Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, and Buffalo Bill’s adoptive son Frank Butler hunt garou (werewolves), uncover family secrets, and find love as they adventure around the American Wild West.
The writing trifecta of Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows will be coming out with the much anticipated My Salty Mary novel in August 2024. In preparation for this, I read all three of the Lady Janies books and the first two Mary series books. Across five book reviews, I will share my thoughts on these wonderful, unique, sarcastic, YA historical fantasy series.
I recently developed an interest in the history of the American West, so when I realized the next Hand et al. book focused on Calamity Jane, I was ecstatic. My Calamity Jane follows the life of the titular character as she travels with her found family, the cast of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. While on tour, the group encounters a precocious Annie Oakley, who is determined to show off her sharpshooting skills and land a steady gig in the show. Little does Annie know that the show is a cover, as the cast’s real mission is to hunt down garou, which are werewolf-like creatures that pray on the downtrodden of the West. When Jane is bitten during a raid, she decides to go to Deadwood in order to spare her found family the hardship of watching her turn and to search for a rumored cure thought to be developed there. Meanwhile, Frank Butler, pseudo-brother to Jane and pseudo-son to Buffalo Bill, strives to follow Jane, keep his found family safe, and woo his new crush while hiding secrets of his own.
I read this book in audiobook format, and it was a fun, silly, absolute joy to listen to. Jane’s vernacular was stereotypically Wild West, but the wonderful voice performer made her feel charmingly farcical without taking away from her serious struggles. I highly recommend checking out the version read by Sophie Amoss if you are leaning towards the audiobook format. While Annie felt a bit annoying at times, her characterization was absolutely necessary to help the plot along for the two other story lines, and much like the other Lady Janie books, all of the character arcs are ultimately rewarding. A few sub-plots felt a bit shoe-horned in, such as the Native American perspective of Wild West activities, but I still appreciated the inclusivity aspect of it. Also, Buffalo Bill was adorable, and there were some plot twists at the end that I did not see coming.
This was a 4/5 for me. In addition to piquing my interest with the subject matter of the Wild West, this was the first book in the series to feature an LGBTQ+ story line, which made my heart squeal for joy. Without giving anything away, the love interest was one of my favorite characters of the book. I highly recommend you check out this completed series in 2024 for some light reading guaranteed to make you smile!
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