Thursday, March 4, 2010

Her Patchwork Family- Lyn Cote

Cover image from Amazon.com

Back Cover:

Christmas is for Families...

And Felicity Gabriel intends to build a family right away! When she inherits a mansion, she decides to turn it into a home for orphans. But her first charges test her resolve. One child is a thief, suspicious of her kindness. The other is the local judge's traumatized daughter.

Broken by war, Judge Tyrone Hawkins is devastated when his little girl runs from him to Felicity. But Felicity's courage despite the town's scorn for her orphanage and her caring way with his daughter restore his lost faith. Now he wonders if they all can find the family they seek...just in time for Christmas.

This is the second book in the Gabriel sisters trilogy. It's set during one of my favorite time periods, immediately after the Civil War, and features a Civil War veteran as the hero. And I loved the first book in this trilogy, which I read last year.

So, I should have loved this one as well. Unfortunately, I didn't. I feel like there is too much that is underdeveloped in Her Patchwork Family. The books opens with Felicity at the funeral for her childhood sweetheart. His mother comes up to Felicity and tells her that she hates her. Then Felicity leaves Pennsylvania and later in the book the reader gets a one-sentence explanation of why Gus's mother would hate Felicity so much.

Another flaw of this novel is the lack of romance. I had a hard time buying the "happily ever after" ending the protagonists get because, although I could feel the connection between Felicity and Ty, it wasn't developed past an initial attraction. The "I love you"s came out of nowhere.

Ultimately, I find myself disappointed in this novel. However, when the last book in the trilogy comes out next December, I will most likely read it to see if Ms. Cote managed to recapture the magic of the first book in the trilogy.



1 comment:

  1. Hi Ashley,
    Thanks so much for reading the 1st two books in my Gabriel Sisters series. As an author, I'm not offended if readers prefer one book over another. You see, you bring "you" into my books as you read them. Some heroines and some stories will speak more to you than perhaps the next person who bought the book. Thanks for anticipating Mercy's story Her Healing Ways. Let me know what you think!

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