Jeri Bittle by J. Rose Knight

I fell in love with the cover of this book and when I was presented with an opportunity to read it, I jumped at the chance. 


What I liked: The heroine is getting a string of hard knocks, from her dad's open heart surgery to a car wreck to her husband's death, debt up to her eyeballs, fires... Whereas most women would end up crying, screaming, or possibly being institutionalized, Jeri just keeps going. She does what she can to solve the mystery surrounding her husband's death and pre death antics, save her ranch, and provide for her little girls. 


The mystery involves dirty people in authority, poker games, real estate, and cattle rustling. I liked Sheriff Roy and his wife, Arlene. I liked the way everything tied together and I found myself nodding and saying, "Yep, I can see this happening in small town, bored Wyoming.

However, it could have used more tweaking on the fine details of law enforcement.. Example: I don't care who you are or how high up on the political chain, you don't just waltz to the local sheriff's house and declare his arrest without a warrant in hand. 


A tiny irritation: When people were conversing on the phone, how did the bystanders around them know what the unseen (on the end of the line individual was saying?)


Also, more emotion from the characters could have been injected. 


Those are minor quibbles. I said above that I basically liked the heroine, Jeri. However, there is one thing that really bothered me about this book. I am deaf and I am not ashamed of it. There is a character in this novel, Bob, who rescues Jeri more than once. Bob is deaf and mute. He was left at a recreation area at age eleven and some farmer found him and (Supposedly he didn't know there was such a thing as Child Protective Services. I didn't think WY was that backwards!) took him home, put him in the barn, and turned him into his own personal ranch hand. Bob did not get educated, but he is NOT dumb.


Upon first meeting him, the very first second Jeri realized he was deaf, she thinks he's deaf and dumb. Deaf and dumb go hand in hand twice in the novel. Bob is actually far from dumb. He saves animals and provides basic medical care to people in need. That's not a dumb person. Throughout the novel, Jeri begins to see Bob in a new light, but constantly thinks to herself, "he's so good looking and intelligent. If only he could hear.." and things of that nature.. She thinks Bob can never provide for a woman because he is handicapped. (His deafness if a deal breaker for this chic.) The "if only he could hear" thing comes up more than once. I wanted to scream at her. Bob is not the one who needs fixing!! It's everyone else's attitude towards Bob! What is wrong with his not being able to hear? That should not make him an unattractive person.


As a deaf person, I was bothered by this and would have liked to have the Bob issue resolved... a happy ending for him or more acceptance of him by the time I turned the last page. The ending left the possibility hanging.. but I still didn't feel good about Jeri's attitude towards him at that point.


Two stars. I received this from the publisher.

Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller by Sarah Miller

This is a novel about Annie Sullivan and told from her POV, the woman who taught Helen Keller how to communicate. Being deaf, myself, I was eager to read this. However, I was disappointed...

Here's why:
The entire novel is a young Helen and she is like an unruly monkey being trained. She's a very unattractive character and though I have no doubt she was really like that before she could communicate (I mean imagine being deaf and blind and not know words.) I thought it was a bit much at times. Annie literally has to train her like a dog, offering cake instead of Milk Bones.


Seems the entire novel is Annie and Helen fighting, fighting, fighting, wrestling, fighting. In this version, Ms. Sullivan goes a bit far... Helen is more demon than child and a coddled by her incredibly dumb overindulgent parents and she DOES need very firm hand, but this is too much: "I grab my own folded napkin and clap it over Helen's mouth and nose. My promise to Mrs. Keller flashes through my mind, but I lay it aside. Unless I actually smother Helen, I won't be hurting her."


And Annie is disturbing. I think she has some issues that need dissecting by a good shrink. She is a woman of twenty that likes to rock and cuddle dolls and her intense desire for affection from Helen struck me as weird, inappropriate, and sometimes made me feel dirty. "My breath comes faster at the feel of her fingers against my cheek...... A shudder runs through me as Helen slides from my legs. The place where she sat feels blank. It's an ugly sensation."


