This book is fucking amazing. It is, in my opinion, a perfectly-paced, meticulously-crafted, slow-boiling epic tale of revenge. And that journey from relative innocence to hardened blood-thirsty vengeance is so delicious.

I love how the story explores brothel life and the community or lack thereof that exists between the girls. I love that it’s a coming-of-age, coming-into-queerness story for Bridget. I love the forbidden romance, the dangerous outlaws, the gender-defiant criminals, the betrayal, the action, the suspense, all of it.

But I also love how every single detail in this story *matters.* And you may hear me say that and think, “Isn’t that a given?” In terms of craft, a scene should never just be something happening. It should advance the plot, it should reveal something about the characters, it should establish atmosphere or the rules of the world, it should introduce a complication. It should do *something.* But that’s not always a given, and I was blown away by how every little detail in this story added up to something greater, foreshadowed something, introduced characters or places that would serve some greater purpose later in the story. It’s like adding one grain of sand to a pile at a time—at first you can’t tell the difference, but then suddenly you have a mountain.

I think what I’m getting at here is that the pay-off of the story is so incredibly satisfying. Not only in terms of action, because it’s all building towards this classically Western epic showdown, but also in terms of Bridget’s character—the way she’s torn between self-preservation and pushing herself to be something more than just someone who survives. She’s realizing that all the people and institutions she’s ever put her faith in and been loyal to are not loyal back to her. She’s learning how easily the world can turn its back on you, especially when you’re seen as “disposable,” and that’s why she wants to take her fate into her own hands.

"Lucky Red" is simply incredible. It’s well-written, it keeps you guessing until the very end. I loved every single thing about it. Absolutely no notes. This was an easy five star read for me.

I wasn’t able to get through this story. Unfortunately, I had to DNF but I’m hoping I’ll be able to come back to it sometime soon.

I really loved this fresh and interesting take on a western theme. Super exciting read, and love the representation. This novel will be featured on an upcoming episode of Your Rainbow Reads podcast.

Larry McMurtry, eat your heart out. There’s a fine new word-slinger come to town, and her name is Claudia Cravens.

My thanks go to Random House and Net Galley for the invitation to read and review Lucky Red. This book is for sale now, and you should get it and read it.

Bridget lives a life of hardscrabble deprivation; her mother died in childbirth, and all she has is her pa. He loves her, but he’s worthless; when he finally gets a bit of money, he invariably drinks and gambles till it’s nearly gone. During one such episode, he gambles away their little house, and then buys a homestead, sight unseen and many miles away. What they find instead is a tar paper shack; there are no crops or tilled acreage, no tools or even a decent place to live. They crawl into the miserable hovel to get out of the elements, at least, and get some sleep; a rattler has the same notion, but when pa thrashes in his sleep, the rattler bites him in the neck, and then there is only teenage Bridget.

Bridget makes her way to Dodge City, and in no time, she is stone cold broke. She’s recruited to work in a brothel, the only one in town owned and run by women. She doesn’t mind the work and makes friends among the other “sporting women,” and is curiously removed from the process for which she is paid; slide prong A into slot V; moan a little, gush, and collect your pay. But later, she finds herself obsessed with a new sex worker; a lovely blonde woman named Sallie. Everyone around her understands the significance of this fascination, but Bridget herself doesn’t get it. She’s young, and she’s naïve. But when Spartan Lee, a female bounty hunter, comes to town and asks to hire Bridget, the sun shines and the angels sing.

This story is epic, and in many ways reminds me of Little Big Man, but with a female protagonist. And in many ways, what makes it so successful is its restraint. At the book’s outset, there’s a slimy man that wants to buy Bridget’s hand in marriage, which would give her father a nice chunk of change, but she hates the man, and her father doesn’t push it. A less capable writer would have done it the other way, but here, and in every instance where I predict what will happen because it’s so obvious, Cravens does something else. And the lesbian sex is brief and almost free of physical details—a sad thing for anyone looking for soft porn, but it serves to keep the story moving forward—with the emotion behind it carrying the internal narrative.

