This was a tough one for me.
This is a clearly a well researched book, it's just maybe the wrong writing style for me. I found it a little difficult to get into, and didn't feel particularly engaged with the characters until a fair way through. I also found the plot/dual timelines a little bit patchy at times, with pacing really varying which could make things confusing.
The dialogue was done really well, and both of our main characters had really unique and clear voices. Ruby did seem to be more fleshed out, but Pip was still well written.

Ruby Calhoun may run a quiet life, owning a cigar shop and having a dalliance with the town's leather-goods man, but Ruby used to be an ex-dancehall girl and outlaw. This is a thrilling western in 1905 wild west that follows Ruby reuniting with Pip, her once best friend, to escape a hit put out on them. This story of adventure and friendship was refreshing. The duo was comedic even in the face of violence and misdeeds!

Thank you to K.T. Blakeman for the copy of ‘The Good Time Girls" in exchange for an honest review.

Silkier than cowgirl shirts from sentence one, yet there’s the immediate threat of a Wild West corner store meltdown over missing cigars. I’ve never read a Western but love the lush, feminine descriptions of clothes and sandy general stores. The backstory is heavy and hard to mix in with the action and somewhat archaic speech, but I reckon for someone versed in the genre besides movies, it’s good as gold. The women actually know each other as robbers and stage performers, the other girl w/ two dif eye colors, Pip, on the run and out to kill/avenge her horse and the MC’s prison sentence. The MC lost her children because of this and hasn’t seen this friend in five years so hadn’t recognized her in disguise.

The timeline seesaws, showing them threatening everybody including female drs for morphine, jostle discarded lovers, and work at a brothel (as piano players and cheeky, corseted dancers). It’s set very late 1800s/early 1900s so there are silent films, scant utilities, lots of cursing and humor still applicable today. Kids cause as much mischief as the foppish men and sharp-tongue women. Trains, guns, everyone a wise-crack scammer in their own way. Well-crafted but a lot going to get unpeeled and naturally archaic, so be warned but open, people new to the genre. Thanks Net Galley Advance Review copies for letting me test the gold flecked waters.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I had a serious struggle with this book and ended up not finishing. I found the story was not for for me. I was disappointed because the description sounded excellent.

The Good Time Girls are Ruby Calhoun and Pip. Both girls are running from an abusive man who's now after them. This book tells the story of how they became partners in a dancehall show and why they're on a hit list.
Set in 1905 Kansas, the story alternates between present day and the past. That part of the book was confusing at times.
Also, the cliffhanger ending left several plot lines unresolved. I would definitely read more books in the series but only if they continue this storyline.
I like the friendship. And each woman brings unique talents, skills and personalities to their relationships. And there's plenty of action! I can see this novel adapted into a (rated MA) movie.

Great writing but too slow for me to get really drawn in.
I did enjoy both Ruby and Pop. Both written with their own strong personalities but very different outlooks.
DNF @ 49%

*DNF*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

This one was not for me, chose to DNF.

BRILLIANT

Absolutely brilliant this excellent read as a bit of everything for everyone.
If the 'Western ' genre puts you off don't let it this book would work in any genre. Quality writing and research, atmospheric clever descriptive totally engaging from first to last page. Superb characterisation throughout especially the brave fearless female leads, Martha Ruth in particular. At times poignant and sad others witty and occasionally laugh out loud funny, always a riveting unputdownable page turner.
My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
Completely and utterly recommended.

As the first in a series by K.T. Blakemore I found this an enjoyable book with strong women characters in the early 1900s in Kansas City. The life of Ruby and Pip is entertaining and fascinating. Recommended.

A fun western with female leads! Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, our good times girls find themselves reacting to a threat from their wilder days. As they race from one place to the next trying to outrun the hunters tracking them and save their friends, the humor and camraderie of these two women is a gift itself. This was a quick read for me. The western feel and the characters made it a very enjoyable read too.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Good Time Girls by K.T. Blakemore is the first book in her new Wild-Willed Women of the West series.

Ruby Calhoun didn’t want to be an outlaw. She wanted to be Annie Oakley. But one bad marriage, two children left in the care of her sister, a stint as a performer (but not a prostitute) in a Wild West brothel /theater, and a failed stagecoach robbery have turned her into one. That and a troubled friendship with her partner, Pip Quinn. Pip likewise is haunted by a relationship with the wrong man. A very wrong man.

This rollicking novel told from Ruby’s viewpoint skips back and forth in time from current action, when Ruby and Pip are reunited, to four years earlier, when Ruby and Pip first meet. This format allows the story to unfold in a way that keeps the tension high in both timelines.

Ruby escaped an abusive marriage but ended up in a dead-end town where she managed to avoid prostitution by becoming a performer at the rinky-dink theater attached to the brothel. She attached herself to the star attraction, Pip. Unfortunately, Pip was in thrall to a gambler/charmer/abuser named Cullen Wilder. Not content with his power over Pip, he wanted control of the brothel as well. Leading to a disastrous turn of events.

Four years later, Ruby has paid her debt to society, but perhaps not her debt to Pip. Ruby owns a small cigar shop and hopes to lead a quiet, safe life. But that dream is laid to rest when Pip walks through the door. It seems Cullen has sent Pip his “calling card,” a death threat. Pip expects Ruby will also be getting a card. The two must join forces to find him, and kill him, before he finds them.

