Homespun Bride Review

Disclaimer: I did not know it was affiliated with Harlequin until after I read it. Though the style is like night and day, I assume, it was just another kind of awful. Had I known I probably wouldn't have bothered, free be damned.

Blurb:

Homespun Bride (The McKaslin Clan Historical #2)

by Jillian Hart

A WINTER'S HOMECOMING

Montana Territory in 1883 was a dangerous place --- especially for a blind woman struggling to make her way through an early winter snowstorm. Undaunted, Noelle Kramer fought to remain independent. But then a runaway horse nearly plunged her into a rushing, ice-choked river, before a stranger's strong, sure hand saved her from certain death.

And yet this was no stranger. Though she could not know it, her rescuer was rancher Thad McKaslin, the man who had once loved her more than life itself. Losing her had shaken all his most deeply held beliefs. Now he wondered if the return of this strong woman was a sign that somehow he could find his way home.


Review: 1

Ugh. I got this for free and tried to give a fair chance, but it was just every kind of awful. Let me save you the time- there was not a single redeeming thing about this book. Not one.

the characters are one dimensional. any "change" occured before the book started.

the characters are the authors idea of flawless. the only thing that stands between them is a simple misunderstanding: *spoiler alert, which is revealed in like, the first page* Thad left her the night they were supposed to elope, and subsequently stayed away, because her father threated to take -everything- from his ailing and dependent family. This is easily overcome when a) the father dies and b) he returns so that the truth can come out. There are no actual character flaws or mistakes that either makes, unless you count self-denial to a fault and being totally oblivious of the other person's love. Totally unrelatable and boring.

The flip from one persons thoughts to the other was disorienting. Few books can pull it off. This one had enough troubles as it was. Thad was not at all believable as a man.

What was the point? I've read a lot of historical fiction, never one about a blind woman. The storyline -could- have been something. Why did the author relegate the personal struggles in loss of sight, family, love and faith in God to a blip of background info summed up in a couple of sentences and then spend almost THREE HUNDRED PAGES writing what was essentially the last scene?!

Torture for the reader. Not in a good way. I read my favorite love stories over and over again. I understand wanting that moment where everything becomes perfectly understood between the two to last forever, to want to draw it out sometimes. But that's only for characters that you're emotionally invested in! As far as I could understand, Thad loved Noelle because she was sweet and had emerald eyes. And Noelle loved Thad because he was caring. Urgh.

To top it all off, the writing was bad too. Repetitive and melodramatic in description of EVERYTHING.

I cannot forget this book too soon.