Nevada Books

Many of the selections within this book contain little more than increasingly tedious descriptions of wilderness scenery.

Contents -

William Byrd - History of the Dividing Line
William bartram - Travels in Florida
Meriwether Lewis - Across the Continent
George Catlin - Buffalo Country
John James Audubon - Missouri River Journals
John C. Fremont - West of the Great Basin
Francis Parkman - Hunting Indians
Henry David Thoreau - "Ktaadn"
Clarence King - Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada
John Wesley Powell - Exploration of the Colorado River
Clarence Dutton - Canyon Country
Verplanck Colvin - Adirondack Wilderness
Isabella Bird - A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
Plenty Coups - Vision in the Crazy Mountains
Theodore Roosevelt - Hunting in the Badlands
John Burroughs - Birch Browsings
John Muir - The Range of Light
Mary Austin - Land of Little Rain
John C. van Dyke - The Desert
Aldo Leopold - "Thinking Like a Mountain"
" - The Green Lagoons
Rachel Carson - The Edge of the Sea
Edwin Way Teale - Land of the Windy Rain
Wallace Stegner - Packhorse Paradise
" - Wilderness Letter
Edward Abbet - Desert Solitaire
John McPhee - Coming into the Country
David Roberts - The Mountain of My Fear

I used The Wilderness Reader in teaching a course in stewardship and field ecology for teachers. I found that the book contained a wide variety of different types of environmental writing and that all of the selected pieces were excellent examples of the genre. Several of my elementary school teachers even read parts of the reader to their students.

I thought this book was great. The prison world is one full of hopelessness and despair, yet here's a man who did his time holding onto his sense of humor and himself. There is a great deal of emphasis on the prison lingo that was used while he was on the inside. This had me in stitches.

Is it all true? The disclaimer at the beginning of the book says it is not. This did not make it any less worthwhile to read.

i bought this book on the strength of the user reviews, and the fact that this book is supposedly a biography/true story of the author's time in prison.

ok, in places it's an engaging piece of writing, but as i read along, more and more holes in the (less and less believable) story popped up. anyone can tell that many of the characters are part truth and a big part fantasy, down to the full on 'cape fear'-styled pursuit at the end; it also seemed to me that the stories were probably enhanced a bit to make the author seem tougher or badder.

so i sure wasn't surprised to find in the author's foreward, an admission that his credibility was called into question in the years after the publication of the book, and all kinds of uncomfortable excuses and apologies as to how the 'emotional truth' gave him the permission to change not only events and characters, but also the factual truth.

hey, i'm sure he spent time in prison and there are some amusing stories about day-to-day prison life, but the credibility issue damages this as a 'memoir' and it's not otherwise really compelling; overall there's not much to take away from the book.

First, this was a non-stop action thriller, and there are some interesting descriptions of weapons and weapons systems that were interesting. The book is so off the wall that it became zany and not even close to anything approaching reality. Maybe that wasn't the objective. It's roughly 150 pages too long. To use Reilly's favorite and well over-used technique. It's like the Bible written by a 10 year old.

...and then he saw it
...and then it happened all at once
...without any warning at all

Get used to these phrases, because you will be reading them a lot!

I picked up this book in the used section of the bookstore because the cover blurb seemed to be what I wanted to read at the time, a mindless action-adventure. I was surprised to find out that it was a sequel to another forgettable book I'd read -- Ice Station. I am usually pretty good about authors but while I only retained plot bits from that first novel I certainly remembered the laughable "and then he saw it" line, also used several times in that one.

The author is a horrible writer, but a decent storyteller. Both books have read like first treatments of a Die Hard movie. I was never bored, but also never taken much with his "craft" of writing. The slow character moments are forced, and the action bits are telegraphed months in advance. I can mildly recommend it, for lunchtime reading or perhaps a long trans-Pacific flight.

I read this back in high school and I really liked it. Lots of action and just a good fun ride.

Typical of all the Matthew Reilly books I have read, you don't get a moments peace. The action starts practically at the first page. I don't believe so much happens within such a short amount of time. Loved it.

