Recent Read

Harper's Bride by Alexis Harrington

Genre: Western

Why this one:  I've been on such a role with this author

Steam Level: very warm, but not boiling

My Thoughts:

It’s kind of odd rereading a book years after reading it the first time.  Back in the 90’s when I originally read these books, this was my favourite book.  But now, so far anyway, this one has been replaced by Desperate Hearts, the Homeward Hearts.  That’s not to say that I’m not thoroughly enjoying this one – I am – it’s just not at the top now.

This book takes place somewhere towards the end of the Yukon Gold Rush.  Dylan Harper and Melissa Logan meet when Melissa’s good for nothing husband tries to trade her to store owner Dylan to pay off a debt owed to him by her husband.  Dylan is naturally horrified as such a suggestion, but it’s pointed out to him by his friend, a witness to the whole thing, that this useless excuse for a human being will only try the same thing again sometime, putting Melissa and her daughter Jenny, at possible greater risk than him.

So Dylan agrees to this ludicrous plan and takes on this drab and colourless young woman.  He agrees she can stay and cook and clean for him.  As he lives in a tiny apartment above his trading store, this doesn’t take up much time for her, and determined never to be helpless again, Melissa comes up with the idea of taking in washing to make some money so she can leave this sad and desolate locale.

Melissa slowly starts coming back to life as she is being treated with respect for the first time in her young life.  And Dylan does respect her.  He’s nursing deep pain himself.  He’s been rejected by his family all his life and the final cut was when his fiancé marries his brother.  He didn’t know where he was headed, he just knew he had to get away and ended up somehow in Dawson City, Yukon.  He had realized early that panning for gold was a no-win situation.  Most of the claims had been panned out already.  So instead he’d become a successful trader.

The author does an excellent job of showing the hopeless and desperateness of the effects of the gold rush.  Broken families, lonely people, squalor and loneliness are all well described.

Where it’s not so much the favourite as is was previously is a misunderstanding/big stupid error by Logan causing hurt to Melissa.  I wanted to smack him and tell him to grow up!  He was too hung up on past hurts which seemed to me anyway, leading to disrespectful treatment to Melissa who I loved to pieces.  He came across as kind of selfish and self-centered towards the end and wasn’t redeemed quite enough for me.  Melissa gave in a tad to easily.

But, despite these issues, I’m still loving Ms. Harringtons books and just ordered two more today.

Grade: 4 out of 5



'til later

Recent Read

Desperate Hearts by Alexis Harrington

Genre: Western

Why this one:  I can't seem to get enough of her at the moment

Steam Level: Very warm bordering on hot

My thoughts:  I really had forgotten how much I enjoy Alexis Harrington’s books.  I think I last read them back in the 90’s so reading them again is like visiting beloved friends I haven’t seen in years but have very fond memories of.  Because it was so long ago that I read them and I’ve read so many since then, the only thing I really remember is the feeling of comfort they give, not so much the story itself. 

Desperate Hearts is the story of Jace Rankin.  He was the bounty hunter from Homeward Hearts who relentlessly pursued the hero from that book.  Now Jace has a new target to seek revenge on.  He finds and achieves it at the beginning of this story and is at a bit of loose ends a bit as the mission that has consumed him for a number of years is accomplished.  He contemplates heading for warmer climates when he rescues a young lad from being bullied.  Jace had been harassed all his life himself because of his small stature until he made a name for himself a real badass bounty hunter.  It seems the boy, Kyle Springer, had been searching for Jace for his badassness in helping Kyle get revenge and get his home back, the home that had been stolen from him.

Jace reluctantly agrees, though he senses something is off about Kyle.  Of course in true romance style, Kyle is really Kyla.  Jace is angry at first at being duped, but then reluctantly agrees to help Kyla reclaim her life.

It’s a simple outline but for me it was so richly done.  I loved Jace.  I love the fact that he was shorter than your average bear.  Once he got past his anger, he was so protective of Kyla.  As she slowly begins to trust Jace, her story of abuse comes out and he is so patient with her.  He’s truly the strong and silent type that makes for such a great Western hero.  He has his own rotten childhood and its warped the way he sees himself, not worthy of love.

As well, I thought Kyla makes for an excellent Western heroine.  She’d been brutalized and rather than give up and give in, she fights back.  She knows she can’t do it herself so she looks for the person who is most capable.  She is a bit slow to trust Jace, but with very good reason.  As with Jace, her life has been very short on love.

