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Softly Falling
Beautiful Lily Branson learns that her wayward father has lost his Wyoming cattle ranch in a card game to handsome cowboy Jack Sinclair, no less! When a series of deadly winter storms sets in, Lily and Jack must work together to save the cattle—as well as their hearts.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 9, 2014
47 people are currently reading
549 people want to read
About the author
Carla Kelly
138 books804 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
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May 3, 2016
This was my third book, in succession and otherwise, by Carla Kelly and it is drastically different from the previous two: Reforming Lord Ragsdale and The Admiral's Penniless Bride and I was going to let the author pass as a fluffy one. But, it’s good that I read Softly Falling, because it has definitely improved my opinion of the author by mammoth proportions!
First and foremost, the cover does not do justice to the book, so a piece of advice: don’t judge the book by its cover! Secondly, the blurb that you find about the book is also not justifiable because there is so much more to it than just Jack and Lily facing the challenges and coming to know and understand each other. Further, as the title seems to be about the hero and the heroine softly falling for each other, well there’s more to the title than that and can only be understood in the last few lines of the book.
You have to be a patient reader to peruse this book, because it does go kind of slow. There is a great deal of detailing of circumstances and situations. Lengthened dilemmas. But these do make up the story. The reader actually experiences moving through the time along with the protagonists and feeling their hopes and emotions.
The story is about Lily Carteret, offspring of an inter-racial couple with roots from Spain, France, England and Barbados with nobility as well as slavery in her blood, who has had the misfortune of having a father, who though loving, has failed to prove his worth and has fallen to the position of a Remittance Man. Brought up under her uncle’s patronage, Lily is a well-bread lady of colour, and though cared for, is still a source of humiliation for the noble relative. So, she is sent to Wyoming, America to live with her father on his supposedly splendid ranch when her uncle decides to marry another lady. Imagine her disappointment when she understands that her drunkard father has lost the very same ranch to Jack Sinclair, the foreman of the ranch where Lily’s father now works as a clerk. With the support and encouragement of Jack she takes up teaching at the ranch and turns out to be not just the teacher to the four little children, but also to Jack and the other ranch hands in various ways.
This book deals with a variety of subjects: Inter-racial marriages and discriminations, animal welfare, child abuse, poverty and misery and the ills that come along with them, education and illiteracy. Substantial weightage to each of these throughout the book. Also, it is very squeaky clean!
Jack and Lily’s growing admiration, respect, dependence and love for each other has been splendidly put and one can truly feel their journey. Jack’s childhood reminiscences are heart wrenching! They are perfect for each other and understand each other well for having lived through their share of humiliations and sufferings in life. I just loved them both very much and the way their relationship progressed was very, very natural. Jack is determined, confident, caring, conscientious and responsible. Though illiterate, he has a desire to learn and is a gentleman. He does love Lily for a long while before actually saying it to her! Lily is like a porter’s clay, she molds herself according to the situation she finds herself in. She’s a fighter and a survivor and a teacher.
The secondary characters are also well portrayed and give substance to the story on the whole.
It’s a tale of friendship, love, poverty, misery, cooperation, co-dependence and a fight for survival. Some beautiful reflections and humour thrown in between, eases the tensed movements for the reader.
A must read!
First and foremost, the cover does not do justice to the book, so a piece of advice: don’t judge the book by its cover! Secondly, the blurb that you find about the book is also not justifiable because there is so much more to it than just Jack and Lily facing the challenges and coming to know and understand each other. Further, as the title seems to be about the hero and the heroine softly falling for each other, well there’s more to the title than that and can only be understood in the last few lines of the book.
You have to be a patient reader to peruse this book, because it does go kind of slow. There is a great deal of detailing of circumstances and situations. Lengthened dilemmas. But these do make up the story. The reader actually experiences moving through the time along with the protagonists and feeling their hopes and emotions.