Although Bridget has no complaint about the work she does, and the management is more benign than in houses owned and run by men, Cravens keeps it real. One night, Sallie is attacked by a client, and Bridget bursts in to rescue her. It doesn’t go well. Sallie berates her for her naivete:

“You don’t see the first thing about this, though, do you. They all have a knife, Bridget. They all have a gun, and they were all born with two fists on the ends of their arms. You think you’ve got this all figured out, but any single one of ‘em could take a swipe at you some night and you’d be dead before you hit the ground.”

To tell you more would be to spoil it for you, so I’ll leave you with this: Lucky Red is the best debut novel of 2023, and one of the best books I’ve seen this year, period. Don’t miss it.

I have put my review of this on Goodreads and will be highlighting the novel on my blog on Sunday Aug. 27, 2023 at https://www.thecuecard.com

I didn't know what to expect going in but this is a Western set on the American frontier about a young woman’s coming of age in a Dodge City brothel, her changes and the relations she makes there, and the revenge she seeks on a few who come to betray her. Bridget with her long red hair is recruited to be a sex worker at the popular Buffalo Queen bar & brothel by two madams. Soon enough she's making her way turning tricks with the male clientele and becomes good friends with Constance the bookish sporting girl with the room next door. But later a marriage proposal by a customer and an attraction to an alluring female gunslinger send Bridget's heart aflutter and she soon discovers what real intimacy is all about.
This page-turning debut has some compelling turns & twists and wonderful touches of life within the Buffalo Queen for a girl like Bridget. It's not an easy life and violence and theft are always a bit close at hand. Bridget learns some lessons the hard way and you root for her to be strong and turn the tide. This story goes out with guns a blazing on a dangerous mission into an impending snowstorm. Kudos to author Claudia Cravens on this debut; she's a writer to watch.

4.75⭐ on 🎧

Alexa, play Cowboy Like Me by Taylor Swift. Then play Vigilante Shit.

If you are looking for the book to read after loving The Hop last year, you need to read this book. Take The Hop and make a Western with outlaws and sheriffs and sharpshooters and also make it way more sapphic and you have the adventure that is Lucky Red.

I absolutely loved Bridget's growth as a main character. She took charge of her destiny and refused to let men or money or society tell her what to do, and while sometimes this really hurt her, she owned her choices and learned from them. This story had some excellent twists and it was so smart with multiple plot points coming full circle.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was an excellent debut. A must read for anyone looking for a sapphic book that hits different and is more than a romance!

I will say I started reading it with my eyes, but reading it with my ears was the way to go.

I loved Lucky Red. Are Queer Westerns my new fave genre? I loved the protagonist's journey, and the outlaws/whores of the West were alive throughout. I would read more from the author

Very enjoyable framing of the challenges in the old West in a more empowering opportunity-focused story. My heart absolutely BROKE when our heroine was betrayed!

Orphan Bridget Shaughnessy is a prostitute in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1877. After burying her Pa out on the plains, she rolls into Dodge with a few dollars, which she blows in two weeks on food and hot water. Back on the street, Lila, joint owner of the Buffalo Queen Saloon, singles her out. The saloon has need of a redhead, and Bridget/Red takes to the life like a duck to water. Anyone would think she has a knack for the work. The bookish Constance, who reads Wuthering Heights to relieve boredom between tricks, befriends her. To keep the law favourable, Red agrees to become sheriff’s deputy Jim Bonnie’s mutual favourite, although mutual is a relative term. Then female bounty-hunter, Spartan Lee, rides into town towing outlaw Ottis Shy. Spartan is part of the Lee brothers’ gang, and the one responsible for capturing Shy, who is guilty of massacre, rape and various and sundry crimes. Spartan is there to see him hanged. Provocative sparks fly between Red and the alluring female gunfighter.

