Trying too hard
Nov. 10th, 2006 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksI picked up Geri Guillaume's Her Brother's Keeper on my last library trip becaues the cover caught my eye: a black contemporary western. I didn't really have significant expectations, since I had never read Guillaume before. I like contemporary westerns, and I've enjoyed black romance, although I've only read a small sample of them.
The set up of the book is that Darion is out of work and homeless, gets a job on a ranch in Montana, and earns a place there with the Holling family. He's more or less shrouded in mystery. No one really knows anything about him, and he seems to like it that way, not letting anyone get close. Aidan Holling, daughter of the ranch owner, hasn't been home in 10 years, but is coming home for Christmas.
I have a really mixed opinion about this book. On one hand, its blurb seemed promising. On the other, the execution wasn't great. It seemed like the book trying to be a big huge epic or saga, instead of just focusing on the simple story between Aidan and Darion. A jack-knifed tractor trailer, an angel who keeps appearing to Darion, family history for both of them that is used an excuse for behavior but which is never really fully described or explained.
I really liked the start of the book. And I liked the feel of the community in which the book is set. Darion is a bit of a cipher, which I liked. All of the hints about his history made me want to know more. And I think Guillaume went a little overboard with the hints of backstory, because she did the same thing with Aidan. But I was a little let down in the end. Guillaume dropped all of these hints, then the follow through was less than impressive.
The set up was interesting enough that I'm willing to try Guillaume again, but ultimately the book was a disappointment. C-.
She was a force of nature he couldn't resist...
Proud, penniless Darion Haddock worked hard and kept to himself, earning both respect and responsibility at Jon Holling's Montana ranch -- and the honor of driving through a snowstorm to get his boss's baby sister from the airport. But like nature's magnificent fury, Aidan Holling was a sight to behold: beautiful, temperamental and fascinating.
Aidan could almost see the chip on Darion's shoulder, but that didn't stop her from admiring his lean strength and bottomless black eyes, or from knowing instinctively that he wasn't a quitter, not even when an accident finds them fighting for their lives. But destiny, danger and desire can do strange things to a body, especially after the storm passes....
The set up of the book is that Darion is out of work and homeless, gets a job on a ranch in Montana, and earns a place there with the Holling family. He's more or less shrouded in mystery. No one really knows anything about him, and he seems to like it that way, not letting anyone get close. Aidan Holling, daughter of the ranch owner, hasn't been home in 10 years, but is coming home for Christmas.
I have a really mixed opinion about this book. On one hand, its blurb seemed promising. On the other, the execution wasn't great. It seemed like the book trying to be a big huge epic or saga, instead of just focusing on the simple story between Aidan and Darion. A jack-knifed tractor trailer, an angel who keeps appearing to Darion, family history for both of them that is used an excuse for behavior but which is never really fully described or explained.
I really liked the start of the book. And I liked the feel of the community in which the book is set. Darion is a bit of a cipher, which I liked. All of the hints about his history made me want to know more. And I think Guillaume went a little overboard with the hints of backstory, because she did the same thing with Aidan. But I was a little let down in the end. Guillaume dropped all of these hints, then the follow through was less than impressive.
The set up was interesting enough that I'm willing to try Guillaume again, but ultimately the book was a disappointment. C-.
