Book MYView: Fit to Be Tied by Robin Lee Hatcher

Cleo Arlington dresses like a cowboy, is fearless and fun-loving, and can ride, rope, and wrangle a horse as well as any man. In 1916, however, those talents aren’t what most young women aspire to. But Cleo isn’t most women. Twenty-nine years old and single, Cleo loves life on her father’s Idaho ranch. Still, she hopes someday to marry and have children.

Enter Sherwood Statham, an English aristocrat whose father has sentenced him to a year of work in America to “straighten him out.” Sherwood, who expected a desk job at a posh spa, isn’t happy to be stuck on an Idaho ranch. And he has no idea how to handle Cleo, who’s been challenged with transforming this uptight playboy into a down-home cowboy, because he has never encountered a woman succeeding in a “man’s world.”

Just about everything either of them says or does leaves the other, well, fit to be tied. Cleo Arlington knows everything about horses but nothing about men. And though Cleo believes God’s plan for her includes a husband, it couldn’t possibly be Sherwood Statham. Could it?

Their bumpy trot into romance is frustrating, exhilarating, and ultimately heartwarming.

My Thoughts: Robin Lee Hatcher deftly brings to life the story of an independent cowgirl and a spoiled aristocrat, brought together by circumstances beyond their control. At first, I didn’t like the story because I wasn’t feeling anything but annoyance for the main characters. Cleo was spoiled, and I was getting tired of her acting one way then moralizing about it later. Sherwood annoyed me too, but he had reasons to act out. I’m not making excuses for his behavior. I just understood him.

My annoyance lessened as the story drew me in. I begin to realize both were flawed, wounded characters with heart. I would make a corny reference to the title and being lassoed into the story, but I’ll refrain. (*smile*)

In a Note From the Author, Hatcher writes how she already knew Cleo would be the heroine but was unsure who the hero would be. I’m glad Sherwood convinced the author to write him as an aristocrat instead of a cowboy. The combination made for a satisfying “oil and water” love story any romance lover would enjoy.

I look forward to spring 2010 to read about Daphne McKinley in The Word to the Wise. She had my attention in Fit to Be Tied when she rushed out of a burning house lugging a suitcase full of books.

Now that’s a book lover!



Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd's Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon



If you would like to read the first chapter of Fit to Be Tied , go HERE.

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