3.5 stars

Pony Express Courtship is the first book in Rhonda Gibson's Saddles and Spurs series and a cute read. I liked basically everything about it, with the exception of the repetitiveness about certain things. When a book is already shorter than standard novels, I feel repeating things that were just mentioned a little bit ago is unnecessary.

I liked the whole Pony Express part of the story; it was way more interesting than I anticipated! The heroine was great and I found it amazing how she and her late husband had adopted so many orphan children.

All in all, a good start to the series and if you enjoy historical romance I think you might like this one.

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What a heartwarming read! I loved how dedicated to each other everyone in the Young was. Rebecca is trying to raise her family after the death of her husband, but she is leery of the arrangements her late husband made to have her farm become a Pony Express station. Her adopted sons are going to be riders, and right off the bat Rebecca has reservations about the safety of this endeavor. The boys do need to earn money so they can build lives for themselves, but Rebecca can't help but worry about them being on the trail by themselves.

Seth, the new station master, has reservations of his own. He's here to whip the boys into shape and teach them survival skills for the trail, but Rebecca is constantly questioning his methods, like a mother hen. No wonder the Pony Express prefers hiring orphans! This is a dangerous job and now Seth is beginning to worry about the boys' safety as well. It's hard for him to do his job as develops feelings for the boys and their young mother.

Pony Express Courtship is just a nice, sweet read. Everyone cares for each other, and the sincerity of their feelings really shine throughout the story. This is a story about the strength of family and friends, and it is a prefect holiday read. I'm looking forward to more in this series.