Yet again, I come to an author's series of books somewhere in the middle. Ordinarily, I'm happy to report, that isn't an issue. With Always Dakota, a book reported to be the third and final in the Buffalo Valley series from Ms. Macomber, it may have hurt.
(Interesting to note that there is at least one other book following this one, and maybe two. The fans must have clamored for more!)
Always Dakota is set in the fictional town of Buffalo Valley, North Dakota. It's a small community, surrounded by and made up of ranchers, and a place where everyone knows everybody and their business. No secret lasts long here.
The book begins with introducing us to Bernard Clemens and Matt Eilers. Bernard is the terminally ill father of the heroine, Margaret. Matt is a rancher with a less than stellar reputation, and the object of Margaret's desire. Bernard has summoned Matt to tell him that Margaret is in love with him and intends to marry him. He also explains that Margaret will inherit a huge amount after his (Bernard's) death, and that Matt would be stupid not to marry her.
Not the most orthodox of father/son-in-law meetings, but this is how we begin. It's an interesting setup, trying to match the semi-rogue with the mannish, not even Plain Jane heroine.
The book, however, doesn't focus on these two. Instead, we get stories from all of the town's denizens, in bits and pieces.
There's Sarah and Dennis Urlacher. Sarah owns a quilting company that's growing by leaps and bounds. She's married to Dennis, who owns a gas station and delivers fuel to the ranchers. This is her second marriage; the first was to Willie, who now lives in Minneapolis, and who was No Good.
Sarah has a daughter, Calla, who's run to Willie because she thinks Sarah has chosen Dennis over her. Dad's not so great, though, and Calla comes home to not only deal with Sarah and Dennis, but the fact that Sarah is now in the middle of a difficult new pregnancy.
There's Jeb and Maddy McKenna. Jeb is Sarah's brother, and a rancher. Maddy is his wife, and they have a new daughter. Maddy owns and operates a general/grocery store, and is Margaret's best friend.
There's Buffalo Bob and his wife Merrily, who own the 3 Of A Kind bar and grill. Hassie Knight who lost a son during Vietnam and who makes the best chocolate sodas in town, as well as being the town pharmacist.
I know I'm leaving characters out.
In other words, it's easy to get confused about just who is who, and how they relate to all the other characters in the book.
That's not to say that the book is a dull read. There were occasionally moments when I felt like I was being treated to a spoon-by-spoon description of what each of the characters was having for breakfast. However, things do happen. There's Sarah's pregnancy. There's a failed scheme to ruin Matt and Margaret's marriage by Matt's former lover, Sheryl. There's a kidnap-turned-attempted-adoption by Buffalo Bob and Merrily.
There's just so *much* happening, that it's hard to keep up. And yet you want to keep up, because somehow, in the course of reading, it becomes important to know how everything works out.
So the long and the short of it is: If you're looking for intense romance, or hot sex, or page-turning action or edge-of-your-seat action, this isn't your book. If you're looking for a straight-forward anything, this isn't your book.
But if you're in the mood for a small town, gossip filled read, this is definitely the book for you.
In Buffalo Valley, North Dakota, star-crossed lovers Matt Eilers and Margaret Clemens are at the center of a sprawling plot, replete with kidnappings,...More at Alibris
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.