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Title: Coming Home To The Cattleman (Harlequin Romance)
ISBN: 0373175116
Author:
Judy Christenberry
Publicate Date: 2008-05-13
Publish: 2008-05-13
List Price: $3.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $1.77
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $3.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A rainy day read, not too memorable.
I actually like the background love story of the heroine's father & the housekeeper, that one is more endearing. The hero & heroine of this story acted like young teenagers instead of mid-twenties. Just a tad disappointing, like the author lost her momentum in writing the story at the last half of it.
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2: 2.5 Stars: Not my favorite from this author
Judy Christenberry's short romance COMING HOME TO THE CATTLEMAN has a wonderful western setting and a double romance. Unfortunately, this romance is not her best work. Though it might appeal to young readers, this book lacks the smoothness in style, the emotional character depth, and the warm fuzzy blanket feel of some of her other romances.
Jenny Watson's mother left Oklahoma when her husband Sam had a drinking problem, taking their daughter with her. Now that her mother has died, Jennifer has left New York City to come back and find out the truth about her father. When she returns, Jason Welborn, Sam's business partner, can't help but be suspicious after all these years of silence on Jenny's part. Why is she returning now? What does she want? Sam had taken Jason in when his parents were killed by a drunk driver. Now it's his turn to protect his partner. Jason just knows Jennifer is too much like her mother, ready to hightail it out of Oklahoma when boredom sets in. Jennifer can't help but be jealous and hurt by Jason's relationship with her father. Why did he take Jason in when she, his very own daughter, never heard from him all those years? Will Jason and Jennifer discover the truth about each other? Can two enemies find love together?
Judy Christenberry lovers can expect that her characters are generally good people, people who act with a sense of honor. Although this book does contain flawed characters who mean well, the family dynamics feel more problematic. With its lack of graphic sexual detail, COMING HOME TO THE CATTLEMAN might be a safe choice for parents to give younger readers. A reader with more life experience, however, might just find some of the issues behind the romantic conflict a bit disconcerting. The father's history of a drinking problem prior to the start of the action in this romance caused his wife to take the heroine away to New York City. The author paints his ex-wife as a villain, making her do some mean things, in order to create sympathy for the father's character. Even though the father was sober in this romance, the people around Sam enable him big time by making excuses for his behavior. Readers familiar with the way alcoholism works within family dynamics might find themselves having more suspicions instead of the intended sympathy. I found myself wanting to hear the mother's story. Although it is nice to see a romance author make a bold move to place alcoholism in a romance and bring a happy ending even here, this particular romance is likely to chafe at any reader who has experienced family alcoholism from the perspective of a non-alcoholic because the enabling and scapegoating behavior (even when the facts are true, scapegoating is used to excuse another's behavior) is a little too real.
The hero and heroine struck me as very young. Even though they are considering marriage and were not minors, they reacted to life very much like pre-teens. The author might have been wanting to create a "family values romance" or express the closeness of the family. Yes, in terms of family values, kids are supposed to talk to their parents about sex and other matters but I just had a bit of an uncomfortable feeling hearing the heroine talking to his dad's girlfriend about their relationship and also to hear her talk to her dad about kissing a boy. The conversations in this romance, though not sexually graphic, here feel like inappropriate boundaries between generations (another possible effect of alcoholism). Stylistically, the author relies on dialogue at the expense of plot and characterization, thereby keeping the level of emotion on a surface level. The preponderance of dialogue hinders a move from surface level to the kind of rich depth that characters outside of the main romance can provide.
Would I try another book by this author? Yes. I love other romances by this author. For adult readers new to Judy Christenberry, I would recommend choosing another book by this author as their first read. COMING HOME TO THE CATTLEMAN is simply not her best work. This book merits a higher rating for young readers. Seeing a happily ever after ending even in the case of currently sober alcoholic parent might be supportive for young readers caught in alcoholic families and even cut through the sense of isolation.
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