I like an occasional story about hardships of life on the plains with a couple of strong female characters. I had a copy from NetGalley but instead listened to the audiobook, which was nicely done. The story was an emotional rollercoaster and by the end, I found it more depressing than most such books I've read. Very depressing, in fact. Enough said without throwing in spoilers.

Sandra Dallas has written a beautiful novel. "Where the Coyotes Howl" is a story of the settling of the West, how difficult it was, and how painful for the women who lived there. Many did not survive and for those that did, lack of medical intervention, hard work, and just plain loneliness of the prairie were too difficult for many to stay. Eeking out a living on dryland farming, surviving the heat and pounding sun and lack of human interaction on remote farms and homesteads made daily life almost impossible. For one couple, who loved and lived there it almost seemed possible though. Dallas tells the love story of Charlie and Ellen in the most eloquent and realistic way. Friendships, family, and hardships are the mainstay of the book. I enjoyed reading this story, especially the difficulties the women faced, and am glad to see more writers emphasizing that in their books. Thanks to #netgalley#WhereCoyotesHowl for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Once again, as with all the other Ms. Dallas novels I’ve read, I became totally absorbed in this poignant, yet tragic story of two people’s lives during the early years of settlement in the west. Charlie and Ellen experience horrific weather, tragedies and extreme travails. But they survive – bound together by the love they had for each other.

The novel shines with the descriptions of the landscape, the isolation, and severe hardship, but also the understanding and care for those facing even harder times. The sense of community was inspirational and I found their losses and those of their neighbors just heart breaking.

Where Coyotes Howl is highly recommended as absorbing historical fiction — a full and gripping tale of early America and the struggles of it’s settlers.

In 1916 Ellen Webster leaves her safe job in Iowa to take a teaching job in Wallace, Wyoming. In that first year she falls in love with both the challenging land and a young ranch cowboy. They wed, start to farm and start a family. Sounds like a typical western romance, but Sandra Dallas does not write ordinary nor romances. Where the Coyotes Howl is a story of a tender, but strong love and amazing friendshps that despite their depth cannot guarantee a happily ever after. The novel realistically shows that it was not just the weak or the ill-prepared that fell to the west. Sometimes the land and circumstances were more destructive than the strongest families could handle. I've always loved Sandra Dallas's writing and this book is no exception despite that heartache present throughout the book. I received a copy of this title from Netgalley and all opinions are mine. i highly recommend the book to readers of historical fiction and to those who have read other stories by Dallas.

After reading LITTLE SOULS last year I was very excited about reading this book. It is both good and bad. Good in that it will definitely make you feel lots of deep emotions. Bad in that there is a bit too much devastation happening. Also I did not like the very end. To me it was just too much. I don't believe it would have happened. Thus I did find that part unbelievable and it lost a star for that.

When Ellen comes to Wallace, Wyoming to be the new school teacher little does she know that her life is about to take a huge turn. Partly for good and a little not so good. She meets Charlie and they instantly fall in love. They don't really do a lot of courting but they do go on horse rides and to visit people. They go to the school picnic and after that they do seem to spend a lot of time together. They get married and live in a small shack that he built for them. Ellen becomes friends with several of the local ladies and her best friend turns out to be a prostitute turned wife who is very likable and pretty down to earth. Then the tragedies start.

Life on the plains of Wyoming are hard. Winters so cold that you can't go outside without possibly freezing. Summer so hot you can barely stand it. There are some very mean men that live in Wallace also. Mean to their wives. Treat them as if they are nothing. Ellen's friend Ruth is one. I really liked Ruth very much. I kept thinking she should leave the monster but you do understand why she can't. Where would she go and how would she get there. Then you meet Julia who's husband kept her pregnant all the time with no time to even heal between babies. There was a lot of death during this time. A lot of children who died. It's quite heartbreaking to read. The life of a woman during this time is almost unbearable. Some survive and others just don't. Some actually lost their minds it was so bad. Seems the men faired pretty good which I found unbelievable in parts. I know men are tougher but it's still a hard life.

