Such strong female characters in this collection of generational novellas collaborated by Mary Connealy, Becca Whitman, Kimberley Woodhouse, and new to me author D.J. Gudger. From the early push of settlers to move West on the wagon trains, to the conflicts with the Native Americans and broken treaties, to the challenge of women to become published authors, this collection has four strong women beginning with Ellie to her daughter Grace to the great granddaughter in law Caroline to the fourth-generation great-granddaughter Penelope.

When I saw the collaborating authors, I knew this was a book I would enjoy. So glad I was given the opportunity to read the ARC by NetGalley. Releases Jan. 1, 2024.

The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch is a compilation of stories that follow four generations of women in the early days of of Wyoming. The book starts with the homesteading of the Rocking K and moves forward through three more generations. The women featured in each of the stories must work their way through adversities, some of which are pretty harsh. This collection was a good portrait of the strengths required of pioneering women. The story by Mary Connealy was my favorite, but all were very good. A very satisfying read and strongly recommended.

The Legacy of Rocking K Ranch tells a story over four generations of strong western women who truth in God. Each generation marries for a different reason, not necessarily love at first, and continues the legacy of the ranch. Each generation’s story is written by a different author and the style works very well for this book. The characters are all strong and live in their faith, especially the women who
prove to be quite strong and outspoken for their time. I enjoyed this book recommend it highly.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest
review.

The book follows the love and hardships of four generations of Wyoming homesteaders. The books show the racism in the West and East as Wyoming was being settled. Remarkable writing with Christian values at the core.

The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch is a collection of four short stories. Mary Connealy is one of my favorite Christian Western Authors but the other authors were new to me.
Mary Connealy wrote the first story which I hope she expands upon sometime in the future. I want to hear more of Eleanor and Wild Cat's history. A classic tale that had me hooked from the first page.
The second story was by D.J. Gudger and it was beyond tragic however all of these volumes ended with HEAs. I had a hard time getting through Grace's never-ending saga of injustices and sorrow. I'm not sure I would've had the strength to ever leave the ranch but her fortitude led to great rewards. I would've liked to read more of the well deserved rewards
Next was Caroline;s Washington DC story, written by Becca Whitham. She and Ray rose above the DC swamp and eventually found where they belonged. A power couple in the making!
Lastly, Kimberly Woodhouse tied everything together in a neat bow. Penelope learned from her mother, grandmother and great grandmother and came out a strong, resourceful women. Wise beyond her years and time period.
A clever novel! Perhaps a sequel could cover another 100 years.

“The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch- Four generations of love, loss and grace” is a wonderful book of 4 related novellas, written by 4 talented authors. The stories by Mary Connealy, D.J. Gudger, Becca Whitham, and Kimberly Woodhouse, are absolutely lovely depictions of a strong, God-loving family in Wyoming Territory and then the State, from 1850-1920. There are 4 separate novellas, and they each flow very well together.

The stories are exciting, beginning with life in a wagon train, and building a cabin on a lonely mountain. People who settled in Wyoming had to be strong, fearless and dedicated individuals. Each generation had a specific challenge- Eleanor had a tragedy, Grace had an illness, Raymond lived in two worlds, and Penelope had a special talent. Each novella also highlighted the mistakes that were made with the indigenous people in the West. I was really impressed with the attention to the history of the times, the vivid descriptions of scenery and the characters, and how engaging each novella was. Each generation loved their family, worked hard, followed their faith, and had fun together.

But what I really cherished was that each generation loved God and depended on God. The Bible was their guide. Thanks to NetGalley and Barbour Fiction for an advance digital review copy. This is my honest review.

The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch is unlike any book I’ve read. Four different authors writing four different books that were connected. I loved it! Each story built on the last and flowed seamlessly!!

The Legacy of Rocking K Ranch: Four Generations of Love, Loss and Grace

Four gifted authors bring her unique writing style to these four novellas, set on a Wyoming Ranch from 1850-1910. These women experience many struggles and challenges: love and loss and grace, adoption, greed and deception, friendly relationships with natives, family bonds, forgiveness and faith. I like how each novella is tied together across generations on the Wyoming Ranch. I enjoyed each story. My favorite is Penelope and Jason’s story. All heartwarming stories.

Mary Connealy
1850 Widow Elanor Yates and daughter and wagon train guide Ray “Wild Cat” Manning

D. J. Gudger
1867 Face veiled Grace Manning and Captain Winfield Cooper

Becca Whitham
1886 Caroline Forrester and Harvard graduate Ray Cooper

Kimberley Woodhouse
1910 Ambitious writer Penelope Cooper and photographer Jason Miller

~I received an ARC PDF copy from the author/publisher via NetGalley (no monetary gain was exchanged), this is my honest review~

I loved this book and wished it never ended. It is written by 4 authors about women in the mid 1800's to early 1900. It tells of their lives moving west. Many adventures and love. These are great authors.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This anthology contains novellas by some familiar authors and some that are not so familiar to me. The theme of the book is the legacy left by four generations of strong women who carve out their own niches in this world in spite of societal norms.

Mary Connealy usually writes humorous Western type novels, but her offering here is a bit more serious, and I must say I enjoyed it more than I have her other novels I've read. Her writing sets the stage for the rest of the book.

All four generations of women in this anthology are strong and hard-working women who overcome massive hardships of one kind or another. The men are supportive, intelligent, loving, and hard-working too. It made reading this collection so worthwhile. It is hard to put down, even between episodes. Readers will want to jump right into the next story without taking a break between them for things like eating dinner or sweeping the floors. Four Strong Stars.

