Because Fiona Murphy has an overbearing step-mother and a birthmark on her neck, she decides to leave her wallflower status in London and take a chance as a mail-order bride in Kansas. After weeks of travel, Fiona walks into a saloon and finds out that she's been gambled away from a disgusting man to a well-dressed gambler. Her intended, Milton, suggests Brook 'enjoy her' until he can gather the money to repay his debt to Brook and 'marry up' with Fiona.
Brook also has an interesting back story. Brook is haunted by his parents' death (especially his father) and he works early and late to keep a roof over his and his sister's (Lydia) heads. Then he spends copious hours honing his skill as a gambler so he can take his revenge against the gambler named Virgil (who had a part in Brook's father's death). Virgil seems to be an itinerant gambler who roves around the region looking for suckers to cheat.
The characters seem to be well-written and interesting. I really liked the story, as simple as it was. I don't downgrade the book because of the simple story, because she only had 193 pages to tell her tale. What I downgrade is the over-explanation that troubled me. Great stories call for the reader to do some of the thinking; the author connected every dot, afraid the reader wouldn't understand nuances. That means the reader has nothing to do but wait for the story to wash over the said reader.
Re-read this book 12/24.
Brook also has an interesting back story. Brook is haunted by his parents' death (especially his father) and he works early and late to keep a roof over his and his sister's (Lydia) heads. Then he spends copious hours honing his skill as a gambler so he can take his revenge against the gambler named Virgil (who had a part in Brook's father's death). Virgil seems to be an itinerant gambler who roves around the region looking for suckers to cheat.
The characters seem to be well-written and interesting. I really liked the story, as simple as it was. I don't downgrade the book because of the simple story, because she only had 193 pages to tell her tale. What I downgrade is the over-explanation that troubled me. Great stories call for the reader to do some of the thinking; the author connected every dot, afraid the reader wouldn't understand nuances. That means the reader has nothing to do but wait for the story to wash over the said reader.
Re-read this book 12/24.