In a secret base in the Utah desert is a place that is called Area 7. The US president is visiting but there are enemies waiting for him... this is the "hook" of this book. I love most Matthew Reilly books but Area 7 is by far one of his best ones (I liked it more than Ice Station, Contest and Temple). This is a book that you cannot put down once you are past page 20. For those of you who like really fast-paced action thrillers, this is a definite thumbs up.

I've read a few other Nevada Barr books and liked them well enough (although Ann Pigeon is far from my favorite mystery series protagonist), but this one I really didn't care for. I picked out the likely villain very early and I was waiting for an unexpected twist but it didn't come. Really there were virtuallly no surprises and those which there were didn't really matter much. I also got annoyed and very tired of her (the author, through mouth of the protagonist) harping on the one character's fatness, going on and on about it and describing him with really contemptuous language -- it gives a strong impression of someone who is rabidly "sizist." OK, the guy is fat - so are a lot of people, so get over it. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

This is my second Anna Pigeon mystery, and I listened to it on audio. I don't do crime books, but the first was so entertaining (and so well-narrated) and well-written, I looked forward to Hard Truth. I like mysteries, but not when they feature sadomasochistic scenes of violence, which is why I was happy to find these novels. Not now. The last two discs, where Anna is captured, are horrific to read.

I have long been an admirer of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series. Hard Truth is an exceptional story. A psychotic killer kidnaps young girls and has them perform unspeakable acts, a Mormon sect practices polygamy, a newly paralyzed former rock climber, orphaned wolf pups that have been "rescued" by a seasoned park ranger, and Anna's new job at Rocky Mountain National Park are all part of the narrative mix of the story. Anna's activities as a law enforcement National Park officer bring her to very core of an evil she has trouble fathoming. She is human--she makes mistakes, some very grievous mistakes, that show her flaws , but also make her more human at the same time.
This book is unlike any other Anna Pigeon novel I've read--start reading this one early as you'll be up all night, unable to put it down. But make sure there's someone else in the house and all the doors are locked.

HARD TRUTH by Nevada Barr takes Anna Pigeon fans deep into the stark contrast of the beauty of the Rocky Mountain Park and evil of religious cults which use faith to mask their unholy deeds. This is a different Barr, which explores kidnapping, child abuse, violence and evil. It is not a story for the faint hearted, but it contains all the classic elements of Barr's fictional prose, vivid descriptions of the locale, tight plotting, sensitive and striking characterizations.
The scenes move seamlessly between the points of view of Anna and Heath Jarrod, a wheelchair accident victim who has problems of her own when Heath discovers and bonds with the lost children.
New territory for Barr, a eye opener for her fans.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

This is just an ugly, hateful, horrible book. Although I have regularly read the Anna Pigeon series, I have always found the gratuitous violence and brutality disturbing.

This one, though, is the worst ever---I loathed the animal torture, the child molestation, the child abuse, and the extremely unsettling religious extremism. And, of course, Anna Pigeon HAS to be brutalized, as she is in EVERY ONE of the other books.

This one was the last, however. No more for me.

If you're looking for a biography-style book about S.Wynn's road to being King of Las Vegas this really isn't it. I'm about 120 pages into it now, and I'm already flipping through to see if it is going to get any better. Here's a little on the book:

VERY detailed! Assuming all is true in the book, you can tell there has been much research and hours of connecting people together in the stories in the book. Unfortunately, the book seems to be just that, many many small stories or bits of stories that rarely link together at once. The book really doesn't have a good time line -- it's all kinda scattered, and doesn't read very well. The worst part about the book is for me it seems the author has an agenda to destroy the reputation of S.Wynn. Every opportunity is taken to say how Wynn was asscoiated with crooked and shady characters. So many of these characters one would never recognize, so there is much wrote about why these characters are shady people, so we all will know just how bad the company of Wynn was. There just seems to be nothing good written about Wynn in the book (so far) and that doesn't seem to be changing. Maybe that's just how it really is, I don't know. There's no wonder Steve Wynn sued these people for putting this book out. If you really want a copy, you can look for mine on ebay. This will be the first book I haven't finished in long time.