My last issue: Everyone talked over Helen's head like she was not there. As a deaf person, I do not like nor appreciate people taking advantage of the fact that I cannot hear by speaking over my head or behind me. 


I also felt this just ripped off a movie. This is has mostly high ratings, but it just didn't work for me. Two stars and I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

Minding Ben by Victoria Brown

This is a novel about slavery in the 1990s. I'm serious. Slavery. Only it doesn't take place on a southern plantation, however, but in a Manhatten apartment. The slave, the heroine, Grace, is not brought on a slave ship against her will either. She comes via airplane from Trinidad and she willingly enslaves herself. This is what I had a problem with more than anything. I personally, would rather live an uneventful life in a cottage by the sea than enslave myself. Anyways, Grace agrees to work as a "nanny" for this snotty white family for a lousy two hundred bucks a week.

She minds Ben, bathes Ben, feeds Ben, cooks Ben dinner, cooks his parents dinner, irons their shirts, does their laundry, carries their grocery bags, mops their floor, allows them to dock her pay despite the fact she works more hours than she is supposed to and doesn't say a thing, I can go on.... I realize that Grace is illegal and seeking sponsorship, but give me a break! To make matters worse, her slaving away doesn't end with her white employers. On her days off, she lives with this chick named Sylvia and does whatever Sylvia tells her to do while she sits on her fat a**. She takes care of Sylvia's kids, cleans Sylvia's apartment... Good gawd!

Normally books with weak, submissive, docile heroine show the heroine growing some balls by the end of the book.. Not so, Minding Ben. I could not believe it. When she is basically booted out of the job over the stupidest stuff, she thinks to herself as she gathers her things, "What they could have done was filed my imigration papers, or told me they were moving, or not paid me forty dollars less for taking last Friday off. I was so tempted to tell him these little things that they could have done, or to ask him what specifically he was offering to do, but all I said was, "Thanks, Mr. Bruckner."

The girl never grows any balls, never speaks up for herself, never gives a piece of her mind..

Top that off with awful speech habits... First of all, I get that most of the people Grace hangs with are immigrants and their English is less than perfect, but to have every character at all times practically speaking like this, "Ah, what you chat 'bout? Me bet say you look better than any woman what sit down in there right now...."

I'm not kidding. I typed that word for word and most of the conversation in the book is like that. It's too much. I had to re read sentences over and over to figure them out half the time.

I didn't like this one. Two stars.

I received this ARC from the publisher and I'm sorry I didn't like it. Quotes may be slightly different in the published book.

Moonface by Angela Balcita

This is a memoir written by a woman who has a kidney disease. I won't get into all the medical jargon that none of us can spell or pronounce, but just try to sum it up real quick.

Angela's kidney began failing her when she was in College. It would no longer clean her blood. Her brother stepped in and gave her his kidney. Ten  years later, she rejects the kidney and has to go on dialysis. By this point, she is with Charlie.

Charlie is a really likable guy. He remains positive when Angela gets down. "This is a new moment for you. This is the new you. Pretend for a second that everything you're scared of is getting washed out by this machine. That somehow, you'll come out of this whole thing feeling refreshed and brand new. Healthy. Maybe even better than before."

And Charlie gives her his kidney. This can make or break a relationship. What if her body rejects his kidney? What does that mean for them? Does that signify that their love will not last either?

Here is where I started to frown. I would think at this point, that Angela would count her blessings and finally be happy, but after a few years, she decides she wants a baby too and organ transplantees with previously failed kidneys don't have a good track record with the baby thing.

Full disclosure: I have never been equipped with the maternal gene. I have never had any desire whatsoever to have a baby. In 1979 when the baby gods were passing out genes to unborn fetuses, they forgot to hand me that one. So the last quarter of the book... I didn't like it. It goes on and on about wanting a baby, chili cravings, desire to see the baby. Angela did not want to adopt, despite the risks she was taking to herself and the unborn child and despite the fact that there are million of homeless babies and children out there.. so this is a personal issue for me. I was put off.

