to be one of the "leftovers" on the orphan train. In order to be near her sister she takes a job as the teacher in town.

Mary is a wonderful author who places you right inside the minds of her characters. The characters are unbelievably realistic in their thoughts-- and HILARIOUS!!! These books will have you laughing out loud. As a previous reviewer said, you will surely get looks from people surrounding you.

What can I say about "Gingham Mountain", Mary Connealy's third, and hopefully not last, installment in the "Lassoed in Texas" series? First of all, her book covers are eye-catching and her titles are so sweet - they're girly, yet wild and very western. And that is only the beginning. What unfolds once you open the enchanting cover is a story full of humor, action, intrigue, entertainment and godly character on display. This novel is the story of Hannah, a woman who is passionate about protecting children, especially orphans. She meets Grant, a young handsome man who appears to collect kids to work his ranch, at the train station when he arrives to pick up his two latest charges from the orphan train. Hannah joins the community as a schoolteacher to keep an eye on her "sister" who happens to be Grant's latest ward. As Hannah watches Grant closely to catch him in the act of abusing his children, what she sees is the last thing
she expects and will certainly change her life, forever.

I love how Mary Connealy writes a story that can be read on its own, but involves the characters from her previous books to make the tales more enjoyable. Her books are an absolute MUST for any fan of Western Christian Fiction. So be sure to check out "Petticoat Ranch" and "Calico Canyon", the first two novels in her "Lassoed in Texas" series. This is 4-star entertainment!

This book is so good, it is about street children that is placed on the orphan train and carried out west to try to find homes for them. In this series when they get to Sour Springs, Texas that is the end of the line and all that is left will be returned to the large city they came from.
Grant was an orphan and he lives in Sour Springs and can never turn away a child that is left. He is in his twenties and has children that is as old as he, and they all call him Pa. He even has grandchildren.
This train arrived and there were 2 children left, one was a little girl that limped and the other was a boy that had an attuited. But Grant could not let them go back so her takes them also. But on the same train is a young woman Hannah was also on the train and she was really Libby's sister that was trying to get away from a bad parent that had adopted her and her sisters.
Also the name of the town was named so because of a very bad smelling spring and it was black and oily.
What no on knew was that the spring was really oil and a man and his wife was putting it into barrels and selling it. Prudence "the wife" was trying to get Grant to marry her "even though she was already married" so she could kill him off and get the land with the oil. (Made me think of the old TV show "The Bevely HillBillies")
This book is funny, it is sad and if you start to read it you can not put it down. I loved it and thanks so much to Mary Connealy for writting it for us to enjoy.

Grant, a single man, who had been an orphan himself, couldn't resist taking in needy children when the orphan train rolled in each year. Even though, he lived in run-down, crowded conditions, he knew that some of the children would not find a home unless they found it with him. He had taken in as many as twenty-five, over the years. Many of them had grown up, moved away, and married. But one thing was for sure, his children all loved him.

Enter, pretty and feisty Hannah Cartwright, who had just recently come into town with a chip on her shoulder. She had been a badly abused child when she was younger and didn't trust men at all. Determined to "save" Grant's orphans from what she thinks is abuse, Hannah fights Grant, "tooth and nail" until she finally understands the good man he really is.

This lovely book has romance, suspense, and humor all woven together to make another great novel by the Christian author, Mary Connealy.

Well, after struggling through this series ... I actually felt this was the better of the three. I can't say I was delighted and I am not sure if it truly rated a 4 star but after the other 2 books it definitely was much better in my opinion ... UNFORTUNATELY, it ended in frustration by the author inserting Grace and Daniel from the previous book in spots throughout this book, and much more toward the ending of this book. For some reason I could never get attatched to either one of them. Normally, I love having previous characters inserted throughout the series, but in this case that was not so it frustrated me. Their children were out of control, even the adults YELLED every word that came out of their mouths ... how could one ever feel in touch with that????? I realize that many felt this was comedy, however, out of control people I do not feel is comedy ... they need discipline ... and I AM a grandmother of 6 grandchildren that have no trouble teasing their grandmother ... which I would not have any other way, but there is still respect in the teasing. Anyway, back to this book ... now Hannah and Grant were two that I COULD get much more attached to. They BOTH WANTED to do the right thing ... Grant ONLY wanted to help all the orphaned children that he could and do right for them .... and he DID ... what a wonderful soul that man had ... then there was Hannah ... she had a LOT of baggage to get through and had some difficulty in accepting that Grant a young man of approximately 26 could be as good as he was and was not just putting up a show and was a horrible man behind the scenes. But Hannah, also felt this way as she ONLY wanted the best for the children ... she also, was a wonderful young woman .... yes, there were places I got frustrated throughout the book, I had trouble feeling that Prudence and Horace were real people ... but after reading the other books ... these I felt were the authors errors, in my opinion ... and are why I had trouble reading her books. I READ a TON of christian authors ... LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM ... but for some reason this authors writing style IS NOT MINE ... but THANKFULLY IS many others! I am so glad that others enjoyed this series, even though I did not ... however, she is NOT an author I will be reading again ... I for some reason I have a real difficult time connecting with her characters,although I could connect much, much more with Grant and Hannah and all of the children of this town, they were very special people in my estimation, but due to the some of the other people in this book I still struggled, and this is something I seldom have trouble with.

I loved the first two books in this series and the third book did not disappoint. I felt the plight of the orphan train children. They made this story very special. How this author weaved emotion and humor into a difficult era in our history was very impressive. The heroine was spunky and a great match for the strong rescuer hero. I loved his heart for the orphan children. The world needs more men like this. I highly recommend this Lassoed in Texas series to lovers of historical romance fiction or to anyone looking for an authentic and touching historical read.

As both an author and a reader of Historical Romance, I had heard such wonderful things about Mary Connealy's books, but due to time and life, I never got around to picking up one of her books. When Ghingham Mountain got nominated for a Christy award (the most prestigious Christian Fiction award), I decided I had to read it. Boy, am I glad I did. The story had me laughing my head off one minute, and welling up with tears the next. With charming, heart-warming, real characters and a story filled with adventure, danger, love, and family, I guarantee you won't be disappointed with this tale.