Cravens writes her ultra-feminist old West yarn with unapologetic honesty. The constant racket of cattle, horses, yipping cowboys, and saloon pianos is particularly well-drawn, and the air, filled with dust and smoke, smells of old leather and unwashed bodies. The descriptive metaphors pull no punches, so don’t venture in if your sensibilities are easily bruised. With prose by turns philosophical, meditative, and nostalgic, Cravens draws an original coming-of-age picture, where choices are limited and earning decent money means whoring. Jim Bonnie’s unexpected offer carries with it the winds of change, and Red’s run of luck turns to heartache. With newfound self-determination, will she accept her fate or ride out with the resolute Constance for revenge? If you enjoy raunchy, fast-paced, western romances where the pendulum swings both ways, this novel could be for you!

I haven’t read anything like Lucky Red before—if you’re looking for a queer historical Western set in a brothel with plenty of gun slinging, this book is for you! It’s a quick read and a pretty wild ride, though there were some storylines that I would have liked to see fleshed out a bit more. Overall, I’d recommend it.

Lucky Red is the story of Bridget, a young person living on the Arkansas prairie in 1877. Following the loss of her father, Bridget stumbles into Dodge City, Kansas, and becomes a sex worker in a women owned brothel. There she meets many colorful characters and Spartan Lee, a female gunslinger who is feared across the land. I love a good historical fiction, especially one set in an interesting place and time period, and thought the premise of this book sounded engaging!

And engaging it was! I didn't have many expectations before starting this book and was blown away by how much I liked it. The setting is great, the characters are interesting, and the story progressed in unexpected ways. I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. There are a lot of morally gray characters (or just, ya know, people) who are trying to make their living in a very unforgiving time in a very unforgiving place. I liked seeing Bridget grow, learn, make friends, make enemies, and generally make her way in the world.

There are definitely instances of violence and sexual violence that come with a book set in this time and place. While not overwhelming, they were definitely present. If that is upsetting for you, this might be a book to skip.

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and recommend it to anyone who is intrigued by the premise! 4.55 stars rounded up 5 from me. Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.

I cannot put into words how much I loved this novel. Lucky Red was exactly what I wanted it to be. Cannot recommend it enough.

This book was so freaking amazing! I cannot believe that I was this hooked on a western because I typically do not vibe with the setting but this just did not quit. I could not put it down. I appreciate the non outlaw approach to the story because it allowed for a more town based world building that grounded the story wonderfully. I loved it!!

I got an ARC of this book.

This one was weirdly fun. The audiobook has accents even, which made the line "Before I was a whore in Kansas" very amusing for me (both because I live in Kansas, and the accent is a lot like my wife's when they get sleepy).

I can see why the age made people uncomfortable. Having a teenager as a prostitute is not something that is a comfortable read. That being said, the way she looked at things and engaged with others was compelling. Would the character been the same at 18 that she was at 16? Probably pretty close. I couldn't find a reason for making her so young, but it was also a quick detail that was easy to miss if I hadn't read a few reviews before I started.

Overall, entertaining in a way I was not expecting based on the plot. It made me think of Miss Kitty a lot, but it was for sure not a western in the same way as that show.

I had no idea I needed a sapphic, feminist Western in my life but apparently I did!

Here's the thing - I liked the first 3/4 of this book. It's kind of a character-driven slow burn look at how orphaned Bridget makes a life for herself in a brothel, even though she struggles to follow the rules. The world is interesting and Bridget is a really compelling character, especially after she falls in love with a female gunslinger who rolls into town.

But the last 1/4 of the book? I loved loved loved! It becomes more of an action adventure story and I could not stop turning the pages. Seriously, give this one a read just to see how it ends.

Thanks to Random House and Dial Press for the copy to review.

I don't come across many queer western stories, which made me so excited to read Lucky Red. Bridget's story starts off rough with the loss of her father, but watching her grow and learn throughout the story was so satisfying and kept me cheering for her. The book didn't shy away from tough topics, including Bridget's life working in a brothel. But it also didn't dumb her down to being just a sex worker either. Her and the other women in the book were layered, complicated, and fully aware of their circumstances without shaming them.

Lucky Red also did something really interesting that I haven't seen in a lot of historical queer stories, which was Bridget's queerness was part of her without being the entire plot of the story. It impacted the plot while still evolving her as more than just someone who is attracted to women. It allowed to story to feel more grounded overall, and closer to how it is to be queer in real life.