**Spoiler**

Of course, she loses her husband's kidney after that, no big surprise. The big surprise is that a third donor steps up to hand over her kidney, but I found myself wondering.. what is going to happen to that kidney when another baby craving pops up?

**End of Spoiler**

I think it's a touching story that most people, women anyway, will really like though I didn't feel the writing flowed together all that well. 

I bought this on Amazon. 

Forbidden Places by Penny Vincenzi



I wanted to like this book for two reasons. 1. The publisher sent it to me, in a lovely hardback (I want to note the hardback part underneath the cover is PINK!!!) 2. I have read this author previously and found her work enjoyable for the most part. However, I didn't like this novel and I must be honest.

Quick summary: The book follows three women, Grace, Florence, and Clarissa. Grace is marrying a man "above her station" who is the brother of Florence. Florence is stuck in an abusive marriage (personally, I think she just didn't have the balls to leave.. but.. ) and Clarissa used to be engaged to Grace's husband. World War II comes and the men leave.. and these three women either grow up, have affairs, have babies and ponder who the daddy is, take in country evacuees, or work for the WRENs. Lots of drama and very soap opera like.

What I liked: The style is very similar to that of Catherine Cookson.

What I hated: Grace.. Until page 500, she has no balls at all, no courage. She just does what her husband tells her, sits there quietly, la de da. One point in her favor: She keeps the kids despite her husband's demand she not. (Read the book, I'm not explaining all 500 pages.. )

Florence... ugh! Any woman that stays in an abusive marriage, has a baby and tells two separate men they are the fathers, lies through her teeth left and right, deserves to be slapped around!

Clarissa... I liked her just fine (except for all her "darling this" and "darling that") until her husband gets badly maimed in the war and she whines that he looks repulsive and acts like his life is over cause he is OMG! UGLY! (gasp!)

And I'm leaving it at that. One point in this book's favor though: the WWII details. I really felt I was in England during that trying time. The book does not lack realism or historical facts.

Overall, a disappointment for me. I didn't like the women at all. Two stars.



The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O'Hagan

This is a biography type thing of Marilyn Monroe told from the viewpoint of a dog, a very pompous maltese that somehow manages to identify Renoir paintings and Louis XV chairs at a mere few months of age.  Now, I was expecting something more along the lines of Spencer Quinn's "Dog On It," a funny book from the viewpoint of a dog that is very "dog like."  I was expecting humor.  Instead I get a narrative using words I don't know, much less expect my dogs to know.  It was not very dog like at all.  Come on, seriously, dogs sniff their butts, chase after dropped potatoe chips, catch the scent of b*tches in the wind.  They do not sit around spouting poetry, using words like paucity and supercilious, and I seriously doubt they have strong feelings about the civil rights movement or Kennedy.

Marilyn and Mafia Honey:

Mafia also goes on and on about details and background info about characters that only grace the book for a few pages.  I did enjoy the intimate look at Marilyn behind the scenes, how she laid Mafia on a fur coat her ex husband had given her, how she had abandonment issues regarding her father, and how she felt guilty that she had recieved so much help from men in her career.  My enjoyment pretty much ended there though.

News: This book is being made into a movie and I think it will make a much better movie than book.  It is supposed to star Angelina Jolie as Marilyn and George Clooney as Frank Sinatra.  I'm looking forward to it.

I recieved this from the publisher via Shelf Awareness.

Contagion by Joanne Dahme

I love reading about strong heroines, real or imaginary so when I read this "Rose must discover who is trying to kill her, while keeping the people of Philadelphia safe from the contagion poisoning the city's water system" I thought, "ooh, tough chick!"  NOT!

First, I must say, the history of the Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia is interesting, though it does get bogged down when it gets into turbines and the specifics.  The author certainly knows what she is talking about.  I found my myself fascinated enough that I came online and googled for pictures.

Found this on

http://www.landscapeonline.com/research/article/11737. 

