No Way Up was a wonderful Western romp. The characters were charming and easy to root for. I love how the leading lady stood up to her brothers when it came to the man she loved.

The adventure was unpredictable and enjoyable. That’s something I’ve come to expect from Mrs. Connealy, and this book’s plot was a grand example. It’s especially fun that this series, as with her others, must be read in order to be best enjoyed and avoid major spoilers from one book to the next. Her series build beautifully, which is one of my favorite things about series. I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Content: tobacco

Another great book by Mary Connealy . I am a huge fan and enjoy all her books. highly recommend

From page one, No Way Up, the first book in The Cimarron Legacy series, is a reader’s absolute delight. This western romance novel is enjoyable, entertaining, and humorous. Connealy has a lovely way of bringing her wonderful characters and their stories to life. This story is filled with adventure, danger, and a bit of suspense, that will leave readers on their toes wondering what will happen next. Each of the books in this series is about a different Boden sibling, this one is from the point of view of Sadie. This novel is an excellent beginning to an exciting new series from Connealy. I would highly recommend this charming western romance.

Series: The Cimarron Legacy
Genre: historical, western, romance, Christian
Publisher: Bethany House
Publication date: July 5, 2016
Number of pages: 304

Thanks for letting me review it! My students like this author.

I made sure I read the novella while I was waiting for the series to start, and I am really glad I did. It definitely gave important background information that gave added support for the first installment of the series. One of the first thing I noticed about the lead character of No Way Up was his name. Heath Kincaid. Hmm. Could he be Kincaid...from the Kincaid Brides series? I pulled the 3rd book of the Kincaid Bride series and yep--there he was! The little brother they discover at the end of the series--when we left the series he was about 15. Here he is a young man working as a hired hand. The book does reference Heath's background--not to the point you should go back and read it first, but if you KNOW the Kincaid Brides series, you will enjoy the reference..

This first book of the new series is good! I definitely enjoyed the story and how they tied in history and culture of the New Mexico natives. I really wanted to research the area and learn more about the natives who lived on the top of these plateaus. In fact, it reminded me of the Mesa Verde people my son and I researched during a social studies lesson.

Heath is a great character and I enjoyed him--but I also liked how each character got a bit of time to get a feel for their role in the family. This is what a good first installment of a series does--well at least what I think a good first installment does. Whet your whistle for learning more.

I think that the way the author is exploring the "mystery" of the story is good--but I had to keep things straight. In fact, at one point I had to go back and read the novella again! It appears the mystery in the story is going to continue into future installments.

All in all, I think I would give No Way Up by Mary Connealy 3.5 stars. It was good, but I WAS able to put it down and come back to it. I think the novella The Boden Birthright is NOT something to skip. It is definitely necessary to get the big picture behind the history of the ownership of the Cimarron Ranch. It is helpful if you "meet" Heath Kincaid in the Kincaid Brides series--I'm glad I knew who he was. If you didn't know who he was, it wasn't going to detract from the book. It just makes it even better. I don't know what could have happened to give this story more stars--maybe not rely on the novella as much for background information. I do like the direction this series is going and I definitely plan on reading it to completion--next up will be book #2 Long Time Gone, due out Feb 28, 2017.