This is a voice-y, old-western adventure with plucky female protagonists — women driven to extremes by the limitations of their lives.

I'm actually not sure if I've ever read a Western so I was excited about The Good Time Girls from the get-go. It follows ex-friends Pip and Ruby in 1905 Kansas City as they go on a journey to find and kill Ruby's cruel old husband who has put a hit out on both of them. With a dual timeline, we get a glimpse at how the two girls met and the events that led to their current day predicament.

I loved Pip and Ruby's relationship. They're both feisty and their banter was entertaining. I would describe them as Wild West Thelma and Louise. The dual timeline was a little confusing at first but I quickly caught on. I think it would have been more clear if we had dates with each chapter description.

Overall, this was a unique and interesting read. I wasn't sure if I would, but I really enjoyed the Old Western atmosphere. {Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to be an early reader. All opinions are my own.}

This is the first western I have read, and I really liked it! I'm excited for the next book in the series! I loved the idea of a modern feminization of an old tale like outlaws of the wild west outrunning an enemy. I liked seeing Ruby and Pip work together even though they have had their falling out; both these characters are smart and feisty and so much fun to read. I also liked getting the past and present perspective, getting to see what all went wrong.
This was a fun read, but it was a little chaotic for me, There was so much action and back-and-forth timelines and so many different characters that at times I was getting lost in the story, not sure exactly what was happening. Something I really appreciated reading though was how clearly the author researched and knew their stuff about the time period, the characters, and the setting and language used. Maybe this is common in western reads, but since this is my first, I was impressed with the level of knowledge the author had in writing this book.
Thank you for the ARC!!!

It’s so refreshing to see an historical western with female main characters. The Good Time Girls is a delightful, fast-paced romp with two feisty heroines who are sure to steal your heart!

Ruby and Pip are down-on-their luck former showgirls on the run from a shared enemy—the nefarious Cullen Wilder—a cruel man bent on revenge, at all costs. There’s plenty of action throughout, but I especially loved the dual timelines, which are paced exceptionally well. The earlier timeline gives body to the characters and grounds the reader in Pip and Ruby’s past so that we understand their “present” day circumstances. Filled with witty banter, humor, and heart, this first in a planned series is one you won’t want to miss, especially if you enjoyed stories like True Grit or Thelma and Louise.

This was a fun read full of western zeal, strong female characters, and a very intriguing premise!

The Good Time Girl is a good old fashion western set in 1905 Kansas, and follows two women named Pip and Ruby as they try to track down a man that wants our characters dead. Pip and Ruby have unlawful history, but Ruby has tried to live on the straight and narrow until Pip comes back into her life with the grim reality that Cullen Wilder wants them both gone.

This was definitely an interesting read, and the western atmosphere and the feminist undertones were amazing! However, I do think the plot itself could be confusing and I faced some trouble with the pacing of the story. But, other than that, this is a very entertaining and intriguing book to read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book!

This is a fun Western, set in Kansas in 1905, and told from the perspective of Ruby, a good time girl trying to go straight! It jumps back and forth a bit, which was confusing at times but the plotting was interesting, there were touches of humour and the pace was steady. It's a good, fun filled Western, told from the female perspective and I would recommend as a holiday read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

DNF at 70%. The dialogue and atmosphere are so well-written, I could hear the characters speaking in their very unique voices. And I could clearly picture the scenes- it’s a really atmospheric book, which I enjoyed. But as excited as I was to read a female western, with two rough-around-the-edges friends on the run, I just couldn’t get invested in their story and eventually gave up.

The story flip flops between friends Ruby and Pip, setting up their friendship backstory from their initial days working in a whorehouse, to present day when Pip shows up out of nowhere and takes Ruby on the run to… murder her old husband? I think? Or was it murder the man he sent to kill her? Or maybe run from him before he caught up? Honestly, I lost track of exactly why they were on the run, and who they were running from. Their adventures on the road where entertaining, but without understanding the “why”, I found it hard to stay invested.

Ruby was a cool character with a great sense of humor and chutzpah. Pip was less fleshed out, and definitely a secondary character at best, despite being the impetus for Ruby abandoning her cigar shop and hiking out of town with her. Their friendship was entertaining but always a little confusing. I think this book showed great promise and love that it’s set with two tough broads in the West, but it ultimately fell flat for me.

Big thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC for my review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

Sisters really are doing it for themselves it would seem.
Two bold ladies, out to right wrongs and save themselves snd others.
To be honest, this book was just good fun.
A great take on a female western, which I'm not sure I've read before, or that many westerns in fact.
Strong lead characters, and some great humour.
I'll be looking for the second book for sure.

this is definitely a fun western about powerful, independent women ahead of their time, but it sure does leave a lot to be desired.

a western set in 1905’s kansas city, ruby is a woman with a dubious past trying to keep on the straight and narrow… for the most part. when her ex-friend, ex-partner comes back with a mission, she drops everything to commit a worthy crime.

while i enjoyed a feminist take on a western, the plot was a bit confusing at times in terms of pacing. this isn’t a complete tale, but rather the first of a series yet to come. the ending was lackluster.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!