Really intersting article with pictures about the historic

Water Works and the changes that have been made.  This

is the Water Works in 1820.

Sadly, this is the same location that the heroine, Rose, watches her best friend be murdered.  Rose suspects her friend's murder was a mistake and that she was supposed to die instead.  Her and her incredibly annoying pompous husband have been getting threatening letters.  Her husband wants to destroy the Water Works and put up water filtration plants.  Just how far is he willing to go to get his way?  Meanwhile, Rose and a manager of the Water Works try to figure out what is going on, why the water is contaminated all of a sudden with thypoid (Gasp! What a coicidence!) and who killed her best friend. 

It was obvious to me from page ten whodunit or I should say who was behind it, but I was interested enough to keep chugging along, but the further I got, the more digusted I became with Rose.  She finds a gift to another woman in her husband's study, smells perfume on his drunken self when he comes home at four in the morning, notices he acts his "post lovemaking" self, but allows him to manhandle her and patronize her and does whatever he asks and actually trusts this guy???  Hello?  Even in 1895 I think it woulda been quite obvious what's going on.  Instead, this simpering ninny hands over the evidence to him and when a detective asks her if her husband could be stepping out, she responds, "Why would you ask me that, Detective?"  She cries and trembles.  "My husband-loves me.  He would never..."

Oh geez.  It was at this point (page 173) I began to skim.  I'm afraid I didn't encounter any surprises or shocking revelations, really.  I actually purchased this book brand spanking new though and I am entitled to my opinion. 

Washington Avalanche 1910 by Cameron Dokey

In 1910, there was a train stop called Wellington (known today as Tye) and on Feb 23 of that year, record breaking snowfall hit the Cascade mountains surrounding it.  There was approximately a foot of snow every hour and up to 11 feet recorded in just one day.  Two trains, #25 (Fast Mail) and #27 (passengers) were on their way towards Seattle when the snowfall caused them to be trapped for nine days at Wellington.  The extreme weather resulted in an avalanche that took 96 victims.  Only 23 survived.  Is the heroine of this story, Ginny, going to be one of them?



Wellington before Avalanche



She is on #27, attempting to escape from her evil stepbrother in Spokane.  On this train, Ginny is rescued by Virginia, another young frightened woman.  How does Ginny thank her newfound friend?  Steals her boyfriend.  Yep.  What begins as a "harmless" exchange of names in order to "inspect" the unknown fiance of Virginia (whom she has never met, but just happens to be on this train as well) turns into "love at first sight" and ultimate betrayal.  You-know-what happens and I get that, but this Ginny gal takes things WAY too far and I found myself disgusted with her.  I mean, my gawd, let the real Virginia have some happiness for a change. 



After



Anyways, the book was really informative about the avalanche and what the passengers went thru, but there were far too many convenient coincidences for Ginny, and the heroine ended up being very unlikeable, and the ending... again, WAY too convenient for Ginny, but I'm not going to say why.  I just didn't like it at all.

I got these pictures from Wiki.. for more pictures, check out the following website: http://www.avalanche-center.org/phpBB2/v/wellington/

 This was a library book.

Angelina (An Unauthorized Biography) by Andrew Morton

First of all, I'm reviewing the book, not the woman herself.  I didn't love the book for a couple of reasons.  A.  It's hard to say what is fact and what is fiction.  This book really doesn't say anything good about Angelina Jolie.  I find it hard to believe she is ALL bad.  Thus, it had a tabloid feel here and there.  B.  TOO much crap about her parents.  The first quarter of the book was about Jon Voight and Marcheline's messy divorce and his leaving her for another woman more into "free love".  If the book is accurate, Angelina's mother pretty much brainwashed her into hating her father.  The guy never had a chance..

Some interesting stuff I learned from the book: 

Angelina's paternal grandmother was burried in a red bikini with a set of golf clubs in the casket.

When filming Tomb Raider, Angelina was on a curfew.  I guess they really wanted to make sure she behaved.  She was a heroin addict at the time.

