I Wanted To Smack Them

How do you grade a book that you can't stop reading, but leaves you frustrated and wanting to shake both the hero and heroine?

The Coming Home Place by Mary Spencer
(1994, Western) 1/18/05
Grade: 3.5

Elizabeth Beck lost her whole family on the trip from Tennessee to California. James Kagan lost his fiancee and childhood sweetheart in a train wreck. They agree to marry as a practical arrangement - and neither one is able to admit what they truly feel for each other. But can their marriage survive when everything changes?

A strange book - I spent most of the book wanting to smack most of the main characters, and yet the book was oddly compelling. The book is slow to get started, but the first half, when Beth and James are building their marriage, was interesting. I wanted to shake both of them sometimes, but the characters were compelling. But then we get two love triangles - not my favorite plotline, especially since I liked the “other man”, maybe more than the hero. The book does grab your emotions, and it was well written, but it was definitely frustrating.

I couldn't exactly recommend this book, but it does show Mary Spencer's talent. Too bad she never wrote a book about Nathan, who was a much nicer guy than the hero. I'd recommend reading The Vow instead.