Nate Cannon is a young Texas police officer joining the manhunt for serial killer William McGill across the newly settled Texas frontier. Nate has a strong sense of justice and ethics as he leaves his family behind to catch McGill.  Nate's partners on the hunt fill him in on McGill's misdeeds and the other purpose for the mission, to bring back his partner's daughter, Lucinda, who has taken up with McGill.  After escaping the brothel she was commissioned to,  Lucinda has plans to follow McGill to Middle Bayou, chasing a tale of buried gold.  When their dreams of gold don't pan out, Lucinda finds herself in another brothel, but this time she has a healthy fear of McGill.  With Nate not far behind, Lucinda and McGill's reign is almost over. 

The Outcasts is a historical fiction story of the wild west.  Told from alternating points of view between Lucinda and Nate, the pacing is moderate and brings the reader on a journey as the two stories eventually collide.  I was more entranced by Lucinda's story and her character.  I don't know how to quite feel about her, but she is definitely interesting as both a victim and offender.  Nate's character is steadfast and it was interesting to see his reactions to the twists in this case.   I would have loved a point of view from McGill, I think it would have tied everything together better and given some motivation for all the killing.  The ending was appropriate for all of the characters and I liked that Lucinda's character received an appropriate consequence, but was also happy. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ​

​Axie Muldoon along with her sister Dutchie and brother Joe are the children of Irish immigrants in New York.  When their mother falls ill, a charismatic man, Mr. Brace of the Children's Aid Society scoops them up and promises them a better life.  Mr. Brace sends the siblings on an orphan train to Illinois where Dutchie and Joe are adopted and Axie fights her way back home to her mother.  Axie falls into employment with a physician and learns the ways of midwifery from the physician's wife.  As Axie grows, she finds purpose in helping women with pills, and eventually expands her services, finding wealth and renown.  As a woman with means, Axie wants to fulfill her mother's dying wish of reuniting her siblings, but soon finds attention from groups who want to stop her from providing her services instead. 


My Notorious Life is a historical fiction novel based on the fictionalized events of Ann Trow Lohman, also known as Madame Restell. My Notorious Life gives Axie a devastating backstory that grabbed my attention in the first chapter.  Axie and her siblings are victims of the Orphan trade, separated from one another as well as their mother impacting their trust in others throughout their lives, especially Axie's.  The writing is very detailed and character oriented.  I could easily envision Axie's cramped apartment where she grew up, the train to Illinois, the doctor's office where she was taken in,  her offices and eventually her mansion.  Axie's character showed enormous growth throughout the story as she was forced to make difficult decisions about her place in the world, her family, where to put her trust and whether or not to fight for women's health as she was persecuted for providing birth control and abortions.  In the digital edition I had, all the curse words were asterisked out, even words like crap.  This was definitely annoying for me, and I didn't have an idea as to what some of the words were supposed to be.  Axie's husband Charlie was also a bit of a mystery to me and I wished he was fleshed out a little more.  I think Axie's perception of him was tainted from other men in her life, but I didn't have a good handle on his overall demeanor. Axie's story shines a light on the overwhelming and  important history of women's health, access to contraceptives and abortions that we are unfortunately still fighting today. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.