Get Hold Of The Ranch Next Door And Other Stories Written And Illustrated By Elisabeth Grace Foley Accessible As Document

good read for those who enjoy classic TV Westerns as another reviewer mentioned, I loved the dialogue and humor my favorite stories were "A Rangeland Renaissance," "Angel Unawares," and "Delayed Deposit, " I have not read any other Westerns, but the writing felt pretty authentic and is suitable for all ages.
Really good Western writing style makes them seem like real people, My two absolute favorites were The Outlaw's Wife and Cross My Heart, A few stories ended a bit too abruptly for me though, Love, love, love so many of these stories! ltAgain, I'm so glad I picked this up before it went away.
So sweet, so fun, so excellent in so many ways! Honestly, I got sort of an O, Henry feel from several of these, from the humor to the unique characters to the way everything wrapped upjust so good! Here are my thoughts:

The Ranch Next Doorstars

A new favorite! I was bracing myself for a traditional starcrossed lovers story, but the brave and commonsense way that the young people went about things made me want to stand up and cheer.
And then the twist at the end that I hadn't seen coming but I understood the second it startedeeep! I was grinning so hard! Absolutely loved it.
lt

Disturbing the Peacestars

Took me a while to figure out where this one was going, but such a sweet, sweet story.
ltAnd a great moral that doesn't smack you in the face, Loved this one, too!

Cross My Heartstars

Wow! Some amazing tension in this one, and a great twist in the ending! I love the fact that Jerry's moral struggle over the idea of lying to protect a friend was addressed headon, and I love the way both sides of the argument were shown.
Also just adored the evident friendship between these two young men, ltWonderfully done!

A Rangeland Renaissancestars

Definitely more on the silly side, but I got a couple of good laughs out of it.
And I enjoyed the way the crotchety old men were finally brought into submission,

Angel Unawaresstars

I really liked the main plot and theme of this story, but the ending confused me a little.
It felt like I was supposed to be able to read a lot of significance into a certain scene, but I just couldn't quite get there.
Or maybe it was deliberately left ambiguous Oh well, still a good story I just wanted to understand the ending a little more.


The Outlaw's Wifestars

Another really great one, although with one plot point that would have made me uncomfortable if I hadn't more than half guessed one of the twists that was coming.
: Can't really go into which characters I loved without spoilers, but the poor, confused doctor was hilarious! :D

Delayed Deposit.
stars

Another one with a lot of great tension and an amazing climax! I loved both of the Murphy brothers, especially Russ with his deep sense of protectiveness.
ltThe battle of wills between a stubborn outlaw and an equally stubborn sheriff sent chills down my spine.
And oh, my word, Mrs, Eberley! That woman was utterly indescribable. XD

Contentfighting and gunplay, including deaths mentions of wounds and blood not graphic mentions of cursing mentions of drinking and smoking mentions of various kinds of illegal activity people held hostage and threatened a few uses of "darn", "heck", etc.
I snagged this book just before it went out of print, Awkward sentence structure makes it obvious that this is one of Elisabeth Grace Foley's earliest published books, and I think she made the right decision in discontinuing it.


I'm very glad for my copy though because I found it interesting to observe how her writing skills have since improved.
Besides, it's a unique collection, For example, the last story deals with the quintessential western drama: a bank robbery, But this one pointed out that it's not just money being stolen, but a person's time, labor, and life.
I was able to put

myself in a victim's position, feel his plight, and contemplate how I would respond.
And that's what good fiction is all about, The cover of this collection of stories by Elisabeth Grace Foley nicely captures its mood, Compared to gritty western noir popular these days, readers will find themselves in a far sunnier West, Yes, theres barbwire running through it, but its a “kinder, gentler” West, where a conflict is as likely to by solved at the point of an umbrella as the point of a gun.


Foley has a firm, intelligent grasp on the storytelling style she brings to her subject matter, The tone and mastery of language is consistent throughout, After a couple stories, you just know youre in competent hands,

And its not diminishing them to say they hark back to the world of TV westerns like Gunsmoke and Bonanza.
Relationships between friends and family members matter, and while violence lurks like a shadow in the corners, its often driven back or defused without serious bloodshed.


Often, I should say, but not always, Just as a sunny day in Dodge may be overtaken by storm clouds, theres a good chance in Foleys stories for events to take an unwelcome turn.
Likewise, what may seem threatening can be revealed as its opposite, Such is the case in “Angel Unawares,” when a young rancher has a nasty fall from his horse while searching for lost cows in the herd of an unfriendly neighbor.
Or when a doctor helps deliver a baby for the woman in the title of “The Outlaws Wife, ”

While a handsome, goodnatured young cowboy often figures in these stories, Foleys gift for characterization is especially engaging in her portrayals of sheriffs.
As one example, theres Sheriff Coughlan in “Disturbing the Peace,” whos a wellrespected public servant, But he learns, like Willy Loman, that while hes liked, hes not well liked,

Sheriff Graham in “Delayed Deposit” is a bit out of shape and likely to turn red in the face with little provocation.
Outside the town bank during an attempted robbery and trying unsuccessfully to handle a hostage situation on the inside, hes lucky to have the help of his quickthinking deputy.


