Overall Rating: 3.80
Action: 3.5 / Emotion: 5.0 / Romance: 4.0 / Sensuous: 1.5 / Suspense: 2.0 // Historical Flavor: 4.0 // Laughter: 0 / Teary: 2 / Tears: 4

Texas Woman: 3.80:
Since Joan Johnston is a favorite author it is not a surprise that this book was an enjoyable and entertaining read. The story is filled with the usual exciting action scenes, a smidgen of suspense, and a bit of romance, but, oh my goodness, it took forever to come to like the heroine.

Hero: 3.50:
Don Cruz Almicar Guerrero was a typically handsome, strong-willed, determined hero type. But this was not really his story. He just came along for the ride. Although it was not always understandable, his unwillingness to give up on Sloan was his saving grace.

Heroine: 2.50:
Sloan Stewart was the weakest aspect of the book because she came across as unlikeable way too often during the telling of her story because of the way she treated her son. Nevertheless, she was an intelligent, strong, determined heroine, who was not without a compassionate, caring nature in spite of the hard knocks life had dealt her.

Secondary Hero: 2.50:
Luke Summers was so loveable, charming, entertaining and intriguing in the previous two books of the series. Readers will have to settle for the insertion of his somewhat love story into this last book of the series -- even though it would have been preferable for him to have his own book. Johnston revealed some of Luke's past, but not enough to help one understand why he treated his heroine so shabbily.

Secondary Heroine: 4.00:
Refugia Adela Maria Tomasita Hidalgo was a wonderful addition to the story. Johnston should had given her more time with Luke so we could see the love that developed for this innocent, sweet-natured, very young woman. It seemed she was used as more of an example to Sloan than to actually experience her own story.

Story Line: 3.00:
Johnston told a great tale as she tried to explain to readers why Sloan had a foot-wide cement wall around her heart. But Sloan's vacillation about caring for Cruz and Cisco almost ruined enjoying the rest of the story.

Action: 3.50:
Johnston did a great job of keeping the story entertaining by inserting some exciting action scenes featuring Sloan so that she could win the heart of readers with her obvious compassionate spirit in spite of her hard-headedness.

Emotion: 5.00:
Johnston is very gifted at drawing emotions, including tears, from her readers. It was easy to get so frustrated and angry at Sloan. It was easy to question why Cruz kept on trying to win Sloan over. It was easy to want to knock Luke upside the head for his actions. It was easy to fall in love with Tomasita for her gentleness and kind nature. Johnston, obviously, had readers deeply emotionally involved with the characters of this book.

Romance: 4.00:
The romance aspect of this book was ever-present, but questionable. Sloan's vacillation about her feelings for Cruz nearly drove one up the wall. It was like readers were on a hill watching Sloan with a daisy, pulling the petals from the flower, saying, "I want him. I want him not. I want him. I want him not."

Suspense: 2.00:
A slight aura of suspense invaded the story as Cruz became involved in some political shenanigans. One also had to wonder if Sloan was ever going to admit she had tender feelings for Cruz.

Sensuous: 1.50:
The inclusion of several well-placed love scenes added some spice and sensuality to the story.

Historical Flavor: 4.00:
Historical facts and figures and the setting added a rich historical flavor to the story.

Secondary Characters: 4.25:
One thing Johnston does extremely well is developing interesting and intriguing secondary characters. Several memorable and well-written secondary characters added greater depth to this story: {1} Doña Lucia Guerrero; {2} Sir Giles Chapman; {3} Alejandro Sanchez; {4} Betsy Randolph; {5} Cisco Guerrero; {6} Louis Randolph; and, of course, {7} Rip Stewart. Frontier Woman's Jarrett and Cricket, and Comanche Woman's Long Quiet and Bay barely made appearances in Texas Woman.

A more in-depth, detailed, spoiler-ridden review of Texas Woman appears at Wolf Bear Does Books (http://goo.gl/GHCfhT). ( )