Murphy's Rainbow [Paperback]

Katie Murphy has just watched her husband die in her arms and the wagon train they were on, left her. She has nowhere to go and is taken to the closest town by the leader of the wagon train. Grieving, but still independent enough to know that she has to work, Katie finds employment as a cook for the local saloon and bawdyhouse. Katie cooks during the day and dances with cowboys at night for money. On one such night, Katie comes face to face with a hard-edged rancher who offers her employment as his housekeeper/nanny. Katie doesn't hesitate in her agreement and they leave for his ranch.

Jonathan Cantrell needs a woman to take care of his home and two sons. When his partner tells him about Katie, he travels to the saloon and takes a peek. What he sees is a lovely woman unlike any saloon girl he has ever seen and knows that she will be perfect for what he has in mind. Getting her alone takes a bit of convincing but soon Jonathan puts his proposition before Katie and she readily agrees.

Kate and Jonathan soon become friends of a sort, but there is something brewing in the air. Could it be love?

Murphy's Rainbow by Carolyn Lampman was a highly poignant and very sweet romance. I savored Katie and Jonathan coming to grips with their feelings towards each other because when it happened, the results were glorious. I enjoyed Murphy's Rainbow for its humor as well; the antics of Jonathan's children brought a smile to my face. I was more than pleased when Jonathan and Katie finally confessed their feelings for each other, to each other. I love nothing better than a happy ending and I got that and more.

Talia
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I love the way Carolyn wrote the story about a widow who took a change in the wild and untaped territory. Kate surely knew what she could no matter what the predimate. I strongly recommed this book, beacuse it have everything a story could have exciment, romance, and a lot a person would what in a book.

From the back cover:

Stormy love...

Wyoming Territory in 1869 was a rough place for a woman, and when Kate Murphy's husband died of cholera, she had no choice but to take a job keeping house for Jonathan Cantrell and his two unruly sons. Soon she found that this rancher with the face of an angel had the devil's own temper. But sweet, sensual Kate could match it with her own.

Living together in a small cabin on an isolated ranch, their clash of wills gave way to aching desire, despite the suspicion between them. Was their new love strong enough to overcome their secrets from the past?

And my review:

I read and enjoyed Carolyn Lampman's Meadowlark (Harper Monogram), so I decided to try out her other books. But I could not believe that MURPHY'S RAINBOW was written by the same author. While the plotting was good, there was no real emotional depth to the story, and the characters remained pretty flat throughout.

**Spoiler warning!**

The heroine endures a lot of tragedy in the novel, but it is resolved very quickly, and her sorrow is not really explored. Instead, if felt as if it was glossed over for the sake of moving the plot along.

For instance, her husband dies (she'd had a good marriage), she cries herself to sleep for one night, and that's it. The reader never really sees the wrenching pain a person would experience over the death of a beloved spouse. Similarily, the heroine later realizes she's pregnant with her late husband's child, then prompty loses it to a miscarriage. She's sad for three days, her native friend gives her a session in a sweat lodge, and BAM, she's fine again. If only! Having suffered two miscarriages myself, I can assure you that a woman does not get over the loss of a child that easily (if ever!) And considering that the heroine had lost what last piece she'd have of her husband, one would expect her to be devastated. If the author didn't want to have to deal with the baby, I don't think she should have written one in at all, if she wasn't prepared to properly portray the emotional devastation a woman suffers from pregnancy loss.

Since the author had the hero still agonizing over his wife's death (which had happened years before), I was annoyed that the heroine's loss of her husband (and the subsequent loss of his child) wasn't properly dealth with. I think that if the author had thinned out some of the subplots and extra characters and instead focused on the emotional potential of this novel, this would have been a really satisfying read.

I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are a big fan of the author. Try her novel MEADOWLARK instead; I think that was a better read.

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