Helpful Score: 5
I thought this book was poorly written, which is unfortunate because the story line was very good and does grab your attention. This is the 2nd book I read by Kristin Hannah. I loved the book, On Mystic Lake, but this book does not even compare. If You Believe is a hystorical romance, but many details do not fit with the time period, which is post Civil War era. I found this fact irritating. Also, I felt the descriptions became more and more repeptitive, such as "she felt a headache pulse behind her eyes." This phrase was used at least a dozen times. It felt like Kristin Hannah was rushed when she wrote this book.
Helpful Score: 2
This book is my biggest disappointment yet from Paperbackswap. Total and complete drivel. If I had wanted to read a Harlequin Romance, I would have done so. After enjoying Firefly Lane from the author, I thought I would try If You Believe. MISTAKE. Every saccharine, contrived plot device possible. And I gave it a good try, but at page 166, I am throwing in the towel. Don't waste your time.
Helpful Score: 1
Old Rass Throckmorton hires Matt "Mad Dog" Stone to help with the harvest of 1894, hoping that he is an honest, steady man who will remain on the Washington State farm and take care of Rass's 34-year-old daughter, Mariah, after Rass is gone. But Mad Dog is a fighter, a womanizer and a would-be writer who constantly drifts--not someone who can help fiesty Mariah overcome loneliness and the trauma of an abusive relationship that still haunts her--until they fall in love. Mariah, Mad Dog, Rass and an adolescent runaway, Jake, stitch together a patchwork family from the scraps of their damaged lives as they make peace with their pasts and prepare for a cold winter. But when Rass dies, the remaining three must make difficult decisions that test the strength of their values as well as that of their relationships.