I liked that the author included a scene with Chloe and Travis from Homeward Hearts.  It looked like we may not get one for a while, but the author didn’t disappoint.

As much as I enjoyed the first book in this series, I think I liked this one a little bit more.  When I finished it, I was going to move on to a different author and a different genre.  But I’m just not done with Alexis Harrington books yet and since I have a few more, I’m revisiting a very dear comfort place.

One thing I feel I should point out though it bothered me not at all.  The formatting isn’t that great in transferring this to an electronic book.  Because of this there are some misspelled words, missing words etc.  As this didn’t affect the strength of the story at all and I was ‘in the zone’ while reading I didn’t notice that much.  But I know that for some readers this can be quite distracting and take them out of ‘the zone’.

 

Grade: 5 out of 5

 

 

 

'til later

Recent Read

Homeward Hearts by Alexis Harrington

Why this one: It's a reread of an oldie but goodie

Steam Level: very nice indeed

My Thoughts:

I’ve noticed that more and more older books are being rereleased as ebooks and I am loving this.  I’m rediscovering authors I’ve lost track of.  My latest ebook glom is Alexis Harrington.  This works out well as I’m also in a Western Frame of Mind at the moment.

 

The first one up is Homeward Hearts.  Ms. Harrington tends to write poignant tales about people battered by life and this one is a good example.  Chloe Maitland is a bossy young woman who has to fend for herself in a dying town named Misfortune after her blacksmith alcoholic father drinks himself to death.  He was the only family she had and with the mortgage coming due soon, she is in a difficult situation.  She places and add for a blacksmith but can only provide room and board, no real wages until after the amount needed for the mortgage is earned. She is being courted by the local teacher, a bland useless kind of man.  She’s not really keen on him, but she’s lonely.  Because of her bossy ways, though with a tender heart, she has no real friends.

 

Travis McGuire answers her add, but before he can start, he needs to be tended to as he walked a long ways to Misfortune in the boiling sun and is now suffering from a bad case of heat stroke.

Chloe and Travis clash from almost the beginning.  A lot of times I don’t really like bickering protagonists, but in Homeward Hearts, it was their way of bonding and getting to know each other.  Travis had his own issues.  He’d spent a number of years in jail for murdering his adulterous wife but he was innocent.  Because of this and the fact that he is being hunted by a bounty hunter bound to take him back to jail.  He has no family left either and I loved this story of two lonely people finding each other .

It’s been a number of years since I’d read any books by Alexis Harrington though not long ago I purchased one as an ebook.  I checked to see which one while I was reading this one and did a quick little happy dance when I realized it was a sequel to this book; the bounty hunter’s story.  I started reading it last night right after I finished this book and I’ve also purchased 3 more by this author I first read years ago. 

I really hope a whole new generation of readers who enjoy Westerns discover this author and maybe some older authors rediscover her.  She really is good

 

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

 

'til later

This and That

Thanks for all your well wishes on the new job!! I do know all the people in that department as in the Intake department, we get all the faxes and deliver them throughout the day. So when I'm on faxing, that's one of the departments I deliver too. When I went down on Friday afternoon, they were all very excited that I was moving to their department. I told one girl who doesn't get by my desk that while you may like having me in the department, you are going to LOVE my calendar (heh heh heh). And a few people in the department I'm leaving asked that when I send emails, I also include them - even if it has nothing to do with that department. They didn't want to miss them :-)

I week or so ago I got an email from the Kobo people that there was a 'fix' to my biggest issue; the diminutive size of the font from downloaded third party publishers and the inability to make it any larger. I took it into Chapters yesterday to have it upgraded. I could have done it myself apparently, but then this is a small electronic devise and - hello - if there's an option someone else will do it I'll take that one every time! The guy said it would take about 10 or 15 minutes so he would come and find me when it was done. I said I'd probably be in the romance section (no probably about it really though). He came by a couple of minutes later and gave me a coupon for downloading a free ebook and a $10 gift certificate for an in store purchase. Do you have any idea how hard it was not to pick up a book?!?!?!? Whenever I had one in my hands I put it back, telling myself I would be in a world of books in just TWO DAYS and to wait until I got back! He made it back with my improved Kobo before I broke down thank goodness - it was a close thing!