Barbour Publishing provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Thank you Barbour Publishing for this great read!

This novel is 4 short stories of four women from the great grandmother to the great granddaughter

Everything revolves around the start where the oldest of the women is stranded in Wyoming when her husband dies leaving her with her daughter alone.

Then the series grows through each of the other children and their families.

A great story and a great read. I highly recommend!

I just reviewed The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch by Mary Connealy; D.J. Gudger; Becca Whitham; Kimberley Woodhouse. #TheLegacyoftheRockingKRanch #NetGalley

The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch by Mary Connealy, D.J. Gudger, Becca Whitman and Kimberley Woodhouse was an interesting story of four generations. Mary Connealy writes about Ray “Wildcat”Manning and his family. D J Gudger tells about Grace Manning. Becca Whitman tells about Caroline Forrester. Kimberley Woodhouse finishes with the story of Penelope.

I enjoyed reading this novella with 4 amazing authors. I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All words are my own.

A terrific read from start to finish, with adventure, romance, and faith! All tied together with a family's history, it has the feel of one complete novel. One of the best novella collections I have ever read.
Beginning and ending with Penelope's story in 1910, the authors fill in the family history going back to 1850, to make a complete picture of how they arrived and thrived in Wyoming. Full of stellar heroes and courageous women, their history crosses cultural barriers and incorporates their struggles, which parallel with real places and events. Prejudice is a main theme, as the issues surrounding Native Americans come into play in each tale.
I liked all of the stories, but Eleanor's was my favorite. 'Wild Cat' Manning was such an outstanding guy! A hard act to follow.
Recommend for readers who enjoy historical adventures with romance and faith. 4.5 stars

This is a collection of novellas by some excellent authors. Every one of these novellas builds on the previous one as it explores four generations of women in a family living on a ranch in Wyoming. The story opens with the youngest in 1910--a budding and exuberant writer who decides to write a book about her family and their conquering of the wild west. So she goes home (and yes there are other things at play) to interview her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother about how they ended up in Wyoming.

Of the four stories, I think I liked the Grandmother Grace's the best. It had the most condensed amount of action and drama I think. Your heart also broke for Grace as she dealt with the harshness of human nature towards things deemed ugly and imperfect.

Each of these stories had the feel of the authors who write them and the final story of Penelope brought everything around to a close. You also get to become closer with the abhorrent behavior towards the native peoples during that time.

3.5/4 stars. It was a good story and I liked it. But I didn't love love it.

**I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are 100% my own.

The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch is a novel by some of the most talented women in the writing industry. Each story is interwoven and builds upon the last. I must admit that, having received an advanced reader copy, I thought my book had an editing problem when the story changed after the second chapter. I was hooked on the story from page one so I figuured I would get back to it eventually. But I never expected the story to turn out like it did. I loved how this book took shape with each story building off of the story in front of it. The first story is Mary Conneally's Eleanor, about a young lady traveling in a wagon train with her husband and daughter. When her husband catches smallpox, they are left behind by all except one member of the wagon train. The second story is D.J. Gudger's Grace, about a young lady stuck at Fort Laramie and the harrowing journey home. The third story is Becca Witham's Caroline, about a young lady who longs to do more than throw society parties for her politician father. And finally, the last story is Kimberley Woodhouse's Penelope. This story brings closure to the entire book. I loved this book. It moves at a quick pace so it doesn't take long to read it. It is the kind of book you will want to reread again and again.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Barbour Fiction for the advanced reader copy. I was in no way influenced to give a positive review.

My goodness! This book felt like being transported back to my teen years. Weird opening statement I know, but let me explain...

I grew up watching shows like The Young Riders, Dr Quinn and Little House on the Prairie. My dreams were to live on a ranch homesteading and building a found family. On top of that, I could be found constantly scouting 'The Book Rack' for new (or new to me) Christian Fiction Romance books. I ADORED these stories.

Rocking K did NOT disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next family member's story to appear. I enjoyed them IMEANSLY. Grace and Raymond's stories were probably my favorite but I could not put this book down. I finished it within a few hours. Excited to purchase myself a physical copy next year!

This book was a good read for the most part. There was one story that I did not make a connection, so that I skimmed that one mostly. It starts out with the prologue in 1903 and goes back three generations and around to the prologue at the beginning. I was given this complimentary copy for the purpose of reviewing.

It was an amazing set of 4 novellas to read. Covering 4 generation during the 19 and 20 generation. A story that shows it is still a man's world, where on a ranch men jokes with one another, but a woman couldn't..It was a man's world as she once again was rejected on being a writer. Till one knew of her family background and the stories she could write about,,under a man's name. Ot a marriage of connivence, she would have her married name on the book, he is saying. A time of hardships , losing loved ones, illness, the women's faith carried them thru. A woman toiled along with her husband and all the work on a ranch.
Would there be a place for the writing, her dream's to continue.
It was a good blend giving one a glimpse of that era in time that was well done and blended together
Given arc by Net Galley and Barbour for my voluntary review

I really enjoyed this book of 4 novellas by 4 different authors that traces four generations of a family in Wyoming over six decades in the 19th and 20th centuries. The authors’ styles blend well, and I loved the characters in each generation. Learning the history that each generation lived through was eye-opening and thought-provoking.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." #TheLegacyoftheRockingKRanch #NetGalley