This book is very well written and some of the characters are likable. Some are not. There are two men you would detest deeply. At least one woman you will root for to survive. As for the big love story between the main two characters.. I have no doubt they loved each other deeply but there was just nothing written to indicate that their love was any deeper or stronger than, say, the Gurleys. Yes they did love each other and other characters constantly reminded Ellen how much Charlie basically worshipped her but I didn't see it as any stronger than other couples. It could have been written in I think. I'm not saying this book is not excellent because it is. It's very good. You'll want Ellen and Charlie to be the loving couple that you read about. Deeply in love. I suppose it could be a given without writing all the mushy parts. They did love each other deeply but they were also very typical. Charlie did love Ellen and helped her in many ways. But she did him also.

The two characters that I really liked were Hattie and Miss Ferguson. Miss Ferguson's story was good. It was sad but she was a tough woman and survived.

This is a very heartbreaking story with a lot of loss. It might should have a trigger warning about all the children who die but alas back then it happened so often. It's a sad story but also has some happy things in it too. It's told by one of the characters and in the epilogue you'll find out which. I did guess who right before I got there. It had to be that one... Again, I didn't like the very ending. To me it was just not right. It didn't fit.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SandraDallas, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Four stars and I recommend it. It's very good and very well written. I just didn't like the end....

I so loved this book. My first official 5 star and not a 4.5 star that I rounded up for Goodreads. An adult version of Little House with all the hardships from an adult perspective and not a child's. I read an ARC, which was provided to mw by NetGalley and, which is an uncorrected proof, so I overlooked the errors and inconsistencies, which I hope were caught and corrected before the final version came out. I also liked how they included two mentally disabled children into the story. Trigger warnings: for spousal abuse and child deaths.

Wow - what a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be. I went in with zero expectations and did not read any reviews and it was AMAZING! The story was incredible, the characters were heartbreaking, strong and amazing. The research into the West during the early 20th century was well done - i could picture the challenges of life for people living during that time. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in historical fiction.
Ellen accepts a teaching position in Wyoming - and falls in love with Charlie, a cowboy. Very quickly, Ellen discovers the difficulty of living in the West, however the strength of her relationship grows despite the tragedies they face. 
Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

I couldn’t put this down. I read it in one day. It’s an addictive comfort read that is so easy to get lost in. I loved it so much. I need more books just like this.

Heartbreaking story of the hard life of ranch life. Ellen is a city girl who came to the Wyoming prairie to teach schoolchildren. She falls in love and marries Charlie the handsome rancher. The story was filled with too much sadness for me. The writing made the events very vivid.

Thank you#NetGalley, #StMartinsPress, #SandraDallas and #WherCoyotesHowl for the advance readers copy for my honest review.

Where Coyotes Howl is a beautifully told story about the trials of living on a ranch in 1916 Wyoming. The story surrounds Ellen, the new school teacher in town and her battle to find her way to fit in and thrive. 

This book is hard on the heart, there are parts that are so incredibly sad, but this story is told elegantly. 
Some days were very bleak on the ranch, but Ellen found comfort in the women in the community. She sees these women suffering from the treatment by their husbands, and Ellen tries to be there for them. This story is truly heartbreaking, especially when we learn of the children that are in violent, neglectful households. Ellen and Charlie's relationship was so beautiful. He loved Ellen and backed her up in any way he could. He knew that she needed a true partner and he was there for her. 

This story left me in tears but this raw novel will be unforgettable. 

I will need to check out Dallas' backlist because I know I want to read more by her.