The story is about Lily Carteret, offspring of an inter-racial couple with roots from Spain, France, England and Barbados with nobility as well as slavery in her blood, who has had the misfortune of having a father, who though loving, has failed to prove his worth and has fallen to the position of a Remittance Man. Brought up under her uncle’s patronage, Lily is a well-bread lady of colour, and though cared for, is still a source of humiliation for the noble relative. So, she is sent to Wyoming, America to live with her father on his supposedly splendid ranch when her uncle decides to marry another lady. Imagine her disappointment when she understands that her drunkard father has lost the very same ranch to Jack Sinclair, the foreman of the ranch where Lily’s father now works as a clerk. With the support and encouragement of Jack she takes up teaching at the ranch and turns out to be not just the teacher to the four little children, but also to Jack and the other ranch hands in various ways.
This book deals with a variety of subjects: Inter-racial marriages and discriminations, animal welfare, child abuse, poverty and misery and the ills that come along with them, education and illiteracy. Substantial weightage to each of these throughout the book. Also, it is very squeaky clean!
Jack and Lily’s growing admiration, respect, dependence and love for each other has been splendidly put and one can truly feel their journey. Jack’s childhood reminiscences are heart wrenching! They are perfect for each other and understand each other well for having lived through their share of humiliations and sufferings in life. I just loved them both very much and the way their relationship progressed was very, very natural. Jack is determined, confident, caring, conscientious and responsible. Though illiterate, he has a desire to learn and is a gentleman. He does love Lily for a long while before actually saying it to her! Lily is like a porter’s clay, she molds herself according to the situation she finds herself in. She’s a fighter and a survivor and a teacher.
The secondary characters are also well portrayed and give substance to the story on the whole.
It’s a tale of friendship, love, poverty, misery, cooperation, co-dependence and a fight for survival. Some beautiful reflections and humour thrown in between, eases the tensed movements for the reader.
A must read!
October 6, 2016
This was the third of the Carla Kelly books I've read, and my favorite so far.
The primary protagonist here is Lily Carteret, whose father is British and mother was from Barbados. She’s an unwanted poor relation in her uncle’s house, so when the uncle marries, he sends her to her father, who has a job on a cattle ranch in Wyoming (this is in 1886).
I liked Lily a lot. She’s complex in all the best ways – resolute, kind, intelligent, competent. Of course she’s a little too good to be true, but that seems to be typical of Kelly’s work. I enjoy that in a romance anyway, within reason. And of course because Lily is new to Wyoming, her pov is excellent for letting the reader really see the setting.
The male lead is the foreman of the ranch, Jack Sinclair. I liked him at least as much as Lily, and since he’s totally familiar with Wyoming and the ranch and the life of a cowhand, he’s just the right kind of foil for Lily when it comes to bringing the setting to life. Let me add that I am SO GRATEFUL I don’t live on a Wyoming cattle ranch in 1886, particularly during an especially dreadful winter. So: Lily, Jack, a terrible winter, there you go.
Unsurprisingly, just as the good guys in Softly Falling are Very Good, the bad guys are Thoroughly Bad – in this case, that’s the owner of the cattle ranch and his equally awful wife. Naturally they get what they deserve, and good riddance to them. Frankly I thought this particular story would have worked just as well with a little bit of a lighter hand on the Badness, but it was fine, especially since we see relatively little of the bad guys.
In each of the three books by Kelly that I've read so far, one of the lead protagonists has a father who is a wastrel, a spendthrift, an alcoholic, or all three. That set up might be kind of a thing for Kelly. But the father seemed substantially more complex and believable (and likeable) in Softly Falling than the other two books.
Overall Carla Kelly is a great discovery for me. She’s got plenty more books and I think they will be just right for me while I am revising a manuscript of my own – probably too distracting if I’m actually working on a first draft. Softly Falling was actually a little too distracting, which is a problem that by definition is a pleasure, of course.
The primary protagonist here is Lily Carteret, whose father is British and mother was from Barbados. She’s an unwanted poor relation in her uncle’s house, so when the uncle marries, he sends her to her father, who has a job on a cattle ranch in Wyoming (this is in 1886).
I liked Lily a lot. She’s complex in all the best ways – resolute, kind, intelligent, competent. Of course she’s a little too good to be true, but that seems to be typical of Kelly’s work. I enjoy that in a romance anyway, within reason. And of course because Lily is new to Wyoming, her pov is excellent for letting the reader really see the setting.
