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Leigh Podgorski
Author
WESTERN SONG
When cattle rancher and rodeo bull-rider Weston Beaudurant discovers that his best buddy ranch hand and rodeo clown Cody Goode is supposed to be married, it's too late for Cody—he's just been killed by the maniacal bull Baby Face that Wes was riding; however, Thai immigrant and mail order bride Song Phan Rang is due in on that evening’s train, and by unanimous decree, Weston has been voted the welcoming committee. As Weston arrives at the train station, he is prepared for anything but the lovely forlorn creature he finds waiting in the rain. Though appearing waif-like, Song soon proves to be anything but fragile. Her mettle quickly rises to the surface in her determination to remain in “Y-oh-ming.” Forced together by their circumstances, the combination of Weston and Song is explosive. Western Song , a 78,000 word contemporary love story, unfolds beneath the wide Wyoming sky in the small town of Wild River and across the windswept and tempestuous plains—both physical and emotional. As Song strives to grasp the true meaning of freedom, Weston discovers he’s lost his heart.
Plot/Idea: 9 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 3 out of 10
Character/Execution: 3 out of 10
Overall: 5.75 out of 10

Assessment:

The strongest element of this novel is its original premise: about a cattle rancher and rodeo bull-rider, a rodeo clown, and a mail-order bride who arrives after her groom has died. Unfortunately, the prose is shaky, the pace slow, and the characters' voices blend together in a way that can be confusing. All of this -- and the use of a distracting dialect -- work to undercut a promising story idea.

Date Submitted: June 06, 2016

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