At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, desperate-to-retire gunslinger Adam Brady has exactly two rules. And one of them is never, ever get married. So he’ll be danged when his dreams of permanently avoiding the bounty hunter on his tail in Desolation, the only town where notorious men like him can find respite, come with one helluva string attached. The town has a new rule: gunslingers welcome—if they get a job…or marry.

Without realizing it, Adam stumbles into a big town wedding and accidentally marries Nora Schumacher, a sassy-mouthed mountain of a woman with legs as long as his wanted poster. So what’s a gunslinger to do but get himself unhitched and find a job. Any job. Except Adam keeps getting fired, one odd circumstance after another. And he’s running out of options.

Desolation was supposed to be his safe haven. Except, he’s not only running from his past but from the irresistible woman he married. And worse, he’s finding that he rather likes the enticing, if damnably independent, wife of his. But some men just aren’t the marrying kind. Only, if he leaves, his own life won’t be worth living. If he stays, he puts the lives of his newfound family and the woman he loves on the line. So much for Desolation being the answer to all his problems.

Titles in the Gunslinger series (standalone) include — Hitched to the Gunslinger —♥— The Gunslinger’s Guide to Avoiding Matrimony —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

NetGalley ARC

Title:  The Gunslinger’s Guide to Avoiding Matrimony
Series:  Gunslinger #2
Author:  Michelle McLean
Genre:  Historical Romance / Western Rom-Com
Published:  July 26, 2022
Publisher:  Entangled Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Although The Gunslinger’s Guide to Avoiding Matrimony is the second title in the Gunslinger series, it can quite easily be read as a standalone, each could really.  While you might run into some familiar faces, Adam’s and Nora’s story doesn’t depend upon having read Hitched to the Gunslinger first (but you’ll be tempted to go back for more fun).  I had an absolute blast in Desolation with this couple and some very quirky residents of this wild west sanctuary-styled town.

Adam has a marshal on his trail and a burning desire to leave this outlaw life behind, and where better to do that than the town of Desolation where any gunslinger can safely retire… or so Adam had thought, but there are a few new rules here now about either get a job or get married.  Neither appeals to Adam but he’ll find himself accidentally married during a mass marriage ceremony in town to one very independent woman with a mind of her own and a need for the legalities of a husband… just not the man himself.

In fact, Nora and Adam were made for each other.  Their banter is always mock serious with some flirting tossed in, their goals aren’t all that different in the end, and the sizzling chemistry between them can’t be ignored either.  Yet they both are determined to go their separate ways… but Nora would prefer the husband just not being in the picture but still legal while Adam doesn’t want the marriage but Nora isn’t all that bad to be around.  They are funny, sincere, and stubborn as is humanly possible yet somehow they need to figure out what exactly it is that they want because falling in love wasn’t in either of their plans that’s for certain.

When trouble comes looking for Adam he makes a decision that the entire town is about to step in to change his mind, and his situation because that’s what these quirky residents of Desolation do, look after their own.

I had such a good time here, and if you love a well-written, funny, sexy romantic comedy from the historically wild, wild west… then you’ve found your perfect match as well.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story.  It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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