Review: Stuck Together by Mary Connealy

Vince Yates earned the nickname “Invincible Vince” because of his reputation for letting absolutely nothing stop him. Not his tyrant of a father. Nor the injuries he suffered in the Civil War. Nor the fact that he is Broken Wheel’s only attorney and sheriff yet has no law degree.

But Vince is about to face his biggest challenge yet: his past has just caught up with him. His father, mother, and the sister he didn’t know he had show up in Broken Wheel without warning. His father is still a schemer. His mother is suffering signs of dementia. And his surprise sister immediately falls for one of Vince’s best friends. Vince has a lot of people to take care of, and Tina doesn’t approve of how he’s handling any of them. But with almost all the other men in town married off, Vince finds himself stuck with feisty Tina over and over again. Of course, Tina is the prettiest woman he’s ever seen, so if he could just get her to give up her causes, he might go ahead and propose. But he’s got one more surprise coming his way: Tina’s picketing at the saloon has revealed a dark secret that could put everyone Vince loves in danger.

Mary Connealy has long been a favorite of mine (starting about the time I won the Lassoed in Texas trilogy 3-in-1 on Seekerville about 3.5 years ago). I’ve read everything she’s written since then (I think… with the exception of that Mary Nealy book X Plagues… I have it though).

I’ve looked forward to Stuck Together for quite a while and she didn’t disappoint. Though not my mostest favorite of her books (that honor will likely always belong to Sharpshooter in Petticoats, though Mary recently said she wrote her funniest wedding scene ever so… we’ll see ;)), I did speed through Stuck Together quickly.

Vince is shocked when his parents arrive in town, not only with his ailing mother (some form of dementia) but a half-sister he never knew existed. A sister who is in her upper teens and tasked with taking care of his mother. Tina is trying to get the saloon closed down, a crusading teetotaler, who will stop at nothing, no matter the cost.

But as they both work to make the town a safer place, for Vince’s family and people in general, they find themselves drawn to each other and eventually, fall in love.

Filled with Mary’s trademark humor, Stuck Together is a great summer read. It can be read alone, but would work a bit better if you read it with the other two.

Mary is also sharing the story of how these four men, Regulators, came to be friends. It is not a romance and not a comedy, but Closer than Brothers is available on her blog.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ecopy in exchange for my honest review.