Book Tour for Escaping West by Morgan K. Wyatt (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Morgan K. Wyatt returns today with yet another of her fun westerns. Escaping West involves mail-order brides, a girl masquerading as a boy, and never settling for less than love.  Keep reading to discover more about this book, my impressions of it, and make sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a lovely pearl necklace.......

Kitty Hamilton is unsure how her life got so out of control. The unexpected deaths of her parents earned her a berth at her embittered aunt's home. Her latest beau abandoned her, which made the prospect of leaving town appealing. Her version of leaving didn't include fleeing town dressed like a man, but circumstances dictate otherwise. Kitty becomes Kit to throw the law off her trail. As the pretend brother to her best friend Harriet, she accompanies her friend out west to her contracted bridegroom. They encounter Nick Kennedy, flamboyant gambler, who takes an interest in the odd couple. Kitty enjoys the freedom her disguise allows, but she abandons any hope of attracting the handsome Nick Kennedy. Revealing her gender, might snag her a chance at the elusive gambler, but could also land her in prison. She keeps telling herself he isn't worth it, but she's not entirely convinced.

EXCERPT:

Set-up: Nick is trying to boost Kitty out of the ravine, they’re trapped in.......

"Okay, are you ready?" Nick's voice rumbled against her ear.
"I guess. What do I need to do?" Kitty hoped she sounded braver than foolish, scared and half-frozen, except for the part of her touching Nick. He moved closer to the rock face.”
"I’m going to push you up the rock face. Grab on the ledge and I will boost you over. Can you do that?"
"I guess I'll have to if I don't want to freeze to death," Kitty agreed grudgingly, willing herself to do so.
"Good girl," Nick replied a hint of laughter in his voice.
He dropped a brief kiss on Kitty's hair before disengaging her arms from around his neck.
"Feel the wall," he ordered as he put his hands around her waist and lifted her up with a small grunt. Her face flushed as she realized Nick was struggling to lift her. It wasn't as if she was heavy, but she wasn't exactly petite either.
"Grab the lip."
The growled order had Kitty's hands skittering across the rock wall until she finally felt the edge. She put both hands on it and pulled herself up a little. "Got it," she huffed.
"Uhm," Nick managed while putting one hand on Kitty's posterior.
"Hey, watch where you are putting your hand!" Kitty squealed when his large hand covering her butt cheek.
"Honey, it's necessary to get you up," Nick huffed as pushed upward with both hands.
The sudden boost had Kitty up over the lip of the hole. She grabbed for the trailing reins of Duke's bridle. Another shove from below pushed her all the way up.
"Don't remember you kicking up such a fuss last time I touched you," Nick grumbled more to himself than Kitty.
"I can hear you," Kitty hissed back. Pulling herself upright by holding onto the stirrup and moving her hands up the side of the sturdy horse she was able to stand with a minimum of pain.
"Don't forget I'm down here."
Kitty winced as she set her foot gingerly on the ground. "Keep your pants on. I'm getting the rope."
"It's tied onto the pommel," Nick instructed.
"I know. It was practically under my leg the whole ride here," Kitty grumbled wondering why Nick had to ruin a perfectly good moment by being such a know-it-all.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

Through her crazed and vicious Aunt's machinations Katherine realizes that she'll never have the chance to marry.  With her best friend Harriet heading out West to get married as a mail-order bride Katherine decides to go with her but fear of discovery has her masquerading as Harriet's faux brother Kit.  Their journey is full of excitement, the kind they always dreamed about, and together they're reminiscent of Lucy and Ethel as their escapades usually ended in humor.  They're great friends and their scenes together brought a smile to my face.  Harriet was the wiser of the two while Kit is like a flower just starting to bloom as she starts discovering more about the world around her.  

Part of that world involves Nick Kennedy, small town farmer's son who's become a talented gambler, but is getting tired of this dangerous career and wants to settle down with some sweet-natured girl.  What he finds instead is Kit, who fascinates him from the moment he realizes that Kit is a woman.  He's willing to wait to hear the truth from her and until then enjoys goading her until she blushes.  Nick is a caring man who left home when the woman he loved cheated on him with another. It's soured him to the concept of love and home, but Kit has him reconsidering as their playful bantering brings him happiness he's never known before and has him thinking long-term thoughts when in her presence.  To reach their HEA he has to keep her safe from the law and himself from vindictive poker players in scenes that seem to come out of nowhere to constantly put them in jeopardy bu bring them closer together.

Ms. Wyatt has presented mining town living in a believable way with its sense of bleakness and hopelessness except for those few colorful characters surrounding the main protagonists.  The workings girls of the saloon where Kit ends up at are a sweet yet rowdy bunch full of wisdom who slyly push Kit and Nick together.  They're a loyal lot and added some delightfully humorous moments to the story.  The banter between Nick and Kit was electric and was their main form of foreplay as it's not until the very end that they finally consummate their feelings in a scene more full of words than actions.  Kit was forever trying to get a grasp of life but seemed so naive.  Thankfully the life-hardened Nick was always watching over her like a guardian angel, almost like an older brother to a younger sister, so having non-graphic sexual interludes felt right.  The issues between Kit and her Aunt came out of the blue at the start but were quickly concluded in a sentence that was part of a rapidly concluded, yet sweetly satisfying story.  Many storylines were wrapped up in the blink of an eye even though I would've loved to have these side stories stand on their own.  Overall this was a sweet story with immensely likable characters and I look forward to another of Ms. Wyatt's entertaining stories in the future.

My rating for this is a B.

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Morgan K Wyatt, raised on a steady diet of superheroes, believed she could fly at a very young age. After using trees, barn lofts, sliding boards, and even a second story window as launch pads, she found her flying skills were limited to fast and downward. By the age of nine, her dreams to be a superhero needed some modifications, which caused her to turn to writing and horseback riding as alternatives to flying.
At the age of twenty, she had another chance at superhero greatness as being one of the few female soldiers trained for combat. The fact that women will be able to serve in combat soon indicates that all the witnesses to the grenade incident have retired. The grenade incident didn’t prevent her two sons or daughter-in-law from enlisting in the service. Having different last names probably helped.
Morgan recently retired from teaching special needs students to write fulltime, instead of in the wee hours of the night. With the help of her helpful husband and loyal hound, she creates characters who often grab plot lines and run with them. As for flying, she prefers the airlines now.

www.morgankwyatt.com
www.twitter.com/morgankwyatt
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Morgan-K-Wyatt/160636730670958?ref=hl
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5826299.Morgan_K_Wyatt

**********GIVEAWAY**********

Morgan will be awarding the winner's choice of ivory, peach, or white, cultured freshwater pearl necklace to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

-To be entered, leave a comment, along with your email addy.

-Winners will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.

-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 5/24.