Linda Lael MillerRecensioni
Autore di McKettrick's Luck
Recensioni
Creed's Honor
Ms. Miller is one of the best at Western romance books, both historical and contemporary, and this is another of her well-written stories.
Big Sky Country was a good gateway back into her novels I think. This is a contemporary, set in a state I'm none to familiar with and is part of a connected set (book 2 Big Sky Mountain is due out in August), so guaranteed more reading time with these fine folks of Parable. The brothers Slade and Hutch were classic Miller--gruff, rough around the edges, impulsive when challenged (by each other mainly) and reckless when they can't handle their feelings.
There's also a healthy dose of 'Luck Shines Down' in terms of how things turn out. Joslyn's incredible luck in selling her software company for enough money to pay everyone back and settle down without worrying about finding another full time job, the ridiculous way(s) the brothers try to settle who owns the ranch, the kind of unbelievable amount of happenstance that occurs throughout. I don't have a problem with any of these things, but what I would have waved off as a teen now stands out to me and jars me out of the story as I try to figure out HOW that is possible.
The chemistry between Slade and Joslyn is palatable, so there isn't much in the way of a triangle. I appreciated though that Miller didn't make it a bitter parting of ways for Joslyn and Hutch. They were adult about it (with each other at least) and proved that not everything always has to be a drama fest.
My one big complaint about this book was that Miller paid equal attention, or almost equal (probably more like 60% Slade, 40% Hutch) attention to both brothers. This probably wouldn't bother me as much as it does if I didn't know, without a shadow of a doubt, that in Book 2 the book will focus primarily on Hutch and his adventures. This cuts Slade's involvement in the books to a small fraction and offers Hutch a larger role overall. I doubt Miller meant it to be this way, but that's a problem with connected books that continue the story from one to the next as openly as it is here.
This is a classic Western historical romance with cattle rustling, Indians, and shootings along with the strong, stoic hero and the feisty heroine. It's one of Ms. Miller's best books and my favorite in the series.
However, hotness does not come through in this audiobook - the situation might have been different with a younger sounding reader. I hope that isn't ageist.
Drake Carson is portrayed as an old-fashioned, solid - close to stuck in the mud - cowboy, someone who would never let you down.
Luce is a student studying wild horses - sounds great doesn't it - but she emerges with even less charisma than Drake.
She makes noises along the lines of being her own person, a contemporary woman. But she wasn't interesting. Her study of wild horses hinted at something, but I didn't form much of a view of her. I admired that she was willing to change course and make it work living on a ranch - I thought that was fair enough - but not enough to save this novel.
I've read so many great books lately, authors so good at taking the reader on an emotional journey. I enjoyed this quiet story but it didn't move me. And 9 hours was too long.
Once a Rancher - the story of Slater, Drake Carson's older brother - was a lot better as a romance.
I've also read Big Sky Country - part of the Parable, Montana series. I see I gave that 3 stars too, and for some of the same reasons. A lot of potential not realised in that novel as I recall. This could be my last Linda Lael Miller.
I've read worse books, but never one that annoyed me so much. First of all, this is insta-love at its worse. The two main characters meet, have a long night of (hot?) sex, then the next day are engaged to be married. And nobody has a problem with that. Her dad is overjoyed, her young daughter is excited to move into a trailer away from everything familiar, and his brothers are congratulating him at every turn. It's so ridiculously unrealistic, and it drives me nuts. And don't tell me that they loved each other in high school, because it's been a decade, a failed marriage for both of them, a career in Hollywood of all places, and a kid. People change, and these two people have no business jumping right back into things like they're still in high school.
Then there's the horribly convoluted plot. Nothing really ever happens, except for some drunk guy driving a semi truck into his cabin, which I think was supposed to serve as the climactic action? It gets a question mark, because there's not a second of worry that the characters will actually get hurt, there's no emotional turmoil, and they wanted to bulldoze the cabin anyway! Win-win! Grr.
Last but certainly not least, this is a ball of sickening fluff. It's like the author can't bear to write in any sort of struggles for her characters, and we the readers end up suffering for it. Everybody in this book is super rich, rich enough to just pack up and sell their cars, apartments, and belongings with no worry, and to bulldoze a cabin and immediately start putting in a house with absolutely no forethought. I usually don't have a problem with the rich hot guy trope, but this book really makes it sickening. And thanks author, we get that you like kids and animals, but does every woman in this book need to be barefoot and pregnant to feel happy? For god's sake, the book ends with an info dump about every single one of the Creed wives and their new babies' names and their happy children. There's nothing wrong with having kids in your epilogue, but this is a prime example of the wrong way to do it. Finally, the thing that bugs me the most - the "cowboy" culture. I'm from the high plains, I talk to real cowboys all the time and they DO NOT act like the Creed men. They don't jet off to become high-powered lawyers or movie stars and then decide that they miss the "big open Montana skies." If you want to write about cowboys, write them the right way.
This book is downright terrible, and I will absolutely never be reading anything by this author again. Now I need to go and find one of my old favorites to get this crap out of my system.
Meanwhile, Jolie makes bad decision after bad decision, and Daniel has to clean up the mess every time. I did have some sympathy for him, though he's mostly a gruff irascible man who can't seem to move on with his life. The story, what there was of it in between sex scenes, was unrealistic. A woman is weaned from opium addiction in one week, the bank robbers keep hanging around despite the chance they'll get caught, and two orphan kids show up conveniently though Daniel keeps threatening to send them away. It was a lot, and most of it was not very coherent, with Daniel and Jolie fighting and then having makeup sex for most of the book. So, not a book for me.
There's also a nice subplot with Enoch, the ex-slave who works for the Hammonds and Jubie, a pregnant escaped slave. Ms. Miller writes with good historical detail about the days leading to the battle and the aftermath. There are also interesting snippets about life on a Pennsylvania farm in the Civil War period.
I enjoyed this story. I liked Vanessa and Nick. Her ex, Parker, was a total heel. He does whatever he can to hurt Vanessa. She's well rid of him. Nick does not tell her the whole story about his marriage. I can understand why he did not but I also see her side of the trust issue. I could also understand why she felt confused with Nick's behavior at times--says one thing, acts the opposite. I hoped they would work it out. Naturally, they did so I got my happy ending.
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