At one point in her life, Angelina was shuffling five lovers (This is what the book has me believing.. I don't know for sure!!)  Mick Jagger, Johnny Lee Miller, Jenny the Calvin Klein model, Tim Hutton, and Billy Bob.

And apparently, Billy Bob was engaged to Laura Dern when he married Angie in Vegas.  I know this is normal behavior for Hollywood.. BUT Laura Dern actually babysat Angelina when she was a kid.  This just seems wrong!



I could go on but I risk sounding like a tabloid myself.  Something funny tho:  When they were casting for Beyond Borders, Kevin Costner was supposed to be the lead, Angelina's on screen love interest.  But Angelina supposedly said that he was too old for her.  He was the same age as her husband Billy Bob at that time.   LOL

Basically, this book makes Angelina out to be a home wrecker, a heroin addict, and tho the book did acknowledge her humanitarian work, it made it sound like she was replacing one addiction with another.  Replacing heroin with charity work... replacing men with kids...

Again, I'm judging the book, not the woman, but the book kinda left a bad taste in my mouth.  Even if all this stuff is true (and I'm not denying it cause I don't know) there has got to be something good about this woman.  The author seemed to not like her much and by the time I hit page 275, I didn't like her either.  I bailed when it got to the Brangelina stuff.  The author made it very clear she was just "wrecking another home" so to speak. 

I'd like to hear her side of the story too.

Two stars.  This was a library book.

Corrag by Susan Fletcher

This read like one big monologue broken every now and then by a man's letters to his wife. The monologue is narrated by Corrag (her mother's name was Cora and she was called a hag, thus the combo), the heroine of the story. Tho monologue is about geese, witches, her mother, her mare, moss men, pretty much whatever comes to Corrag's mind.


You think this is about the battle of Glencoe and the massacre of the MacDonald clan?

 You are in for a long wait. You must get thru all the monologue I mentioned above till you will learn of the battle in the last quarter or so. And be forewarned: there are no quotation marks. (I have an ARC, but I have a bad feeling it is just one of those books..) It's almost impossible to tell if Corrag is talking to herself, talking to Charles (whom wants to know her story), or just thinking to herself.


Even tho this is an arc, there was a quote in here that I can't resist posting. It may be changed before publication, but here goes: "I know how my talking can be. I was always  for going on and on-for saying so much a person's eyes grow fish-like, and dead."


I couldn't agree more. my eyes grew fish-like and dead while reading this.


But hey, so far, I'm the only one in the world who doesn't love it, so do give it a go and form your own opinion.


I found this article on the internet about the battle of Glencoe more interesting than the book: http://www.thesonsofscotland.co.uk/themassacreofglencoe1692.htm


I won this on Librarything.

The Secret Eleanor by Cecelia Holland

I think most everyone knows of Eleanor of Acquitaine and probably has read a book or two about her. She was Queen of France when married to Louis VII (in this version, he is a terrible pansy who makes no decisions for himself) and later, queen of England when married to Henry d'Anjou, son of Empress Mathilda. This novel begins during her marriage to the pansy and chronicles her love at first sight and supposed extramarital affair with Henry. After having done the horizontal mambo with Henry, Eleanor swears she will be with him and help him take the English throne, but Louis is in her way. Can she obtain an annullment. Better yet, can she hide her growing pregnancy? If not, all her plans will go down the chamber pot mighty fast.

Basically, it's a historical love triangle involving a very horny, lusty queen...

And two men, one the weak king of France...

And one the future king of England with thighs like columns (I will explain)...

This is my first Eleanor of Acquitaine novel. I am grateful to my friend Daphne (do visit her blog: http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/) for posting a giveaway for this book on her blog and as a result, allowing me a chance to read it. I actually feel bad for not enjoying it as much as she did but here is why I didn't like it:

"Drawn to that lust in his voice, she reached out to him and they joined again, fierce as leopards, scratching and clawing and roaring at the peak, as if they crushed worlds betwen them. Afterward, his weight still pressing her down, his lance still deep inside her".. yadda yadda... and later.. "His manhood slid slowly from her crevice." and even later.. "she used her shift to wipe his jism from her thighs."

