It’s 1877 and Bridget is orphaned. In order to survive she travels to Dodge City. With only her wits to keep her alive, she is recruited to work at the Buffalo Queen. Her bright red hair gets her the job at the only female run brothel. She does well at the brothel, it has good food, friends and pay.

As winter approaches Bridget learns just how fickle the season can be. When some out of towners arrive, Bridget is drawn to the legendary female gunfighter. With tensions running high, the peace and stability she has come to know is threatened. Bridget must decide how much she is willing to give up for the people she loves. Will she survive the cruel times?

This was such a fun debut. I don’t think that I have ever quite read a book like this. Sure I’ve read book set in the wild west, but none of them had this take on it. It was so fun reading about Bridget and how she came to work in the brothel and what that entailed. I loved the sapphic romance that occurred and was shocked at the twist – it was so well written. I really enjoyed how the brothel was run by women and feminism was prevalent despite their jobs. This book will appeal to mystery seekers as well as those who enjoy historical fiction and romance. It has so much going for it. I loved how captivating it was, and it just sucked you right into the story. I didn’t want to put it down!

If you are looking for a delightfully queer book set in the wild west of the USA, then grab a copy. This one was published June 20th.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group, The Dial Press, and Netgalley, @netgalley, for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Additional links will be added once posted.

A young girl who has only known starvation and poverty is recruited to become a prostitute in Dodge City and ends up as a revenge-seeking gunslinger.

Kicking off pride month with one hell of a book that now holds a very dear place in my heart.

To say this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 is vastly underselling how excited I am, was, continue to be, for this book. Queer Westerns aren't something I see very often, as a matter of fact the only other Queer Western I'd read up until this point was Vermilion: The Adventures of Lou Merriwether, Psychopomp which was more in the fantasy vein of it.

Lucky Red falls more into what could be considered a true western: a character down on their luck that makes a name for themselves, falls in love, and get some revenge. Westerns were always something that intrigued me, from books, to movies, to shows, but I could never truly enjoy it. And, being honest here, a lot of the western classics are not made for women (or at least not with them in mind), and especially not for sapphic women who envisioned themselves in that hard won role, as the gunslinger, getting the girl. At least I know I did.

And it's funny to have it so skewed this way, considering how queer the wild west was.

But all that aside, this book plucked all the right strings for me and was refreshing as it did so. Lucky Red set the Wild West genre down exactly where it needs to be. It's queer, features a main character who is in sex work and does not actively shame her, and is actually friends with the women she works beside. Not to mention seeing Bridget slowly realize the hand she's been dealt in life, the hardships she's faced due to her gender, the desire to freedom, burned a hole in my chest.

I wanted Bridget to be free, too, even as she tripped and stumbled and burned a few bridges along the way. I loved all of the character, even if they weren't as fleshed out as I would've liked them to be, I just like when the background characters are richer, but that falls on personal taste and not on the skill of Cravens' writing ability. Which is stellar, by the way.

I found myself falling in love with Spartan Lee, right beside Bridget. The skillful writing and pure SAPPHIC essence that was carried throughout each of their interactions, the beauty and skill that it takes to really encapsulate exactly what it's like to be taken by storm by another woman. Ugh. I hate that I loved it so much.

And the end! Oh! The end... chef's kisses all around.

Anything else Cravens decides to write, I eagerly await. Her skilled way of writing complex queer women will have eating out of the palm of her hand for a while. A talented and stunning debut!

Wow, stellar debut with a fascinating, well written main character (Bridget) who manages to be an astute blend of indeed world weary, and yet confident and assured in many ways, while also being young, perhaps a bit naive (and at sixteen you are young no matter the life struggles). The plot is also an intricate balance of humor with notes of Western domestic thriller if that is a genre (it is now), set in a brothel yes but done so with a great blend of strong writing, powerful pacing, and a strong conclusion. A welcome read as well for any month but noted to be a great read for Pride month with the inclusion of Bridget's exploration of her identity and feelings of attraction to another woman (nicely developed within the life of a brothel and in the late 1800s timeframe!).

I just love a book that turns out to be so much more than expected, a little genre bending/expanding, some excellent feminist subversive vibes, and memorable characters who are vividly written.

Thank you random house for Lucky Red (via NetGalley); this is a great read and perfect for anyone who just read Ivy Pochada's new book Sing Her Down and for readers who like confident feminist themed action plots (again it's a thing, trust me).

Lucky Red is a must read! The descriptions throughout the book are so magnificent I was constantly rereading sentences and sometimes whole sections to experience them again and again! The action sequences had me on the edge of my seat and the ending had me putting the book down to exclaim “OMG!”

