Saturday, September 10, 2011

Book Thoughts: High Country Bride by Linda Lael Miller





iddy up cowboy! I ventured into the world of what, to some, would be called the "typical" romance novel. I wanted to see what it was about these that some people hated so much, and honestly I think it may be more the fault of the book blurbs than the actual narrative. It is likely that the "haters" have not actually read any, so how can one judge?

The story is about the son, Rafe McKettrick, of a wealthy Arizona Territory ranch owner. Let me stop here and just say that, yes, the names are stereotypical of what we might think that western names would be for the time period. Actually there are three (well four) sons, but Rafe is the focus of this book. The father (Angus - like the beef) thinks it's time for his sons to marry and bear progeny; after all, he is 75 and wants grand-kids. He tells his sons that the first one to marry and have a child (girl or boy) will inherit the ranch. Rafe is the oldest son and he writes to a mail-order bride outfit. This leads us to Emmeline who through circumstances in her life, decides to respond to the ad and journeys to Arizona from Missouri.  Emmeline is a strong woman, but she does have some weak moments. She definitely held her own in this family of strong male characters. What happens after Emmeline shows up is what the book is all about, so you will just have to read it!

I read this rather quickly - yes it is that captivating with a mix of action and character development that keeps the pages turning. The author does, at times, write a little bit too "western" with some typical phrases and words, but these just made me chuckle and I moved on.

Lesson: Don't always judge a book by it's blurb! I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, and intend on reading the rest of the books in the series by this author and maybe some others.  They are interesting and fun with only a few sex scenes thrown in; these scenes where short and I thought added to the story at the appropriate times.


High Country Bride - Book 1 of the McKettrick Cowboys
Published: 2002
Pocket Books - Simon and Shuster
Version: eBook in ePub format.
Widely available in paperback and ebook forms.

2 comments:

  1. haha Great review! This book is on my "Order when the money's available" list. Which means it's basically in my Amazon shopping cart, all I need is the funds and to press "checkout."

    RJ @ RJ Does Books

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  2. Great review..... Blurbs can be very deceiving.... At the end of last year I had a couple of Mills & Boon books to read and I was very surprised at how little 'sexy' scenes there were, the stories were brilliant.... :-)

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