EW. I wanted to read about her leading an army of women.. not wiping jism from her thighs!

And ladies, have you ever thought of your men in the following manner?

"When she thought of him her body grew warm and taut, and she remembered his passionate mouth, his muscular chest with its mat of thick curly, red hair, his thighs like columns, the sword between them that fit her scabbard so well."

Well... (clearing throat..) I do have something good to say about the novel believe it or not tho. I actually enjoyed the twists and deceits involving Eleanor's sister, Petronilla. I found myself applauding them for the cloak and horse switching and little ways they out foxed the court spies and religious men. Claire and the lute player tho... as Eleanor would say, "Bah!" I could have done without that little side story.

And priceless, laugh out loud moment, a quote from Eleanor: "Damn their souls to some deep, hot hell where only men can be - a hole dug with penises!"

Say what?? LOL

Since I won this from my friend's blog, but didn't like it well enough to keep, I will be passing it on to someone who I hope will enjoy it more. Be watching for it on my September Pick-A-Book giveaway.

Den Of Wolves by Luke Devenish

I'm fond of saying..."If you are going to entertain me for 4 days (aka 600 pages), you better grab me from the get go." I do have a very short attention span and I hate extremely lengthy paragraphs describing dresses and trees and clouds. (YAWN) I will say one thing in this book's favor. It did grab me from the get go even tho I thought it was kind of weird.

Why weird? The narrator is 100 years old. (He also narrates book 2 so I guess he is about 115 or 120 at that point.) That's strange itself, but the man/woman and the little oracle boy that kills birds and reads their entails... VERY WEIRD. Nevertheless, I was hooked because the book was different and the heroine, Livia Drusilla, tho unlikeable, is strong.

Livia marries Tiberius Nero. He is not the one she really sees herself being with tho. She aspires much higher. She aspires to marry Octavian, Julius Caesar's nephew, the first emperor. Thanks to a very sinister slave, Livia attains her goal and seduces Octavian.

She becomes Empress. I gotta mention at this point, the sexual depravity was there but no real details. You KNOW they are doing the nasty, but the author doesn't go for paragraphs about it. However, Martina, the sinister slave seems to bring up the subject of breasts every time she appears in the story. Cleopatra, upon saying goodbye to her literally takes a book out and starts squeezing it. Livia is seduced by Martina's tattooed breasts and falls on her knees to um.. err.. play with them. Very werid, this Martina and breasts.

I said, up until this point, the sexual depravity was minimal.. However, upon reaching page 166, it went to new heights. Livia announces to Tiberius that she is carrying Octavian's child and all that.. While he is on the floor begging her not to leave him, she throws hot coals on his body and does the following: "She raised her long, white stola from the coals and stood astride him, giving him his final view of her privates. Then she let go a hot stream of urine, dousing his face and hair with it until she had put out the last of the embers."

And... well.. at that point, I became rather frightened of what may yet be coming. (Copulating dwarves or something?) I also realized that 170 pages into the novel, I didn't like or care about a single character. I bailed.

I bought this book from Amazon and if anyone else has the guts to try it, I will be posting it as one of the choices on my Pick A Book giveaway for September. Be watching for it.

The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge

First of all, right off the bat, I gotta say, for two women that obviously made enough impact on the world in the 1950s to go down in history and even have a novel written about their romance, they sure did live very dull lives. (That's if this book is anything to go by.)

Elizabeth Bishop, the heroine of this tale, was a real American poet. This novel is about her love affair with Lota de Macedo Soares, a Brazilian architect. During a bad time in her life, Elizabeth travels to Brazil. She is an alcoholic, has various ailments, suffers from bad memories regarding her mentally ill mother, and really, just fades into the background of this story.

