Looking After Lily

by Cindy Bonner

Cindy Bonner knows that the most powerful love stories are those told straight from the heart of the lover. In Looking After Lily, the lover is a young Texas outlaw, trying to reform. Haywood Beatty and his brother Marion have survived the famous Christmas 1883 shootout between the Beatty Gang and the McDade vigilantes. Both Beattys are jailed in Bastrop where Lily, Marion’s very pregnant young wife, waits for the outcome of their trials. Haywood gets sprung, but Marion is sentenced to two years hard labor. And before Haywood leaves the jail, Marion exacts his promise to take care of Lily.

Looking after Lily is a burden Haywood didn’t bargain for. Only twenty years old himself, destitute and without a respectable upbringing or trade, he keeps trying to “settle” Lily someplace so he can get on with a new life as a cowboy. But it’s not so easy to leave Lily behind. For one thing, she keeps coming up with what Haywood needs. A horse. A gun. Some money. Common sense. And once Haywood has saved her from a rapist by murdering him, once he witnesses her bravery in the face of childbirth, and watches as she raises her baby girl, Haywood recognizes that he has fallen in love with his brother’s wife.

Just as she did in her very popular first novel, Lily, Bonner takes and old story and breathes new life into it by creating characters so convincing and so likable that they take on dimensions that are at once human and heroic. As Haywood struggles to deal honorably with his brother’s wife and child, we watch a boy turn into a man.
And what a man he turns out to be.

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Fiction, Romance

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

I’m the author of 6 literary and historical novels. I’ve written (and had published) short stories, essays, and book reviews. I've taught writing workshops for several writers guilds and for Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. I'm the mother of two sons, the grandmother of one grandson, and the daughter of a World War II veteran who recently passed away at age 88. I have two cats, and am also an avid watcher of birds, the weather, and the political goings-on in Washington, D.C. And I'm a bottomless well of spotty information on history and the meaning of life.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

UGH. Why did I read this? I didn't even really like the first one. I was just curious if the sequel might be better - IT'S NOT. And therefore, I have a real bone to pick, because this stupid book kept me up at night, fuming over the ending. This review contains and shreds the horrible ending. Ye be warned.

Lily is no longer narrating, her brother-in-law, Haywood, is and none of these characters are compelling or interesting until 3/4 through it. Predictably, Haywood (or Woody as he comes to be known) falls in love with Lily while Marion is in jail AND she is pregnant with his child.

I was pleased that Woody becomes a lovable character in the end, but I HATED that the author sets us up to root for he and Lily to fall in love, which they sort of do, but then leave Woody in the dust in the end, watching as Lily and Marion drive off into the sunset, and everything he loves or has worked hard for is gone and he is unhappy.

I really hate wanting characters to cheat on their spouses in books or movies. Predictably, I did in this 100% because I didn't even like Marion in the last book, and in this one he only shows up in the last chapter, whisking Lily off her feet (aka getting it on in the cabin for Haywood to hear). Woody makes an aside that through he years he will loan Marion lots of money, which makes Lily choosing M after all that much worse. AND Woody is the one who has learned to make an honest living for her and her child, whom he comes to think of as his own. I'm not sure she is ever really grateful for his help. In fact, we never know what she is thinking because Woody has a hard time reading her.

The long-winded point being that I felt deceived in learning to really love a character who gets the crappiest ending ever, betrayed by Lily's choice, frustrated by wanting her to cheat, pissed that she didn't, and then left in the dust, like Woody, without feelings of resolvement.

Ugh I just get angry every time I think about it. What was even the point of this book?

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember reading this sequel to Lily during my teen years. It's told from a different perspective than Lily; instead of hearing her voice, we hear that of Haywood Beatty, her brother-in-law. For much of the book, at least the first half, he seems irredeemable, and I had a hard time continuing to read it. He made mistake after mistake but rarely made any efforts to change, and that was frustrating to read. I also really hate when a story line encourages you to cheer for people to cheat on their partners/spouses, so that made me reluctant to finish this. What compelled me to keep going was the hope that there would be growth, learning, change, SOMETHING for Haywood by the end of the book. I did see signs of that, of maturity and wisdom, but the end was abrupt and left me unsatisfied overall. Haywood went through all that... for what?? Also, what made Lily such a great book for me - the story of her burgeoning independence and her taking control of her own life - was mostly absent here, so that was disappointing. But still, I didn't hate this story. A stronger ending for Haywood would have helped immensely.

[K I M B E R L Y ♥]

I have yet to read this book and i'm already fearing for Lily and Marion's relationship. I mean, seriously, Haywood falling for Lily is just wrong! and she's pregnant by the way, so it's a little digusting of Haywood!

I just hope nothing changes Lily's love for Marion. I hope she doesn't change. I know i won't. Marion all the way!!!

*sorry for fangirling :D

[Sharon Zoch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my usual read since it is historical fiction but since my cousin wrote it, I gave it a whirl. I read this many years ago, but I still remember how caught up I was in the characters. Cindy did a wonderful job.

[Jonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Bonner. A genuine pleasure to read. Don't miss this one!

[Lisa Sumsion · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book but I hated the ending.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this one off the school library shelf, along with the prequel, when I noticed they were romances. It's actually cute; students have expurgated the bodice-ripping pic on the inside cover.

I liked this story better than Lily. The main character really grows. I['m uncomfortable, though, with the sex and drinking that goes on. It's just not middle school appropriate.

I'll be warning the school librarian!

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as it is the sequel to Lily, but I was disappointed with the direction the author took. It's almost like she needed a second book, but since the romance was secured in the first book, she created a second romance in this book that was very frustrating to me. It caused a lot of disappointment in the characters and death was the only way to resolve it.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this 3 and a half stars...mainly because of the different direction this book took from "Lily". But it is was enjoyable to read.

[Tawny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun historical romance! Parts of it are set very near to my home town. The twist && turns, a bit of adventure, history && a classic romance!