That last story, by the way, is my favorite, It builds considerable tension as the stakes mount for everybody, hostages and gunmen, and the clock ticks away precious minutes.
Foley shows her ability to take familiar western material and western characters, and make something fresh and engaging with them.
Just as the writers of Gunsmoke did foryears, and rarely disappointing us,
A collection of Western short stories that go beyond the standard action and adventure of the genre to focus on character and conflict.
In the awardwinning "Disturbing the Peace," honorable mention in theRope and Wire short story competition, a sheriff experiences a revelation about himself and his relationship with the people of his town, while in "The Outlaw's Wife," a country doctor worries that his young friend is falling for a married woman whose husband is rumored to be a wanted criminal.
From the suspenseful "Cross My Heart" to the comedic romp of "A Rangeland Renaissance," to a Western twist on starcrossed romance in the title story, "The Ranch Next Door," these stories will appeal to a variety of readers, as well as established fans of the traditional Western.
These seven stories total approximately,words orbook pages, I am a fan of this author, and this collection did not disappoint me, It's such a relief to read real westerns instead of those appalling western romancesJanette Oke etcand it's also a plus that these westerns aren't just " westerns" like Louis L'Amour's stuff.
They're dramas between fleshed out human beings,
Many short story collections are mixed in qualitygoing from great to terrible in a matter of a few pagesbut the stories in this book were all good.
They were not all equally good, but none of them were really bad, It's not every day you see that happen,
The two best stories are Cross My Heart and Rangeland Renaissance, Both of these were examples of what this author does best, Cross My Heart was a moral drama, Rangeland Renaissance was family comedy, The ambiguous feeling at the end of Cross My Heartdid he really do the right thingis true to how complicated real life decisions can be.
And in Rangeland Renaissance, I was actually laughing out loud, Hypochondria is a great subject for comedy, You had to like Sheila, and also despise her a little bit, for caving in so much to her cranky old granddad.
Nicely done.
The two weakest stories are Disturbing the Peace and Angels Unawares, Now don't get me wrongneither of these stories were bad, There was a good point made at the end of each one, But they just didn't impress me as much as the others in the book, Disturbing the Peace was a little slow, and Angels Unawares was so extremely short! I personally felt neither one of these tales had been covered adequately.
More details, more action that's what these stories need, But a really good point was made at the end of each one, and they are both well worth reading.

The other storiesThe Ranch Next Door, The Outlaw's Wife, and the ending story with the bank robbery, are all good.
The first one is a nice little romancethe only fault I had to find with it was the problem seemed solved a little quickly at the end, but then, it is a short story, so I guess she had to get it all wrapped up in a hurry.
The Outlaw's Wife is a light mystery, Delayed Deposit had more action than the other two, and was like a good Gunsmoke episode, The ending heroism of the old lady with her umbrella was a big surprise for me! :
In fact, I would say this author is like a really good combination of Gunsmoke with L.
M. Montgomery. You get the props, costumes, and sets of Gunsmokeand the humor and sensitivity of the creator of Avonlea,
One of the best books I've read this year, : A delightful collection of Western short stories, Almost no romance it features in only a couple of the stories which is a nice change from most modern fiction, and very clean.
I love the retro feel of the stories from days of old, I think my favorites are "The Outlaw's Wife" and "Delayed Deposit, " This is a delightful collection of easy to read westerns, I am looking forward to the next collection Wanderlust Creek and Other Stories which is coming out soon, Age Appropriate For: All Ages
Best for Ages:and up

There are just some days where the thought of tackling a full length novel is overwhelming.
The thought of wading throughtopages is too much, For days like that, short stories are such a blessing, and collections like The Ranch Next Door make it even better.


Short stories can often feel rushed, or poorly done, In the case of The Ranch Next Door and Other Stories, that is not true, The stories are well written and felt compete, Elisabeth Grace Foley is truly talented in engaging her readers and connecting them to her character in a very short space of time, a key element in successful short stories.


I loved the western feel to all the stories, My siblings and I were obsessed with Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, and other western movies when we were younger.
These stories brought back those fond memories of those days, Even though they were western, they were fresh and unique stories,

I highly recommend this collection for those looking for a nice, clean, short story collection, Collection of stories by a homeschool graduate, Pleasant twist in each. I don't give out many's but this fantastic set of accessible, easy to read short stories really deserve it!

I've read very few westerns probably two from what I recall and so I'd recommend these to anyone wanting to try the genre.
The stories draw you in quickly and are lovely, little snapshots of the genre, So quick and easy to read, I blasted through them all during one of my sons naps and enjoyed every minute.
The language and descriptions are wonderful and gave me on a grey windy afternoon in Manchester a real sense of being out there.


Great stuff : I loved this book, short stories from a different age with choices to be made about doing the right thing An eminently enjoyable collection of Western short stories, ranging from the comedic to the dramatic.
I tend to hold back from writing short stories myself, and to hold back from reading them, because it seems impossible to develop characters and a plot in such a short span of words.
These stories, however, manage it very well, Even more remarkably, they manage to recreate the world of the "Wild West" without any jarring cliches, focusing on people and individual problems rather than on reckless gunslinging: the West is there, playing its part just as any good setting should, but filled with mysteries and relationships and some crotchety old men.
Not being a thoroughgoing Western fan myself, I appreciated Foley's approach, It makes the stories fresh and enjoyable for a wide range of readers, This is a collection of seven short stories set in the American West, They are wellwritten and enjoyable, I liked some better than others, of course, My favorite was definitely "The Outlaw's Wife," which had two nice plot twists, one of which I did not see coming at all.
I also really liked "Disturbing the Peace" and "Delayed Deposit, "

If you like clean, wellwritten short stories and especially if you like westerns, I definitely recommend you get a copy.
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