The Last Woman Standing: A Novel (edició 2016)

3.5 stars

I went through fazes while reading this book. Some parts were very interesting to me, and during other parts it couldn't keep my attention. Overall, I enjoyed it more than not. It's cool reading historical and having female characters who didn't follow the rules of the times. It's not that she necessary wants to be a rule breaker sometimes, but regardless, she is. It's also cool seeing the men of Tombstone from a different angle. ( )

Good read. it kept my attention but ended a bit abruptly. ( )

This novel has so much potential - a plucky heroine, gunfights, cowboys, romance - but I kept struggling to keep my attention focused on the story. I initially had a lot of hope that Josephine's voice would carry the story, but she seemed to vary between tedious and spunky, without really striking the needed balance. A decent enough story, but much harder to get through than I anticipated. ( )

Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp, Doc Holliday, Tombstone, O.K. Corral and Boot Hill. these are names and places that probably ring a bell. For me this book made me realize how little I really knew about the person Wyatt Earp. So, I was thrilled to participate in a blog tour for this book.

This book starts with Josephine Marcus now old and reminiscing her life. Most of the ones from her days in Tombstone are dead, including her beloved Wyatt. And, now she has only memories of her days as a young woman who risks everything to travel from San Francisco to Tombstone to marry Johnny Behan. Only, it never got to be her and Behan, he strung her along and she had enough after finding him in bed with another woman. But, there was Wyatt and a love that would last until the day he died.

I think love stories are best when they are real. When it's about real people that either found love for a few passionate years or a lifetime. Thelma Adam's book about Josephine Earp is engrossing and I loved reading the book. One thing I found so fascinating is that it's not that long ago, it was just at the end of the 1900-century, not several hundred years ago, but still it feels odd to know that Wyatt Earp lived until 1929. I have always felt that Tombstone and The Gunfight at O.K. Corral were much longer ago.

I instantly found Wyatt Earp charming and I can understand Josephine's first reaction in the book to seeing him the very first day in Tombstone. I loved every moment they had together and the scene in the brothel when she thought that she would have to sell her body to support herself is absolutely wonderful. Yeah, I know that sounds very weird, but read the book and you will see why I feel that scene is great.

I could probably go on and on about what I loved about the book, but I will end this review with a quote from the book from the very first moment, Josephine saw Wyatt:

As Johnny roped his horse to Harry’s wagon and Kitty nagged her stoop-shouldered husband, I felt a weight on one cheek. I sensed eyes staring at me. I don’t know how that’s possible, but it happened just that way, as real as the feeling of sunshine while your eyes are closed. That was the first time I saw Wyatt. He was looking straight at me. I stared right back. He was dead handsome with an athletic build on a six-foot frame, made taller by perfect posture. His hair was blond and thick like his younger brother’s, with a matching mustache and unflinching eyes, the same blue as Morgan’s but twice as intense. ( )

Loved this historical fiction - although the last woman standing apparently did exist, and was involved with the lawman. I could not put this down - it had me chuckling one minute and in shock the next. Great story, great storyteller! ( )