If you are looking for a story about Elizabeth Bishop, this may not be for you. Lota de Macedo Soares def steals the show. Her character is so strong where Elizabeth is so weak.. Lota controls everything. What she commands, Elizabeth does. Lota is obsessed with architecture and is building her house.. Much... TOO MUCH of this book is about that bloody house.

And the story goes somewhat like this: (AFTER Lota dumps her live in partner and demands Elizabeth moves in with her) The women talk about poetry, they talk about the house, they get a flat tire, they talk about poetry, they talk about the house, Elizabeth gets sick, they talk about the house.. and between all this talk of the house, the book goes on and on and on about Brazilian flora and fawna and roads and other people's houses.

I made it to 40% and after falling asleep twice, I called it quits.

There's one thing keeping this from being a mere one star book tho. I laughed my butt off for half an hour upon reading this bit here:

Elizabeth: "If you watch any Brazilian man for five minutes, you'll see him scratching and adjusting himself. It's as if they're constantly arranging flowers in a vase."

Lota: "Those aren't flowers. Those are the jewells of Brazil! If they didn't keep grabbing their balls, they'd forget they were men. That's the problem with this country: The men have to keep reminding themselves they are men, and the women are even worse. They have no balls, either!"

I bought this book from Amazon.

Historical Fiction Miss: Ten Cents A Dance

There is a strong moral in this story, important for young girls I imagine: Don't take money from men and not expect to give anything in return. Duh.

The time is 1941, the setting Chicago, and Ruby is 15. She has had to drop out of school to work in a meat packing plant to support her mother and sister. Ruby has an unpleasant attitude. The world owes her something apparently and she is too good to pack pig's feet in jars. A brief in enounter with the local bad boy has her in a dance hall doing taxi dancing. This was interesting to me because I have never heard of it before. It made me think of strip clubs minus the stripping. Apparently, women dressed in swanky gowns, men paid ten cents a dance, copped a feel here and there, tipped the gal, and she put the money in her garter and moved on to the next fellow.
The problem with Ruby is she is too greedy to stop there. Remember the world owes her something and she is gonna get what she feels is her due. She goes out after hours, borrows money from men by making promises she has no intention of keeping. She's a tease. She ends up learning the timeless saying "put out or get out" the hard way.

I couldn't stand Ruby. I get that it's the 1940s but can she really be so dumb? I also didn't like her racist attitude towards Orientals and African Americans. I found myself hoping some fellow would really take his money's worth with her and put her in her place. To top it all off she allows herself to be emotionally abused in a way by the local badboy and keeps running back for more. Her mother is no better, spending her daughter's money to buy dresses and snag herself a man. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree...

I enjoyed the 1940s dancehall setting, but Ruby... not so much. Thankfully, I got this book from the library.

Faithful by Janet Fox

I was really disappointed in this. I thought I was getting a historical novel that would explore the magic and beauty of West Yellowstone, but except for when the grizzly bears made their appearances, I didn't enjoy it much. The heroine is a most unlikeable petulant, whiny, spoiled brat and snob. When her mother was suicidal, all Maggie could think was how embarassing her mom was. It was all ME, ME, ME. Now that her mom is missing or dead, all Maggie can think about is her debut ball and dresses and Edward. Even when her father drags her to Yellowstone from their comfy residence in Newport by implying her mother may be there, Maggie thinks, "Oh I want to find my mum but it must be in time for my ball!!" (That's not a direct quote.)

Upon arrival in Yellowstone, the action does start to pick up a bit and the story does take some interesting turns, BUT I never did grow to like the heroine. She goes from a spoiled snot to a wimpy weak sniveling baby. I mean, she is afraid of a doe for crying out loud! There's a mystery involving Maggie's dead/missing mother, family secrets to be uncovered, love at first sight with a simple man named Tom, and an unplesant suitor that her father wants to force Maggie to marry. That bout sums it up. A miss for me.

I bought this thru Amazon's pre orders. I understand there is a sequel coming out in 2011 for those that did like this one.