Read in a single afternoon, I both loved and hated Lucky Red. It was worth it.
Bridget starts her life as the neglected daughter of an alcoholic father who’s lofty dreams never pan out. When he dies on their journey to Kansas, Bridget stumbles into the life of a whore by the luck of her red hair. Turns out, she’s good at it. When a famous female gunslinger by the name of Spartan Lee rolls into town toting a bounty on a rainy day, Bridget’s tidy little life begins to spiral.
This is a love story, but it isn’t a happy one. It’s filled with characters made up of gray. If you like your stories happy and tidy, this is not a book for you. If you prefer things messy and bittersweet, absolutely read this book.

LUCKY RED is a queer, feminist, Western roll in the hay in the best way possible. Bridget is a plucky heroine with an unmistakable voice, and the combination of her world-weariness with her naive spirit is absolutely irresistible. Cravens moves through 19th-century genre conventions effortlessly and offers a sharp-eyed consideration of sex work, female independence (or the impossibility thereof in a patriarchal society), privilege, and the concept of 'luck' as a motivating force. I've seen several reviewers remark on the 'drag' in the middle section of the book, but that feels like a misreading of what Cravens really accomplishes -- she transports the the genre markers of 19th century domestic fiction to the brothel (a worthy innovation in and of itself) and allows the novel's form to mirror Bridget's easy lull into a false sense of security, which shatters with a bang as the novel moves into its final act. There's so much to praise in this debut, and I look forward to reading whatever Cravens publishes next!

This an entertaining debut novel set against the lawless Wild West about an abandoned woman who finds a sense of family at the Queens Brothel in Dodge City. The book blurb sells it as a Wild West adventure; however, I really saw it as a coming of age story about loyalty, identity, and love. I look forward to more from this author! Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to read and review this book!

Cravens crafted an intriguing tale of a life that is the testament to not giving up when things get hard. I loved how empowered the main character was and how she was never embarrassed or ashamed of the choices she made, even when they could easily have made someone feel that way.

A beautifully told story that leaves you feeling like you really got to know a good friend.

I love a good Western and LUCKY RED is a worthy effort. Author Claudia Cravens provides a fantastic protagonist and great characters filled with backstories and gumption; there’s no question they jump off the page. What then seemed a bit lacking here? There just was a dullness in the middle that caused my interest to sag and I was surprised because I was so engaged up to that point. I’m not even sure why my mind wandered or what I would have changed about the story. I would eagerly read more by the author or follow up with any of these characters. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Unfortunately this was not for me. The writing was good, but aside from that I struggled with this novel. The plot was meandering, which hurt the story's pacing, and I just didn't feel like there was enough meat to this narrative to sustain my interest.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

4.5 stars. Bridget has had a hardscrabble life so far, which means she's barely surprised when her father drags her across the plains of Kansas only to die on the way and leave her penniless. She and her scrawny mule arrive in Dodge City, and Bridget takes up work in a woman-owned brothel at the urging of a madame named Lila. What follows is a charming story of love, heartbreak, misadventure, and mayhem.

I adored Bridget and her story! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from Lucky Red as I barely read the synopsis — the cover alone was stunning enough for me to pick it up. And wow did it deliver! This "queer western" is positively brimming with intensity, emotion, and some unexpected twists. I didn't want it to end.

I love the fact that the author brought a dose of realism to her story about a woman in the old west — so many in this genre make the woman into an outlaw or rebel of some sort, but it's just plain likely that a poor woman in this time and place would have become a whore. Watching Bridget come of age and learn about herself and her future was enthralling, and I cheered for her character the whole time. In fact, I loved most of the characters.

This book is a triumph of a debut! Thank you to Claudia Cravens, Dial Press, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

In 1877, after her father dies, Bridget becomes a prostitute at the Buffalo Queen brothel. Thanks to Kate and Lila, the madams who run the place, Bridget finds brothel life better than she expected. Then a legendary female gunslinger named Spartan Lee rolls into town, and against her better judgment, Bridget falls in love.

Our internet went out for over 24 hours right before I started reading this, and although I was initially grumpy about it, I wound up being grateful because I was able to fully immerse myself in this novel without the distractions of Twitter and Buzzfeed listicles. What a wild ride! Despite Red Dead Redemption 2 being one of my favorite video games of all time, westerns aren't generally my thing, but throw a queer feminist twist on it and I was smitten. Destined to make my top ten list at the end of the year.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy that I received in exchange for an honest review.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

This story was not for me. I didn't appreciate the coarsely used language.

I think Queer women westerns are my favorite new genre. It’s 1877 and Bridget is leaving behind her young life of toiling in the farm for her alcoholic father as she walks, half dead, into the biggest town she’s ever seen. She’s soon welcomed in to the life of the whore house where she finds belonging, friendship, and for the first time, desire when she discovers her attraction to other women.

This gunslinging tale of self-discovery and independence is an epic journey.