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to know more about the character of the man who is Steve Wynn. It is a true account of the way he has conducted himself over his history in Vegas and Atlantic City, not the image projected of him by Steve Wynn and his company. It is well written and concise. John L. Smith does an excellent job presenting the information, including several of the more uncanny incidents Steve Wynn has been involved in over the years by merely presenting the facts as they happened. He asks some very good questions that should have been asked but never were because of who the man is. He also points out numerous things that have been glazed over by the press and various agencies involved. Very informative. A definite must read.

This book is a real page turner. It is amazing it ever got printed, given Wynn's many attempts to strangle the unflattering portrayal it in its infancy. That in itself is reason enough to pick it up and study it.

I'm not sure how true all of the "accusations" / "observations" are about the infamous Mr. Wynn, but the book is extremely well written. Paired with the "Green Felt Jungle" (another excellent book) you will be hard-pressed to put these two books down. I would recommend this book to everyone.

So damaging to his super clean image, Wynn drove the original publisher into bancruptcy and tried everything he could manage to keep this book out of circulation. Steve Wynn vs. the First Amendment (1st 1, Wynn 0).

Certainly did improve Vegas by leaps and bounds, but at what cost? Using public water to build his exclusive Shadow Creek golf course, buying art, jets and NY condos with stockholders money as the stock sank into takeover waters, untimately being shown the door by casino magnate Kirk Kerkorian. Once owned by MGM, things changed. The golf course was opened, the art, NY condo and jet all sold.

How does one man undermine Federal law to build a dolphin attraction? he is on film meeting with a known mobster who used his Atlantic City casino (Golden Nugget) to launder money, but can't seem to remember anything about it.

Fact: the son of a Bino Hall operator rises up to be one of the worlds leading casino developers and owners through some very shady associations. He influences Nevada politics as all people with money are able to, so no surprise there. The mob associations are clearly documented and associating with a convicted felon (Milken) is grounds for losing your gaming license, yet Wynn does so with impunity.

Wynn has brought some great changes to Las Vegas, but after reading the other sidie of the story, you have to ask yourself if the ends justify the means.

John L. Smith has done a great job with the facts surrounding Steve Wynn. Hat's off to him!

Very well researched book that is fascinating to read. It gives a whole new perspective to life in the gold mines of CA during the mid-1850s.

Look, the content of this book is awesome and provides a vital link to the history of the gold rush in California! But the book design is terrible, because the paragraph length on average, is about three times normal, and this error in design makes the text quite difficult to read.

If you really care about the history of California, you should read Roaring Camp, but it won't be easy, simply due to the overly long paragraph structure.

Truth is, this book shows just how much we take good book design and layout, for granted. I'll never do that again, after reading Roaring Camp.

How such a supposedly good publisher could allow this kind of flawed paragraph editing to be allowed, that's the real mystery here.

If you're looking for a rip-roaring yarn of hoary old prospectors jumping claims and battling over gold nuggets, this is not it. Johnson's book is a thoughtful work of social history that reexamines the collective memory many people have of the gold rush (all-American gold-diggin' brawl) in the context of the letters, diary entries, legal cases and ballads that people who were actually *in* the gold rush used to document their lives.

The picture that emerges is one of a complex society that grew up around the promise of instant wealth. For one thing, Americans were not (in Johnson's account) always the largest group of miners in the Southern mines: French guardsmen expelled by their country, Chilean aristocrats, Mexican families, Canadian traders, Chinese sailors, and the Indian tribes that lived in the area before the gold rush began - everyone got in on the action. This cultural meeting place brought interactions both peaceful (lessons on how to use chopsticks) and violent (the practise of "frontier justice" usually targeted non-whites without caring whether the person hanged had anything to do with the original crime, if in fact an original crime took place.) Johnson's book sketches a believable portrait of the evolvoing politics of the region, and along the way explains everything from the origin of Chinese landromats to Antonio Bandaras's character in _The Mask of Zorro_ (suddenly a much more interesting movie since I read this book).