Sandra Dallas and historical fiction go together like two peas in a pod. Reading her acknowledgements at the end of her books is always enlightening in the amount of research she puts into a book to make the story authentic. Where Coyotes Howl is just that in its depiction of the lifestyles of early 1900s Wyoming and the hardships encountered while trying to settle and live in the sparse land. The main characters of Ellen, a young school teacher who left Iowa to explore a new life, and Charlie, a self-described cowboy smitten by Ellen at first look, take the reader into their lives as they try to build a family and home surrounded by their love. The people of Wallace Wyoming bring characters into the story that further detail the living style of the time that made it especially difficult for women to make it without the help of other women as both friends and conspirators that protect each other when needed. The heartbreak of their stories is amplified by the knowledge that sometimes there is just no help to be had, and to go on means to make the best of whatever life brings. There are characters in this story that bring a smile and others that bring rage, making a story well-told and making the reader keep turning the pages to find out how their stories end. Definitely will recommend this book to other readers. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #WhereCoyotesHowl #SandraDallas

***Book Review***

This story falls along the lines of Little House on the Prairie and Where the Lost Wander. Tales of ordinary people working hard and doing the best they can amidst hardships and tragedies, and reads like a family history story. If you’re looking for a fluffy western story, this is not it.

We begin and end at the home of Charlie and Ellen, long abandoned, and a woman reminiscing and sharing their story. Having grown up amongst ranchers myself, and knowing many amazing ranching women (even still!), this story felt like sitting around the sewing table sharing life experiences. Especially the heartaches.

“Ellen and Charlie were ordinary, just like everybody else. There was nothing different about them, except for the way they loved each other.”

The neighborliness among everyone no matter their background or circumstance was captured well, and the need to help one another. It is NOT a Happily Ever After western romance, yet feelings run deep.

CW: Death (child, sibling, parent, animals), Domestic Abuse, Sexism, Brothels

*Thanks @netgalley for the eARC and opportunity to review this story.*

Title: Where Coyotes Howl
Author: Sandra Dallas
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.75, rounded up!)
Spice: 3/10
Kindle Unlimited: No
Deseret Bookshelf: No

#eARCbook #bookreview #bookstagram #wherecoyoteshowl

I really enjoyed this well written historical fiction novel. Life in early 1900 Wyoming is not quite what Ellen Webster had in mind when she took a teaching job in the small town of Wallace. Meeting and creating a home with cowboy Charlie Bacon presents a challenging life on the prairies.

‘Where Coyotes Howl’ is the immersive story by Sandra Dallas of Ellen Webster, a 23-year-old woman in Iowa accepting the teaching position in Wallace, Wyoming in 1916. Ellen’s romantic daydreams turn into a much different reality once she sees the town, the land, and the people. Teachers do not last more than their one-year contract, but Ellen is stalwart and open to her new life and work. Rancher-cowboy Charlie Bacon and Ellen fall in love, marry, set up married life on a small ranch, and begin a family. Despite hardscrabble living with blinding blizzards, scorching summer heat, rough land to tend, and spartan ways by necessity, their story is also a gentle love story. Ellen makes friends with other women nearby who also weather the hard life in Wyoming, and she enjoys and becomes part of this small community. Charlie and Ellen thrive on their steadfast love and their life together. But time and again, Ellen’s fears of the howling coyotes arise. Disease, increasing drought, As the writer imparts, Wyoming was proud that it was the first territory where women could vote, a woman’s rural life rarely held any accepted safety net when it came to domestic violence. As one character says, “Wyoming’s a man’s place. That’s for sure.” Like others there, Ellen and Charlie suffer losses, but they hold onto each other as long as they can.

The story is perfectly told in an unadorned style – telling a straight-forward, enthralling story with succinct descriptions of people and surroundings which works beautifully. However, once Ellen becomes enamored with Wyoming, the land, and its people, her thoughts blossom with what she sees such as of Russian thistle and rabbit bushes with yellow flowers “as gold coins.” The writer remarkably tells this tale with compassion, superb timing, and discipline - and conveys the ruggedness and vulnerability of the people and the necessity to accept life and death as part of their lives. The unseen howling coyotes are harbingers of just how fragile life is.