Lucky Red was an expected outcome for me. I have to admit to being spoiled by “happy-for-right-now” or “happily-ever-after” endings. I have read very few sapphic books that didn’t end this way. Now, I have seen lists on Goodreads with lots of books without happy-endings, I just haven’t really come across that many. This seems to be my year for books that end up going nowhere.

Claudia Cravens takes us back in time to shortly after the Civil War and to the land between Kansas and Texas. Tough land and a tough time if you are a woman. I like Bridget. She has common sense that I readily identify with. The secondary cast is just as likable - even the johns. As everyone serves a purpose in this timeframe.

Cravens gives Bridget an easy life compared to the realities of the time. This is not to say that whoring is easy, but as Constance, Grace, and Lili keep telling her - it could be worse.

Lucky Red isn’t a fun story. Or really an entertaining story. It’s just another sad rendition of a life and time. I’m actually not sure if I recommend Lucky Red or not. It’s a well-written story. I think I would have just rather read a nonfiction piece of a person during that time period even though life would have been harsher. I would have liked to see Bridget’s life after Dodge City. Now that would have been an adventure to journey on.

Bridget was born unlucky and her bad luck has dogged her every day since in Claudia Craven’s surprising novel, Lucky Red. Her mother died in childbirth. Her father died of a rattlesnake bite just a few weeks into their journey west from Arkansas. It’s a miracle Bridget didn’t die of exposure on the prairie before she wandered into Dodge City, Kansas. Moneyless, friendless, familyless, and reluctant to make a living doing domestic work for a pittance, Bridget turns to sex work to make her way in the world.

One might expect Bridget to have some survival instincts after her life-long run of catastrophic bad luck but, in many ways, Bridget is very naive about the world. She doesn’t pause long before agreeing to work for the madams of the Buffalo Queen as a “sporting woman.” All she knows at the time is that she doesn’t want to do laundry or scrub dishes for a pittance and that she doesn’t really see the fuss about trading sex for money. Thankfully, the Buffalo Queen is relatively safe. The local deputy sheriff’s patronage and protection keep the most violent men away. Bridget’s red hair attracts the deputy’s eye and all she has to do, apart from bringing in money, is keep the deputy happy.

Bridget’s bosses think that this is a simple enough job but they didn’t reckon on Bridget’s bad luck and her inconvenient attraction to other women. To be fair, Bridget didn’t know about that last until first one woman and then a second send her so deep into lust that Bridget has a hard time remembering what she’s supposed to be doing when Sallie or, later, Spartan Lee, are around. Everyone else knows what the game is about except Bridget, to the calamity of the women at the Buffalo Queen.

Lucky Red is a slow read at first. The pace slows after the excitement of the first pages once Bridget settles in Dodge City but, when bounty hunter Spartan Lee arrives, the plot begins to race again. Once the story starts to heat up, that’s when things get good and the ending is spectacular enough to make up for the slower parts of the novel and the moments when I wanted to yell at Bridget to think before she launches herself into yet another mistake.

Readers who’d like to read a Western featuring women or who like LGBT+ historical fiction will enjoy Lucky Red.

I really wanted to like this book. It started strong for me and I really expected it to be a winner, but as the book went on I found that I started to loose interest. Maybe the pacing was off, maybe the genre wasn't for me, but I just did not like it as much as I expected. The main character was very naïve I believe deliberately, and it just really was not what I expected. I did finish it, so it wasn't terrible, just a disappointment based on the reviews I had read.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a queer western book before. This was certainly interesting but it was just so slow. I couldn’t get into it at all

LUCKY RED is a blockbuster sapphic Western about a young, naive woman discovering what she yearns for, what she’s made of, and what she’s willing to risk. Bridget has lived an isolated life with only her careless father to depend on. When he sells their small home in Arkansas for a plot of land on the plains of the west, Bridget’s small world expands in both possibility and precarity. Finding herself alone, she becomes a sex worker at a brothel in a dusty town where she learns more about herself - and what she’s capable of - than she ever dreamed.

This is a gritty, bloody, and extremely gay story. Cravens explores the risk and mundanity of sex work, the glory and brutality of gun fights, the ever-present danger of life on the plains, and more through the wide-open eyes of Bridget. This is truly a coming-of-age story, and it’s so compelling - I was rooting for Bridget, cringing through her mistakes, angered by her heartbreaks, stunned by her losses, moved by her persistence and hopefulness. It’s (spoiler alert) definitely not a romance novel, but even so the sapphic desire and love shown here is a beautiful, precious thing. And the writing! Gorgeous sentences litter every page. Highly recommend and I can’t wait to read more from Cravens. Thanks to Dial Press for the eARC! This novel is out 6/20.

Content warnings: loss of a parent, sexual harassment, rape, fighting, gun violence, blood/gore, murder/death