Johnson's writing from a gender-studies perspective, so she's particularly interested in the issues that sprung up in a (mostly) all-male mining society. If you're from a culture that considers women's work "unmanly," and have thus never been taught to cook or clean for yourself, how do you survive in a frontier environment? For some, the answer was you didn't (miners got sick a lot, and scurvy was one of the killers). For others you either learned to practise domestic chores yourself (which you could then sell or split with others), and/or you paid a lot of money for help. In other words, the gold rush not only attracted men after gold, but women who saw they could make money selling services (of all kinds) to the gold miners. Johnson's section on the French prostitutes, for example (who were going to get taxed and inspected for veneral disease if they stayed in France), explains how the real money-makers of the gold rush were often not the miners (who depended on luck to strike it rich) but the merchants who sold to them.

The thing I admired the most about this book was the author's voice. Johnson presents us with a bunch of stories, but instead of offering just one interpretation, she gives us many possible readings of stories and also reminds us whose voice is being left out. For example, in her section on miners diaries she reminds the reader that diary-writing was an important part of 19 C Protestantism, so most available diaries are written from a very religious, Protestant perspective. An older historical approach would have claimed that this meant most people in the camp were religious Protestants: Johnson, on the other hand, reminds us that the Catholics, non-religious Protestants and illiterates were there too, but they weren't writing diaries.

Overall, I thought Johnson's book was very impressive. It won't necessarily give you a complete picture of the gold rush (Johnson's only looking at the southern mines), but it will give you a more complete picture than you'd have if all you'd ever heard was the Hollywood version of history. Looking at some of the other reviews on this site, I gather that some people get mad at this book because it doesn't squish history into an adventure story, while others get mad because they see it as "liberal revisionism." I actually thought Johnson was really fair in her presentation of history: she spends a lot of time looking at the raiding and fights that were going on between *all* the racial groups in this area, and she makes it clear that the fact American miners came to dominate the mines had a lot to do with the fact the mines were in the USA, and the government tended to (but did not always) side with natives over foreigners. As for the revisionist angle, yes, Johnson's challenging a popular perception of what the gold rush was (an all-American bonanza) but she's doing so based on what seems to be a lot of historical evidence and the testimony of the miners themselves. In other words I'm gathering most of the people who hated this book were looking for something completely different than what I would look for in a history book. If you, like me, are looking for well-written interpretation of historical evidence that acknowledges when the author *doesn't* know something, this is a good history book.

In my opinion, Susan Johnson's research and demonstration of scholarship makes it inevitable for her to prove and defend her hypothesis throughout her book, ultimately confirmed in a solid thesis statement. What I find most intriguing about this book is the utilization of sources available to bring an "unheard" story, the "othered" story, to print. In Johnson's preface, she discusses the ideas for possible worlds of social justice. By choosing to undertake writing this book, Johnson deconstructs the social space of the California Southern Mines and through her thoughtful, inclusive reconstruction she gives a place to "others" whose testimonies and experience previously went unheard in a "mainstream" historical world. However, it is the stories that Johnson brings to life in this piece that truly `paints a historical picture' of the California Gold Rush.

While some of the topics Johnson brings up such as the mixing of cultures that takes place during this time, she lacks the organizational skills and talent as a writer to make the book compelling. Her work is all over the place and it's hard to follow especially when trying to use it as the basis of a research paper (which is what I had to do for a upper division history class of mine).

This is a very poor book. It has almost nothing to do with Las Vegas at all. It centers on porn stars and the porn industry, and the people profiled are most vapid and boring along with being incapable of reflection. The narrator's inability to make note of their deficient qualities and provide any sort of insight is its real flaw; however, as Sheehan appears incapable of judging anything or anybody which is indicative of many an academic nowadays. These types concentrate on being "tolerant" and "non-judgmental" which results in their having nothing to say. Porn is a means to an end for most guys. It isn't intriguing or meaningful. It's something in lieu of something else. If you enjoy reading about Las Vegas, I'd advise you to look at other titles.