The male lead is the foreman of the ranch, Jack Sinclair. I liked him at least as much as Lily, and since he’s totally familiar with Wyoming and the ranch and the life of a cowhand, he’s just the right kind of foil for Lily when it comes to bringing the setting to life. Let me add that I am SO GRATEFUL I don’t live on a Wyoming cattle ranch in 1886, particularly during an especially dreadful winter. So: Lily, Jack, a terrible winter, there you go.
Unsurprisingly, just as the good guys in Softly Falling are Very Good, the bad guys are Thoroughly Bad – in this case, that’s the owner of the cattle ranch and his equally awful wife. Naturally they get what they deserve, and good riddance to them. Frankly I thought this particular story would have worked just as well with a little bit of a lighter hand on the Badness, but it was fine, especially since we see relatively little of the bad guys.
In each of the three books by Kelly that I've read so far, one of the lead protagonists has a father who is a wastrel, a spendthrift, an alcoholic, or all three. That set up might be kind of a thing for Kelly. But the father seemed substantially more complex and believable (and likeable) in Softly Falling than the other two books.
Overall Carla Kelly is a great discovery for me. She’s got plenty more books and I think they will be just right for me while I am revising a manuscript of my own – probably too distracting if I’m actually working on a first draft. Softly Falling was actually a little too distracting, which is a problem that by definition is a pleasure, of course.
January 26, 2015
Clara Kelly knows how to squeeze my heart. I just love it.
Jack was one of my favorite male characters.
Plot:
Lily is a beautiful half black girl (Must say it annoyed me that the cover girl is completely white since Lily, according to the book, is "paper bag brown"...), who travels from England to Wyoming in order to join her father. She is not really accepted in the English society since she is mixed and her uncle decides to send her (more accurately- get rid of her) to her Wyoming rancher father.
When she arrives in Wyoming she meets Jack, a ranch worker with a big heart and the making of a leader. He is drawn to Lily and decides to help her settle down while also taking care of the entire small ranch community.
Notes:
This is a slow romance, there was hardly any sexual tension or sexual references.
The relationship between Lily and Jack was beautiful, and it took a lot of time for them to finally take comfort in one another.
As I mentioned before, Jack is a great character and a true gentleman.
Beautiful.
Jack was one of my favorite male characters.
Plot:
Lily is a beautiful half black girl (Must say it annoyed me that the cover girl is completely white since Lily, according to the book, is "paper bag brown"...), who travels from England to Wyoming in order to join her father. She is not really accepted in the English society since she is mixed and her uncle decides to send her (more accurately- get rid of her) to her Wyoming rancher father.
When she arrives in Wyoming she meets Jack, a ranch worker with a big heart and the making of a leader. He is drawn to Lily and decides to help her settle down while also taking care of the entire small ranch community.
Notes:
This is a slow romance, there was hardly any sexual tension or sexual references.
The relationship between Lily and Jack was beautiful, and it took a lot of time for them to finally take comfort in one another.
As I mentioned before, Jack is a great character and a true gentleman.
Beautiful.
October 31, 2018
I just realized I don't have any of my old Amazon reviews of Carla Kelly books here on Goodreads, so here goes one from several years ago.
(Dagnabit, Carla Kelly! I know you are manipulating my feelings as I read this and it still chokes me up.)
My favorite HRs take place in England. (That's a puzzle, what with my German-American background, but life is strange.) Carla Kelly, our U.S. national treasure as an HR writer, used to do a lot of Regencies, but her more recent novels have moved back to the United States' growth period of the 1880s and I suspect she likes it better and feels more comfortable there.
It has taken me a few books to feel comfortable there myself, but this one I fell into like a comfy shoe or a Snuggie. It's a lovely tale of the resilience of the human spirit, the hardships earlier settlers of the West had to face, and is a feel-good, inspiring read.
Kelly has a rosier view of humans than I do, so as I read this I did, at times, give little internal snorts while thinking "people are not this good in real life". She deals with bigotry and racial prejudice but her characters become so reasonable and fair so much more quickly than any people I've ever met. Even the alcoholic in this one manages to dry himself out fairly easily. But then what is romance for except to escape to a kinder, gentler, better world?
