The Good Time Girls

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.

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.}

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.

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.

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.