I bought this book because amazon keep pushing it to me based on the other books I have bought. Of all the books I have bought on the sex industry, this has been the worst. It gives no new information. It dosn't "uncover" anything. Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave for the past 50 years already knows everything in this book. Yes, there are strip clubs and escorts and swingers in las vegas. Las vegas has a lot of sex going on. "what happens here, stays here." Don't buy this book unless you really don't know what a strip club is, or what swingers do with each other. Save your money.

As one who has owned both an Extoic Dancer Web site and a Las Vegas Escort Web site, I have met known and photgraphed dancers and escorts going back to 1997 anf quiter frankly a lot of information is just not right. While those he interviewed those things might be true, but in general they seem out od whack with the many ladies I have known. This is true particularly for the escorts, as anyone with any brains can see that escorts don't start out at $500 for an hour. Don't waste money on this book, is mostly a lot of hype and while you might find it entertaining, there is just too much that is flat out wrong. There are better books I am sure if you want to get the lowdown on the adult industry in Vegas.

I have never posted a review before, but felt the need to do so after reading half of this utterly useless book. I am a voracious reader who loves stories about Las vegas, but this book is not worth your time. I feel like a sucker for buying it and hope that I can save someone else from wasting their money.

The other reviewers are right, this book is not about Las Vegas ('for a good time go here and say Jack sent you') it is about the sex industry and sexual values in America. With that as its subject, this is an interesting book to those who, like me have lived sheltered lives.

The author is a journalist and so the chapters are free-standing articles. The first article/chapter is a visit to the Porn Oscars. It sounds like fun. The next is about a young lady of the author's acquaintance who is a college student/porn actress/prositute. She sounds interesting.

Each chapter seems to take us into stranger and more alarming sexual practices. Are you comfortable with Chapter Three? Does Chapter Six repel you?

But more than that, the author talks about people, not practices. What does a hooker do with her day off? What are swinging couples really like? Many of the people interviewed seem to frankly admit they wonder if they made the right decision with their lives.

An interesting way to go places I would never go and to meet people I would not otherwise meet.

A light hearted book with cute characters. Vonnie Taylor and Adam Baldwin make a sweet pair with a stronge attraction to each other. A definite read for anyone looking for something to do other than watch TV.

Way to much sexual description, from a Christian Author

What an entertaining twist... with Adam Baldwin hoping to pull off a quick divorce with his secret wife, Vonnie, so he can marry the sweet Beth Baylor... and Vonnie secretly furious at the entire affair. This story is full of misunderstandings, lack of communication, anger, rage, and a lot of passion. The main characters are warm, and loving, but I found it quite enterataining. I would recommend this story, however, did not find it a must read.... although quite enjoyable.

You will be VERY disappointed. I had to check to see if a final chapter had been left off my book. The plot was loose at best and nothing was fully developed. Her characters weren't believable and their reactions were unrealistic. I don't see any woman deciding that it was unfair to punish the woman that was marrying her own secretly wed husband by refusing to make her wedding dress for her. It just doesn't hold up. What's sad is that I've enjoyed Lori Copeland's books in the past and this is not her best work.

Taking into consideration that the characters were 15 and 17 seven years earlier this turns out to be a wonderfully innocent love story with general complications.

Now we come onto Vonnie Taylor Baldwin at 22 and Adam Baldwin at 24 with a marriage complicated by their fathers deep-seated aversion to each other, is it a wonder they don't seem to know how to straighten out their lives??

Throw in a grief stricken mother and a melancholy friend, Franz - well it is almost too much for Vonnie. She has a friend in Beth Baylor who is supposed to marry Adam, due to another misunderstanding I might add. And now Beth, who has a great admiration for Vonnie's talents as seamstress and bridal dress maker, wants a Vonnie original.

