Gaffney, Patricia - Sweet Everlasting
I have done nothing this weekend except lounge around in bed and read. A brief break was taken to lounge on the couch to watch The Jane Austen Book Club (verdict: Grigg is very cute. The movie is very fuzzy. I do not remember the book at all, but I suspect that contributed to my enjoyment of the movie.). Another brief break was taken to lounge in the bathtub and read with the rats.
I should probably feel lazy, but instead I feel very happy and relaxed.
Anyway, Dr. Tyler Wilkes has accepted a post in the backwoods of Pennsylvania after recovering from a bout of yellow fever during his time in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Carrie Wiggins is a shy mute girl who loves animals, and Tyler soon finds himself intrigued by her.
Gaffney tends to write romances that focus on the romance, not on plot or sex; I like her focus on characterization and two people getting to know each other. Unfortunately, the general lack of plot usually leads to some contrivances near the end, when she tries to come up with something to keep the lovers apart. There was a little of that in this book, though not as much.
I'm fond of this book just for the setting: turn-of-the-century America doesn't get many romances written in it, which is a shame. I love the details of Tyler's medical practice and his interest in epidemiology, the information about Carrie's love of wildlife and plants. I also like the fact that the book doesn't handwave Tyler and Carrie's class differences, and Tyler's decisions in particular make sense, though they're boneheaded from a romance point of view.
What threw me out was Carrie's complete unselfishness and sweetness -- through the entire book, she expects nothing from Tyler and gives everything away. And of course, though she's the town outcast, her amazing sweetness always shines through and wins people over. I appreciate that the conflict was driven by internal conflict (Carrie doesn't want to chain Tyler down), but in the end, Carrie was too self-sacrificing for me. I don't think she gets angry at anyone in the entire book, and there are definitely parts in which I would have whapped people over the head.
So... I liked the break from the increasing trend toward gutsy heroines and alpha males (I have no problem with gutsy heroines, but they almost always seem to be accompanied by alpha males, whom I am throughly sick of), and I very much liked the focus on the romance, not on two people in lust. But in the end, it wasn't convincing enough to win me over.
ETA: Oh, I forgot, I had the standard romance class issues with this book, as it comes complete with the brutish lower-class suitor.
I should probably feel lazy, but instead I feel very happy and relaxed.
Anyway, Dr. Tyler Wilkes has accepted a post in the backwoods of Pennsylvania after recovering from a bout of yellow fever during his time in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Carrie Wiggins is a shy mute girl who loves animals, and Tyler soon finds himself intrigued by her.
Gaffney tends to write romances that focus on the romance, not on plot or sex; I like her focus on characterization and two people getting to know each other. Unfortunately, the general lack of plot usually leads to some contrivances near the end, when she tries to come up with something to keep the lovers apart. There was a little of that in this book, though not as much.
I'm fond of this book just for the setting: turn-of-the-century America doesn't get many romances written in it, which is a shame. I love the details of Tyler's medical practice and his interest in epidemiology, the information about Carrie's love of wildlife and plants. I also like the fact that the book doesn't handwave Tyler and Carrie's class differences, and Tyler's decisions in particular make sense, though they're boneheaded from a romance point of view.
What threw me out was Carrie's complete unselfishness and sweetness -- through the entire book, she expects nothing from Tyler and gives everything away. And of course, though she's the town outcast, her amazing sweetness always shines through and wins people over. I appreciate that the conflict was driven by internal conflict (Carrie doesn't want to chain Tyler down), but in the end, Carrie was too self-sacrificing for me. I don't think she gets angry at anyone in the entire book, and there are definitely parts in which I would have whapped people over the head.
So... I liked the break from the increasing trend toward gutsy heroines and alpha males (I have no problem with gutsy heroines, but they almost always seem to be accompanied by alpha males, whom I am throughly sick of), and I very much liked the focus on the romance, not on two people in lust. But in the end, it wasn't convincing enough to win me over.
ETA: Oh, I forgot, I had the standard romance class issues with this book, as it comes complete with the brutish lower-class suitor.