While I have not read other books by this writer, that will change. I will long remember this book, Ellen and Charlie, rural Wyoming in 1916, and what these women and men endured. I am grateful to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Sandra Dallas for the early access to this memorable book. This opinion is all my own.

I love a good western romance and Sandra Dallas writes an excellent story in her latest novel. Set on the plains of Wyoming in 1916, Ellen Webster accepts a teaching job in Wallace, a small town that is miles away from a big city.

Almost immediately Ellen meets a cowboy named Charlie Bacon. Charlie is a decent man who has been through some tragic times in his life. Even so, he finds enough love in his heart to include Ellen in his life. They soon marry and begin a life together in the rugged countryside of Wyoming.

Church socials, dances and picnics fill the couple’s social lives, but most of their time is dominated by work on the plains. Naturally, there are more tragedies to come in their small community.

I am not going to give the story away, but readers need to prepare their hearts for the struggles, love and loss that the young Bacon family endures. This is definitely a tissue-worthy story. I loved it in spite of the hardships they went through and am happy to recommend this to historical fiction and romance readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review.

This was a refreshingly different from the thrillers that I usually read. Sandra Dallas is an excellent writer and skillfully portrays the hardships of Wyoming prairie life. The characters, both good and bad, were well-drawn and authentic. The descriptions of the hardships endured will draw readers in. This will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Where Coyotes Howl is the second book I've read by talented author Sandra Dallas. She obviously does meticulous research for the settings of her stories; here she paints a vivid picture of the High Plains of Wyoming in the early 20th century. This book is more of a character-driven drama as opposed to one filled with action, though there is some of that, too. There are incidents of child and spousal abuse, prostitution, poverty and death, so be warned. In a nutshell, Ms. Dallas puts you through an emotional wringer.

In 1916, Ellen Webster decides to take a chance in applying for a teaching position in the two-street town of Wallace, Wyoming and is accepted. The High Plains is a desolate place with terrible winter blizzards and intense summer heat, but it has a beauty all its own. Ellen eventually falls in love with the place, as well as handsome cowboy Charlie Bacon. She moves on from being a teacher and is now a rancher's wife, and Ellen and Charlie hold on to each other through happiness and heartache. Ellen becomes friends with the diverse group of women who are also trying to survive in this harsh landscape. Will Ellen and Charlie find the happiness they both deserve?

After reading just two books by Sandra Dallas, I've arrived at two conclusions: There's going to be some ugly crying going on, and don't expect a happy ending. Now I may very well be wrong about that, but I will still seek out her work despite my love for happy endings. This book doesn't show an idealized view of the American West of the past, but rather the harsh realities. After accepting a job as a teacher in Wallace, Ellen made friends and the kids loved her. But when she fell in love with Charlie and married him, she had to give up her post; otherwise Charlie would be shamed, as people would think he could not provide for his wife. Ellen entered an entire new world as a rancher's wife and had to learn an entirely new set of life skills. Charlie worked hard to provide for his family, trying to establish his own ranch while also working for the Gurleys, a well-to-do family who had a large property. The premise was to show how Ellen and Charlie were ordinary people, except for the great love they shared. Though the love they had for one another was obvious, I didn't feel a great passion between them. I feel like we really got to know Ellen, but not so much Charlie, besides him being a hard worker and having lost both his parents and brother in violent ways. It's Ellen's relationships with the other women in the area that took the spotlight here, and showcased the great resiliency of women in the West. Mrs. Gurley worked hard supporting her husband and their ranch, while also dealing with her two children, one of whom had mental disabilities. Gladys was a former prostitute, now married with two children. Ruth, Ellen's former landlady, was physically and mentally brutalized by her husband. Miss Ferguson was a woman with a mysterious past and no friends, but Ellen befriended her and drew her into her circle. It was the friendships with these women who made the story. The significance of the title "Where Coyotes Howl" is a theme throughout the book and will give you chills while breaking your heart. It's not a happy story, but definitely worth reading.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

"Where the Coyotes Howl" is an ode to 1916 life on the prairie. Seeking a better life, people moved westward with hopes of living the American dream.

