Dakota Home

by Debbie Macomber

rated 3 stars

pages 368

Back Cover:

Buffalo Valley, North Dakota, has found new life. People have started moving here people like Lindsay Snyder, who came for one year to work as a teacher and stayed, marrying local farmer Gage Sinclair. And now Lindsay's closest friend, Maddy Washburn, has decided to pull up stakes and join her in Buffalo Valley, hoping for the same kind of contentment. And the same kind of love . . .

Jeb McKenna is a rancher, a man who's learned to endure, as the Dakota earth endures. He's raising bison and, by choice, lives a solitary life. Maddy unafraid and openhearted is drawn to Jeb, but he rejects her overtures. Until one of North Dakota's deadly storms throws them together.

These few days and nights bring unexpected consequences for Maddy and Jeb. Consequences that, in one way or another, will affect everyone in Buffalo Valley.

My thoughts:

So, I liked Maddy and Jeb quit a bit. I felt like they didn't drag out the "conflict" too long. That is a personal pet peeve! I did feel like the first 1/3 of the book was slow and really a downer! I actually put it down for a while. Then picked it back up. Brandon and Joanie...it was like they were going to be the tortured couple then suddenly zoinks! They're back together and we don't here from them anymore! Then there's the whole Bob and Merrily thing. We see them get married after Merrily shows up with a baby, Axel. Then Sarah finally admits to Dennis that she's still married. She gets the divorce and they announce their engagement, then her daughter Calla runs away to go live with her father in Minnesota. Even though it started off slow, it ended well. a solid 3.

Dakota Born

Dakota Born by Debbie Macomber

TBR Pile Resident

Pages 358

Rated 3.5 stars

Back Cover:

Buffalo Valley, North Dakota. Like so many small Midwest towns, it's dying. Stores are boarded up, sidewalks cracked, houses need a coat of paint. But despite all that, there's a spirit of hope here, of defiance. The people still living in buffalo Valley are fighting for their town.

Lyndsay Snyder is a newcomer. She's an outsider, even though she spent childhood vacations here. Now she returns to see the family house again, to explore family secrets and to reevaluate her life.

To her own astonishment, she decides to stay, to accept the vacant position of teacher. Her decision marks a new beginning for Buffalo Valley and for Lyndsay, who discovers in this broken little town the love and purpse she's been seeking.

My thoughts:

Nobody writes community like Debbie Macomber. Her stories are poignant and romantic, but are full of angst and wrought with the realism that honestly I try to escape. I have to read the second in the series because honestly I want to find out what happens. You see when we left off, Bandon and Joanie were still separated, and with the baby on the way... What will happen with Sara and Dennis? Will Calla ever accept that her mom is dating? Will Rachel ever give her heart to Heath and if so, will he be willing to settle down for a regular life without the thrills he's so used to? What will become of Kevin and Jessica now that Kevin has been accepted into Art school. So you see, she sucks you in and gets you emotionally invested in the entire community. Yes, it feels like an episode of your favorite soap opera. so if you like that, then this will be a good book for you. I can't give this book a 5 because I read to escape the stresses of daily life and the drama of negative people and their relationship issues. So when I read Debbie Macomber she puts all that into her stories. I liked it pretty well though and it was a quick read. So I will give her a 3.5 stars. It was good, but not GREAT. I'll probably read the rest, cuz I need to tie up all the lose ends as stated above. So, I'll be tuning in for another episode.

Starlight

Starlight...

From the moment Karen McAlister saw Rand Prescott, she knew that he was the one man with whom she could share her future. But Rand's own vision was limited, and he was unwilling to bind himself to a woman he could not see.

Fate, however, saw everything, and forced them into a marriage neither one could have foreseen on that first night in each other's arms. But theirs became a love which neither one would trade for all the riches of the Orient or the brightness of the sun.

I liked this story pretty well. I thought Rand was a little over the top. Geez, your blind, not incompetant. So, you'll never "see" her, guess what you'd get to "feel" her. What husband doesn't want more "feeling" going on. :) It was an ok book. Luckily it was short, cuz I don't think I would have wanted to invest much more time with them.