6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good historical romance, Mar 1 2009
By inlovewithallbooks - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Eden (Mass Market Paperback)
Katie was the daughter of a prostitute. Her father sent her to live with a family thinking this was a better life for her. It wasnt. She was abused at the hands of that family. She wanders into town to escape the adoptive father's wandering hands and stumbles into John Roper. He sizes up her plight and takes her home with him to live as his housekeeper. He has had a tough life but her open spirit guides him. It's a sweet story that starts with such tradgedy. I always like Carolyn Davidson's books and this one was no exception. It was just a little slower than her other books but I still liked it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but some flaws, April 4 2009
By Susan Smith - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Eden (Mass Market Paperback)
I like Carolyn Davidson's books and have read a number of them now. I enjoyed Eden very much and thought the two main characters were worthy and interesting people; ditto the secondary characters. The story takes place in the Dakota Territory in the 1890s and is about ranching and small town life. Our heroine, 17 year old Katie, is the victim of abuse and has had a very sad and difficult life. She runs away and is rescued by John, an upright and kindly ranch foreman who takes her home with him to be his housekeeper. That is Flaw #1 - I wasn't convinced by his motives as they were mixed and unclear.
John seems, sometimes, too good to be true. He is so understanding of Katie and her needs and is always ready with a kind word and light touch. However, Flaw #2 - two thirds through the novel, he loses it and turns on Katie in a most unexpected way that seems totally out of character. We know he had a bad first marriage but up until that point, he seemingly had moved past it.
There were some good secondary characters - good people and very bad people and all of them add to the story. One, in particular, however, caused me some concern. I am sure that the author is planning another book to accompany this, featuring Katie's younger sister and a Dakota Indian named Grey Wolf. Flaw #3, for me, is that at the time of Wounded Knee, etc, is it likely that an Indian such as Grey Wolf would seem to move through the world much admired, treated as an equal without question, and make up to a white woman (a very young girl, in fact) without raising a few eyebrows? This was, considering the historical timeframe, rather unrealistic. Maybe a subsequent book will address this.
The author writes a good story and this was well told. However, the three issues above kept it from being a 5 star keeper for me.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Skip it..., Feb 13 2010
By Randa Beth - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Eden (Mass Market Paperback)
I could barely finish this one. All through the book, I just kept asking myself...Is this really Carolyn Davidson? I've read and enjoyed so many of her books, I just couldn't believe such a poor quality one had come for her. Perhaps it was one of her early ones, which would explain the clumsy, amateurish writing and excessive use of 'for' when 'because' would have done just as easily. Overly flowery language is not something I've associated with this author before, but it really gets on your nerves in a hurry. I will say this; the heroine is enjoyable. Which makes the churlish 'hero' ten times as bad. He apparently has been cheated on in the past, which is supposed to make it okay that he uses excessive force and a lack of care in taking his wife at least twice. He has a hard time believing she has done nothing to instigate the affections of another man, despite the fact that he sees her fighting him off as he tries to accost her. She must have used her wiles to earn his attention, taking advantage of his masculine weakness. Oh, but he assures us that he sees the error of his ways afterwards and though he can't promise he'll never be rough with her again (as he may become angry with her at some point), he will never leave bruises in the future. What a guy. Nevermind that his poor child bride is seventeen--though she acts more like fourteen--and has a history of physical and limited sexual abuse. There is never any real resolution to this, or any point in which the hero feels true shame, so I suppose they are going to be fine until the next man smiles at Katie without any provocation and sends John into a jealous rage. Add to this a ridiculous plot twist at the end, it makes for a very weak book. Let's just say any sheriff who allows a pregnant woman to become involved in a dispute is the biggest moron on earth. Try to avoid this one if possible.