The picture she paints of the hard life of her characters is not "rosied up" and had me cringing at the harshness of life and winters in Wyoming Territory and thanking the stars for central heating and other modern conveniences.
This is the story of Lily Carteret, mixed-race daughter of an Englishman and a woman from Barbados, who moves from England to Wyoming Territory in 1886 to live with her estranged father. She meets a wonderful, beta ranch foreman who will serve as her love interest and a cast of secondary characters to warm your heart (a Native American insensitively called "Indian" by all until Lily shows up, a mixed-ethnic-background cook and her children, a butler in the ranch owner's house with a mysterious English accent, lots of ranch hands, a cat and a packrat who figure as "characters" more than you would think, an emotionally weak ranch owner's wife and the daughter she's doing emotional damage to until Lily shows up, etc.) You can see that "until Lily shows up" is an important part of the growth of all characters, in particular of Lily's growth, but also of others around her.
So, thank you, Carla Kelly. You manipulated me and made me cry, but you also always make me think that perhaps God *is* in his heaven and all is right with the world, contrary to what my newspaper and news programs tell me.
(Dagnabit, Carla Kelly! I know you are manipulating my feelings as I read this and it still chokes me up.)
My favorite HRs take place in England. (That's a puzzle, what with my German-American background, but life is strange.) Carla Kelly, our U.S. national treasure as an HR writer, used to do a lot of Regencies, but her more recent novels have moved back to the United States' growth period of the 1880s and I suspect she likes it better and feels more comfortable there.
It has taken me a few books to feel comfortable there myself, but this one I fell into like a comfy shoe or a Snuggie. It's a lovely tale of the resilience of the human spirit, the hardships earlier settlers of the West had to face, and is a feel-good, inspiring read.
Kelly has a rosier view of humans than I do, so as I read this I did, at times, give little internal snorts while thinking "people are not this good in real life". She deals with bigotry and racial prejudice but her characters become so reasonable and fair so much more quickly than any people I've ever met. Even the alcoholic in this one manages to dry himself out fairly easily. But then what is romance for except to escape to a kinder, gentler, better world?
The picture she paints of the hard life of her characters is not "rosied up" and had me cringing at the harshness of life and winters in Wyoming Territory and thanking the stars for central heating and other modern conveniences.
This is the story of Lily Carteret, mixed-race daughter of an Englishman and a woman from Barbados, who moves from England to Wyoming Territory in 1886 to live with her estranged father. She meets a wonderful, beta ranch foreman who will serve as her love interest and a cast of secondary characters to warm your heart (a Native American insensitively called "Indian" by all until Lily shows up, a mixed-ethnic-background cook and her children, a butler in the ranch owner's house with a mysterious English accent, lots of ranch hands, a cat and a packrat who figure as "characters" more than you would think, an emotionally weak ranch owner's wife and the daughter she's doing emotional damage to until Lily shows up, etc.) You can see that "until Lily shows up" is an important part of the growth of all characters, in particular of Lily's growth, but also of others around her.
So, thank you, Carla Kelly. You manipulated me and made me cry, but you also always make me think that perhaps God *is* in his heaven and all is right with the world, contrary to what my newspaper and news programs tell me.
December 17, 2014
This reminded me of a previous book by Kelly called my Loving Vigil Keeping. It had the same historical feel and the serious life or death stuff Kelly likes to write about and does a very good job. She pulls you in and you love the characters and keeps it having enough humor that you aren't feeling depressed as you read. The love stories I wish were a little more purposeful instead of thrown together type things, it's almost an afterthought of the love interests. But I still love it. This was morally clean, with a little violence and a little God fearing cowboys but no religion.
November 11, 2014
Originally posted here with an ebook giveaway.
This is the third book from this author I've read and I've enjoyed them all. I'm so glad that Softly Falling did not disappoint. It was a sweet story about hardship, finding ones backbone and self, second chances, learning to forgive, and finding love in unexpected places. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to sweet romance readers.
I appreciated that the romance wasn't the focal point of the story, although it definitely help drive it. I enjoyed the historical setting with its tidbits of information here and there from the time period. I also really loved so many of these characters, especially Lily and Jack! I loved the friendly and protective ranch hands, the feisty cat named "Freak," the four children taught by Lily, and the helpful and rather humorous butler. There were several sweet, humorous, and endearing moments. Lily and Jack are first and foremost friends. I loved how Jack feels so protective of Lily while also encouraging her to spread her wings.
