Lucky Red follows Bridget, recently orphaned and left to find her own way in the world. Arriving in Dodge City, Kansas, she finds herself employed at the Buffalo Queen, becoming embroiled in brothel life, making a friend in Constance, earning her own money, and soon becoming the favourite of the local Deputy. However, when notorious female gunfighter Spartan Lee arrives, Bridget’s life is turned upside down.

Lucky Red was an explosive and thrilling ride from start to finish. It throws you right into the deep end as you follow the main protagonist, Bridget. As a character, Bridget is incredibly well written. As the reader, you are taken right into her mind, and the direct POV leaves nowhere to hide from her emotions. It can be brutal and intimate and heartfelt in equal measure.

This book blends Western adventure with the desires and darkness of humanity. It doesn’t hold back on the brutality of life in Dodge City for those less fortunate, but it juxtaposes this with the beauty of friendship and found family. The setting is brought to life by Cravens’ writing, so much so you can imagine all of it in your mind, feeling as though you are there yourself.

This one was a story of love, loss, revenge, and, above all, friendship. It delved into the darkness of humanity while also bringing light and levity. As you read, you have a front row seat to Bridget finally discovering who she is, who she loves, and what she wants from life. She isn’t a character to follow what others expect of her, and it is liberating to see her finally be her true self.

There are twists to keep you guessing, your heart will break multiple times, but mostly this is a heartwarming frontier adventure that focuses on sapphic love, female friendship, and strong female characters.

I really enjoyed this book and sped through it in a few hours!

i think this book struggled to regulate its tone a little - a gunslinging, bloody adventure book, and a more sedate, frivolous book in one. not saying those two things can't exist together, but they didn't massively work together here. still! lots of lovable characters, lots of fun set pieces, twists and turns that felt very satisfying. a fun read, if not a perfect one!

☆☆☆☆

Despite how much I enjoyed Lucky Red this is only going to be a short-ish review as I didn’t have many thoughts whilst reading it.
I really enjoyed the writing and the setting and I enjoyed the characters too, all of them interesting and well written (so none felt flat or 2D).

When I started it I thought it would take me a while to read but then I flew through it like no tomorrow, I couldn’t put it down, especially at the end when my anticipation was high and my eyes were flying over the words beyond ready to find out what happened next and the characters fates. In particular I really liked the final confrontation like !!

Lucky Red felt shorter than it was and before I knew it I was at the 76% mark shocked at how much of the story I’d already read and how little I had left to go. All that said it was a really good length and didn’t drag out too much or anything. The only thing I wanted to see more of in the book was more of Bridget falling in love because that part felt a little fast, other than that I have no complaints about the book.

One thing I was surprised by was how much I enjoyed Lucky Red considering I’m not the biggest Historical Fiction fan but it sounded good and had a pretty cover so I thought why not give it a read and BAM here I am a book read later and rating it 4 stars!

Overall it was a good book and enjoyable read and I’m glad I picked it up!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Set in a Dodge City brothel, Lucky Red offers an interesting spin on the Western genre as the orphaned Bridget falls hard for a female bounty hunter who brings a big prize to town.

A rattlesnake got the better of Bridget’s father on the trek from their Arkansas home to Kansas in search of the twenty acres promised to him, leaving his sixteen-year-old daughter to fend for herself. More by luck than judgement, Bridget has landed in The Buffalo Queen Saloon, taking to her work with alacrity. Soon she’s the favourite of the local sheriff who offers much needed protection for the establishment until he decides he wants to make an honest woman of Bridget who’s in the grips of an obsession with Spartan Lee, sister of the notorious Lee brothers, and turns him down. With Jim’s presence no longer curbing the worst excesses of its clientele, the Buffalo Queen slips into dangerous territory unnoticed by Bridget until things go horribly wrong.

Bridget is a wonderfully engaging narrator, spinning out her life as a ‘sporting woman’ in a sassy, witty voice while revealing her dangerous naivete. Cravens’ story is neatly plotted, its pleasingly clever setup smartly coming together at the end in a satisfying denouement. A thoroughly entertaining yarn which would make a brilliant movie in the right hands.