Beth tries to involve Adam in the wedding planning but Adam just can't seem to care.
Accidents start to happen around the Flying Feather ranch. Vonnie's father, Teague is raising Ostrichs, which the neighbors didn't like. The birds are a riot. Do they really ride them?? Then came the house fire. . . . .
Adam feels a need to protect Vonnie even though he is pushing for a divorce. And the memories of seven years ago are bringing back the love they had for each other.

I always wondered how P.K. Baldwin and Franz figured in the prologue and what ever happened to El Johnson?

The story was of every day events happening in 1898 to these people involved in hiding secrets of the past and resolving them in the present. I did enjoy meeting Adam's 3 brothers, Andrew, Joey and Pat and I had to laugh at Beth driving that first automobile, seems just like a woman in that day who thinks she can do anything. [this needs a triple smiley.]

Definitely RECOMMENDED - a great change of pace from all the bed hopping stories being put out. But as I always say - see for yourself.

The book is a decent additional resource to Urioste's "Red Book" (see also her 2003 26 trad routes addendum). Combined w/ the Red Rocks' SuperTopos the three will almost give you one good guidebook's worth of beta.

It IS your Red Rocks' "Bible" if you are a sport climber.

I do not believe this book can even be considered a guide book. No topos for certain areas. Poor descriptions. I went to Red Rocks with this book and it only got me to where I needed to park. I used the kindness of locals to get me to where I needed to go. Don't waste your time on this book. It's a pile.

I consider Swain's guide book to be a work in progress. I hear that the 3rd edition is out and that it is improved. You have to remember that Swain is tall and likes to sandbag, so if he downgrades your best onsight, don't let it get to you. Sure, he messes up some pitch lengths, pitch grades and approaches but I believe he's trying to do his honest best to write a quality guide. He's no Greg Opland, but maybe he can learn.

The book is very good overall. However the author should have spent a lot more time editing it before printing. The book has numerous contradictions as far as the rating system goes. One climb might be listed as a trad climb only and then in the index that same climb is listed as a sport climb. The index's section on the 5.10a climbs is completely screwed up! About 85% of these climbs are listed as a sport climb but then when you flip to that page they are listed as strictly trad climbs. It's very frustrating sometimes. The book has a lot of very helpful information and as of 1999 it was by far the best available. Hopefully the author will fix all of these problems in the next printing that has been rumored to be release for about 2 years and going.

I've been living and climbing at Red Rocks for two years now. Swain's guide book publicizes a number of new routes that are not in the previous guide; however, not all descriptions are adequate, and a few are even dangerous (such as fixed anchors indicated in the book where there are none in reality). You may also tire of the author's rather feeble attempts at humour! Having said this, I do use the guide alot, and when coupled with the older Urioste guide it serves its purpose. I am saddened however, by Swain's decision to not include a relatively large number of very good routes that were in the old guide-- thereby effectively 'erasing' good routes from the public memory. This amounts to a kind of bizarre censorship, as many of the routes he has left out are quite good and worth preserving. I, and many others, hope for a more enlightened guide book in the future; meanwhile, however, Swain's guide will suffice for most occasional visitors.

Basic love story with too much religious emphasis. Unlikely ending....I couldn't even finish it.

I bought this book because it was cheap and I wanted to try new authors (besides Lori Wick). This book was an easy read, a nice escape from the reality of school and work. I will buy other books by Al & Joanna Lacy because I think they have potential. However, I did not care for the development of this story. In the beginning of the book, I kept wondering about the sequence of events. By the end of the book, I still wondered about the time spent on the fire danger and how it all fit into the plot. I would have liked to see more of the book written about Kathleen and Tom instead of so much time spent on the fire danger and her time before becoming a mail order bride. The step son seemed a little too mature for a 6 year old. I felt it was unrealistic how quickly he began calling Kathleen Mommy, especially considering his strong feelings against calling her Mommy when they first met. The way they forgave and helped the Stallworth family was encouraging...I have to wonder if I would be able to forgive so easily and give so much to the people treated me so badly. I recommend this book if someone is looking for an easy read to escape from reality for a time.