Synopsis: 1916. Seeking adventure Ellen Webster accepts a teaching position in Wyoming. Life is not easy in the flat, brown corner of the state where winter blizzards are unforgiving and the summer heat relentless. It isn't long before she falls in love with the high plains, the sweeping skies and the broad open spaces.

Ellen finds happiness in Wyoming, marrying a cowboy named Charlie. The novel follows their trials and tribulations as they build a home, start ranching and living off the land. Ellen is a lucky in her marriage compared to other couples nearby - some of those stories were absolutely heartbreaking. Ellen and Charlie face it all together, their relationship growing stronger with each shared success, and each deeply felt tragedy.

Those who have read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah or Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon will absolutely love Sandra Dallas's Where the Coyotes Howl. She gives us a glimpse back into our past where anything was possible and early settlers faced challenge after challenge. It truly was a man's world - times were very difficult for women. It's amazing how far we have come since then.

Dallas's writing is powerful and vivid. Her characters are resilient, devoted, and strong. And her plot is a harrowing tale about life, loss, hope and family. We feel the wind and hear the coyotes howl in the vast unforgiving landscape where neighbors live miles away from each other and need to rely on each other to survive.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of the book and audio for review and both are equally wonderful. Stephanie Németh-Parker (narrator) made the characters come alive. If you are looking for a read or listen book that has you feeling all the feels this is it! I can't imagine living back in 1916 on the prairie. These people had grit, determination and were tough.

Many thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio and St.Martins Press for the opportunity to experience the westward expansion complete with frontier life, female friendship, community, hardships, grief and love.

I love books that transport you to another place and time, and give you a taste of what life might have been like for ordinary people there. This deeply moving story is set in rural Wyoming in the 1940s. The protagonist, Ellen, takes a job as a schoolteacher and moves there without knowing much about it. She marries a cowboy and they build a life together in this unforgiving landscape, a flat, arid prairie, suitable only for ranching. Life is incredibly hard, particularly for women, and many don’t survive it, physically or emotionally.
Like all exceptionally good stories, this has deeper layers of meaning. It’s also about the rest of us, and the way we deal with the wondrous and dreadful events life throws at us. It’s about how love makes all the difference.
I highly recommend this book.

I have over the years become a huge Sandra Dallas fan. I just kind of realized it today. Every book I've read of hers is right at the top. Books I remember forever. That's pretty good for me because I read so much, I tend to forget the story line or the general gist of the story. Let me tell you that Where Coyotes Howl will be one you won't forget.

This book tugs at your heartstrings all the way through. It kept me totally immersed and interested. I could not put this book down. The characters were addictive. This is one of those books that are the whole 360 and everything you want from a book.

Ms. Dallas has a way with her character development that makes you know and feel each one. You know right away when you meet them in the story what they are all about. Ellen is a school teacher and she has a heart of gold and likes Charlie as soon as she sees him. Charlie falls in love with her the minute he meets her. Love at first sight. 

Life on the High Planes is rough during this time period and takes many lives. Folks move out there and don't know what they are in for. Charlie and Ellen make a good couple. They work together to build their ranch and start a family. I was wrapped up in their lives and how hard they worked and the challenges they faced. I don't think I would have been able to make it in Wallace, Wyoming. I like the comforts of city life too much.

If you like to learn about what life was like in other time periods or you just enjoy a good love story, this book should interest you. I am only a little of a quarter of a way through this year and I would have a hard time picking my top ten but, this one would have to make the list. Until next time…Happy Reading!

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from #Netgalley, #St.MartinsPress and the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.