I would definitely recommend this one other fellow western lovers or people interested in checking out more historical books.

Bridget is out of money and luck when Lila finds her in Dodge City, Kansas. In 1877, there were not many opportunities for sixteen year old orphans and Bridget was already tired of of the backbreaking chores of housework. Lila offers her a different path and Bridget soon adapts to being a "sporting woman" in the only brothel in town run by women. Claudia Cravens creates endearing characters in Lucky Red that face danger to survive. Bridget''s inexperience in life threatens her safety and the livelihoods of the Buffalo Queen. Their resilience is admirable and the reader cheers for them to persevere. A little spicy, but not too much considering the setting.

Sixteen-year-old Bridget Shaughnessy is pretty disillusioned with her alcoholic father, and the demands men make on women, by the time he dies of a snakebite. Penniless and homeless, the naïve redhead ends up in Dodge City, and is quickly convinced by Lila to work at the Buffalo Queen, the only brothel in town owned and run by women.

Bridget takes to the work; she is happy to be making her own money, is not shamed, and feels no shame in earning a good wage. But, though she is a draw for the local men and a good earner, she never really fully internalizes the brothel's rules, and there is frequent friction between her and Lila. Bridget does become friends with one of her coworkers, Constance, a bookish young woman. She also catches the eye of the Sheriff's Deputy, Jim, who provides the brothel with some measure of security.

Bridget is alternately frustrating and captivating. She's impulsive to a fault, strongly motivated by a wish for freedom, and truly doesn't understand how delicate a balance the Buffalo Queen owners must maintain in Dodge City to ensure their and their workers' financial and physical safety.

Author Claudia Cravens also shows us how the other young women at the brothel fully realize how complicated their positions are, how their jobs entail being attractive and empty-headed to please their customers, but are also appreciative how their work gives them independence in a way marriage does not.

After working for a while, Bridget discovers, after her first crush, that she's attracted to women, something that she's not shamed for, but must keep quiet from the brothel's customers.

Then, everything changes for Bridget when the only female gunslinger, Spartan Lee, comes to town. Bridget is instantly smitten, and begins a relationship with the woman, falling hard. And, because this is a western, there are double crosses, sudden violence and swift death, swearing of vengeance, hard riding after bad people, and flying bullets.

The writing was great, and the characters were well-drawn. Bridget leapt off the page; she's slightly cynical, but also a bit of a dreamer, aching to be heading off at full speed toward adventure.

Cravens creates the kind of western I've been wanting to see more of, where women are central to the story, and female friendship is critical to the main character's trajectory and success.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for this advance copy!

Bridget finds her way to Dodge City, leaving behind her dead father, his debts, and a life of poverty, and is quickly taken in by two women who run a saloon and whorehouse. As Bridget takes to her new profession, she learns about life on the frontier, falling not once, but twice, for women who may or may not mean her well.

I appreciate stories about women finding their way and making their life happen but I found Bridget frustrating as a character. For someone smart enough to survive with her father and the trip out to the prairie, she seemed not so smart at reading people and figuring things out. She is willfully ignorant at times and I don't know how anyone was putting up with her except she was making the deputy happen and bringing in money? I don't know.

I was genuinely surprised by the ending, if for no other reason than I'm not sure how in character it was for Bridget after everything she had experienced, but I did like the writing and I look forward to more books from the author.

Lucky Red follows Bridget as she enters the oldest profession following the sudden death of her father. While working, she begins discovering her sexuality and finding her strength.

This was not what I was expecting at all, but in the best way possible. I was anticipating a much more bleak and depressing scene at the brothel, but these women ran the show and had their own agency. They got what they needed from the men, but they were never controlled by them. I was also expecting much more emphasis on the romance plot, but was very pleasantly surprised by the direction that the story took.

Overall, this was an absolute five star read for me. Westerns are not typically my thing, but this made me hungry for more, and I will be recommending this book to anyone and everyone that I can.

Thank you so much to Dial Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.