Al & Joanna Lacy are very prolific Christian fiction writers, and I have been looking forward to reading their work. Secrets of the Heart was such a big disappointment, however. Although the basic plot is imaginative and the characters are endearing, the entire book was lacking in several ways. First, the authors took half the book just to give the background to the major storylines: Kathleen being reunited with her daughter and Tom and Kathleen finding happiness together. The background leading up to Kathleen's problems was just too involved and detailed, so much so that the first part of the story detracted from the rest of it. Second, the "meat" of the story was sketchy and left a lot of gaps. Perhaps if the authors had not spent so much time developing the background that this part of the story would be better. Also, Kathleen and Tom's characters were not as well-rounded as they could have been. Tom especially is not a particularly interesting character. It was hard for me to empathize with him when I knew virtually nothing about him. Finally, the ending just sews up all to neatly. Even though I was glad of the way it ended, a lot of gaps in the story and "fast forwarding" occurred before I got there. On the plus side, the lesson that Kathleen learns about forgiveness and God's love is the major strength of this book. Secrets of the Heart should probably best be categorized as young adult fiction, but even teenagers would have trouble with parts of this book.

Personally, when I read a fiction book, I like to be able to believe that the people and events in the book COULD be true even though I know it is fiction. This book was a big disappointment in that respect. I really don't recommend reading it if you want to read really good historical fiction.

First of all, the authors took way too long to develop the background of the story; the background actually ended up being a detraction rather than a support for the plot, because later the authors had to make up for lost time by rushing through the really important parts.

Second, I agree with the reviewer who said that putting Mrs. O'Leary in the book was stretching it a bit. I think the book would have been better if the authors were content to use a historical setting, instead of going all out like they did and trying to put famous people in as buddies of the main characters.

The third, and most annoying, reason that this book is not exactly believable, enjoyable Christian fiction is that the characters are not at all consistent. I feel that not only did the authors not stop to figure out just how their characters' personalities should be, they also tried to write about individuals and classes of people they don't know much about. For instance, take the rich and snobbish Maria Stallworth. When Kathleen is looking for a job, Maria warmly takes her in, goes above and beyond the call of duty to help her, and even calls Kathleen "dear." Definitely a sweet and charming lady! But, when she gets mad at Kathleen later, she turns into a cold, cruel, sneering snob- and pretty much stays that way for the rest of the book. Talk about erratic! No, the characters really aren't well developed at all, and therefore it is difficult to really like any of them.

This is really only a good book if you want a light read to pass the time, and nothing else will do. For that purpose, it is amusing enough. But I don't recommend it for someone looking for interesting, believable Christian fiction.

This mail order bride story begins with a strange set of very sad events. Kathleen loses her whole family in a housefire. Destitute, she drops out of her last year of high school and becomes a cleaning woman. As predicted, the son of the millionaire family she works for falls madly in love with her over the strong objections of his snooty parents. A marriage and a child later, the parents accept everyone but Kathleen. Granddaughter Meggie is the apple of their eyes, and when Peter is killed violently, they determine to take their granddaughter away from her mother. They and their money succeed with the use of bribes to the judge. They arrange for Kathleen to have none of Peter's funds and she is forced out of her home and into poverty and loses her child as well. Heartbroken and destitute, Kathleen moves to a room and works for several people, living in pure squalor. Meantime the snooty, rich conniving parents have Meggie. Devastated, grieving and worn out, Kathleen learns of a mail order bride ad, and she answers and finds herself traveling from Chicago to Nevada to become the bride of a gold miner just getting started. However, he has a small son Caleb, who needs a mother. While Kathleen is a loving mother, this makes her miss Meggie even more and she is obsessed with getting enough funds to fight her wealthy ex-inlaws for custody. God blesses the efforts of her husband, and within months they are millionaires and have the funds to fight. What they find when they return to Chicago contains huge surprises, a few teary moments, and the reader will understand this is, indeed a different ending to another book in the series of Mail Order Brides. Thanks Lacys for another page turner.