So of course when I got home I had to try it out. And of course I needed new books in order to do so. I'd read on DA that the whole series of books by P.B. Ryan were available for an incredibly excellent price at Smashwords. I've read her Patricia Ryan medievals and really enjoyed them, so I went and ordered all the P.B. Ryan series for the incredibly low price of just under $14.00 - amazing! I first heard about Smashwords from Monkey Bear Reviews when she did a review for a new book by Alexis Harrington, an author I loved who seemed to disappear. So I also picked that book up as well as a couple others by Ms. Harrington.

And wonder of wonders - it worked!! I can now adjust the font size on third party ebooks. Ebook publishers - here I come!

Lastly - I should not be here blogging!! No I should not. I thought I'd learned my lesson when I did my last minute packing for Denver. I said then and there that I wouldn't go through that again and figured to have my packing down for RWA 90% done by the Saturday before I left. The best laid plans and all that though. It seems procrastination trumps all as once again, I haven't really started. I've written down what I need to pack - but that's about as far as I've gotten. *sigh* So right now I'm off to do laundry. So when next I report in, it should be from Orlando (should being a key word!)

THE GREAT WESTERN DRIVE - DAY 3

Part 1

Read A Western; Gamblers Need Love Too

Yesterday was all about the books. And what would the books be without the authors that write the books? There are so many fabulous authors who have written Westerns over the years, I'm almost afraid to tackle this topic as I know I will be leaving so many good authors out. Here are a list of 10 who have blown me away over the years - in no particular order

When I think Western this first author comes to mind right away. I've already featured one of her books this week and I could spotlight a lot more. I wish I had started keeping track of grades and outlines a long time ago so my memory wouldn't be so spotty. But although some may be a bit hazy in the list I'm giving of this author, I know I enjoyed them all!


Patricia Potter
Lawless
Defiant
Diablo
Relentless
Renegade (my first PP book)
Seize the Fire
The Marshal and the Heiress
The Scotsman Wore Spurs
Wanted

And these are just her Westerns!! She has quite a few others I've read and enjoyed too.

**********************

This author has written so many heartwarming stories. She's no longer writing Westerns and I miss her Westerns like crazy. Reading them was like cuddling up in a nice warm blanket on a cold stormy night

Stef Ann Holm
Crossings
Harmony
Hearts
Hooked
Forget Me Not
Portraits
Weeping Angel

**********************

This next author has also left the Western Fold. It's been a while since she's had a book out and I hope she comes back - soon! Her books are those of the poignant kind, the kind that make you sigh at the end.

Alexis Harrington
Allie's Moon
The Bridal Veil
Desperate Hearts
Harper's Bride
Montana Born and Bred
A Taste of Heaven

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This next author - oh this next author - how I loved her Westerns. She moved into contemporary but I think she might now be writing Inspirational Romance. And I will follow her there. She's always been an autobuy author for me

Jill Marie Landis
After All
Come Spring
Last Chance
Past Promises
Rose
Sunflower

**********************

I so miss this next author's Westerns. We won't get into why she's not writing them anymore - it makes me angry. I've also featured one of her books yesterday, but all of them are wonderful

Susan Kay Law
Home Fires
The Last Man in Town
One Lonely Night
Reckless Angel
A Wanted Man


Well - that's five authors so far. If I were like Wendy, I would have had these all ready to go, but since I'm the Great Procrastinator, I left it until last minute - and then I simply HAD to watch SYTYCD Canada. Combine that with working the later shift and time is not my friend! So tomorrow - five more.
And there is something else I've been working on which ties into this too that is coming up soon!

Well isn't this just ducky - none of the links work and it's 1:14 am. There's not much point yelling "They Do!! They Do Exist. I was there!!"
I shall fix links tomorrow.

**********************

Update

I hate to say this - but my "fix" is lame *heavy sigh* I pondered it while trying to get to sleep earlier this morning and short of tracking down all kinds of links all over the place, or writing short blurbs which I'd love to do if I had the time, (and after not going to bed until real late) the energy, or calling in sick (which is tempting but not good little worker bee approved) and fixing them *breath* I came up with this lame way of doing it.
Fiction DB is a GREAT website - just type in the authors name and a list of all their books comes up. Then click on them for the cover and blurb. It's become my go-to site.

And Wendy has Wednesdays post up wherein she shares the Maggie Osborne lurve.