Kaki Warner is an automatic pre-order for me; she's one of my favorite authors. I own all of her books and most are in my pile for a rereading trip on a deserted island. So, I'm horrified by what I'm about to say. I was disappointed that this was a contemporary story; most authors with historical romances have moved to contemporary fiction, but I was hoping Kaki Warner wouldn't follow the others. This is obviously the opening salvo of a set of stories about Rough Creek, Texas.
I have struggled with this story; I'm just not interested. I really don't enjoy stories about wealthy protagonists. They have to watch out for people taking advantage of them -- a three-hanky tragedy. The four young women in this story have everything (one went to West Point, for goodness sake) and are incredibly whiny.
Whitcomb Four Star is the name of the ranch where Raney Whitcomb leads (since her father died nine years before). Mom has decided to go on a cruise, etc., and is leaving the ranch in Raney's capable hands. But before she leaves, she hires a new horse trainer. Of course, she does this without contacting Raney. Dalton Cardwell was a recent visitor (18-months in length) at the Texas Dept. of Corrections in Huntsville, TX.
He waived his opportunity for a trial-by-jury for vehicular manslaughter and accepted a lesser sentence which saved his family money and grief. By the time he returns to Rough Creek, the family has sold the farm and they are moving to a new town where their mentally-handicapped son can receive life-enhancing training.
Even near the end of the story, I didn't care to finish it. The whole story was leading up to the Fort Worth Futurity and I couldn't have cared less. Dalton was an interesting character; Raney was not. Joss, the stupid singing sister, just seemed to be filler. I really became angry that Raney had the pivotal argument with Dalton just as he was to go into the finals at the Futurity. That was beyond stupid; it showed just what a whiner she was (everything was about her).
I won't be reading the rest of this series. I gave this book a 3-star rating because I didn't want to penalize an author for my bias against contemporary westerns and wealthy protagonists.
I have struggled with this story; I'm just not interested. I really don't enjoy stories about wealthy protagonists. They have to watch out for people taking advantage of them -- a three-hanky tragedy. The four young women in this story have everything (one went to West Point, for goodness sake) and are incredibly whiny.
Whitcomb Four Star is the name of the ranch where Raney Whitcomb leads (since her father died nine years before). Mom has decided to go on a cruise, etc., and is leaving the ranch in Raney's capable hands. But before she leaves, she hires a new horse trainer. Of course, she does this without contacting Raney. Dalton Cardwell was a recent visitor (18-months in length) at the Texas Dept. of Corrections in Huntsville, TX.
He waived his opportunity for a trial-by-jury for vehicular manslaughter and accepted a lesser sentence which saved his family money and grief. By the time he returns to Rough Creek, the family has sold the farm and they are moving to a new town where their mentally-handicapped son can receive life-enhancing training.
Even near the end of the story, I didn't care to finish it. The whole story was leading up to the Fort Worth Futurity and I couldn't have cared less. Dalton was an interesting character; Raney was not. Joss, the stupid singing sister, just seemed to be filler. I really became angry that Raney had the pivotal argument with Dalton just as he was to go into the finals at the Futurity. That was beyond stupid; it showed just what a whiner she was (everything was about her).
I won't be reading the rest of this series. I gave this book a 3-star rating because I didn't want to penalize an author for my bias against contemporary westerns and wealthy protagonists.