There was enough romance, tension, and danger for the plot to engage me while also building a strong story. It wasn't fast-paced, but I enjoyed how the plot slowly develops and how I really got to know these characters. There were several heartbreaking and tender moments that touched my heart and made me smile. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kelly writes next!
Content: Clean
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.
This is the third book from this author I've read and I've enjoyed them all. I'm so glad that Softly Falling did not disappoint. It was a sweet story about hardship, finding ones backbone and self, second chances, learning to forgive, and finding love in unexpected places. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to sweet romance readers.
I appreciated that the romance wasn't the focal point of the story, although it definitely help drive it. I enjoyed the historical setting with its tidbits of information here and there from the time period. I also really loved so many of these characters, especially Lily and Jack! I loved the friendly and protective ranch hands, the feisty cat named "Freak," the four children taught by Lily, and the helpful and rather humorous butler. There were several sweet, humorous, and endearing moments. Lily and Jack are first and foremost friends. I loved how Jack feels so protective of Lily while also encouraging her to spread her wings.
There was enough romance, tension, and danger for the plot to engage me while also building a strong story. It wasn't fast-paced, but I enjoyed how the plot slowly develops and how I really got to know these characters. There were several heartbreaking and tender moments that touched my heart and made me smile. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kelly writes next!
Content: Clean
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.
September 1, 2019
Jack is an ex soldier turned into a foreman in Wyoming. He owns a little ranch he won playing cards and a most beloved bull, and works for the local cattle company. Lilly is an English lady, daughter of an English gentleman and an apothecary daughter from Barbados. She spent her life In luxury, but being treated bad because of the ton of her skin. Her uncle sends her to Wyoming to be taken care of by her absent and irresponsible father.
The story is intense, beautiful and heart touching. The side characters are as wonderful and complex as the main couple. An Ohio born English butler, a preacher turned cowboy, an Indian American philosopher, an old Mexican that proves resilience is the key to survival. Add to that a couple of lovely kids and a strong cook who manages to feed them through the worse of all winters.
A story of courage, misery, happiness and love.
Great read!
The story is intense, beautiful and heart touching. The side characters are as wonderful and complex as the main couple. An Ohio born English butler, a preacher turned cowboy, an Indian American philosopher, an old Mexican that proves resilience is the key to survival. Add to that a couple of lovely kids and a strong cook who manages to feed them through the worse of all winters.
A story of courage, misery, happiness and love.
Great read!
December 23, 2015
3.5 stars.
No ha estado mal, pero tampoco me ha encantado. Me ha resultado demasiado lenta en cuanto al romance, no pasa nada casi hasta el final del libro, y no hay nada de atracción o tensión, todo pasa casi de puntillas y porque tiene que pasar, no porque deseen que pase…no sé si tiene sentido lo que digo!
A pesar de que los protagonistas son maravillosos los he encontrado demasiado perfectos, y la historia, en general, un poquito empalagosa. Todos intentan ser (o son) bellísimas personas y lo hacen todo bien. Me hubiese gustado que sonara más real.
Más que por el romance esta historia merece la pena ser leída por la narrativa, el clima tan extremo y las condiciones tan severas a las que tienen que hacer frente los personajes son impactantes. Parece imposible que alguien pueda sobrevivir en ese escenario. Es una historia que habla más de superación personal y adaptación al medio que un romance.
El final no ha sido muy realista y la portada ha sido muy desafortunada. No entiendo cómo pueden poner la foto de una chica blanca casi transparente cuando la protagonista es mulata, y es parte importante de la historia. Muy desacertada.
3.5 stars.
It has not been bad but I have not loved it. I have found it too slow when it comes to the romance, nothing occurs almost until the end of the book, and there is nothing of attraction or tension or longing, everything happens almost on tiptoe and because it has to occur, not because they wish to... I don't know if what I say makes sense!
Despite that the protagonists are wonderful I have found them too perfect and a bit overly sweet the story in general. They all try to be (or are) good people and do everything right. I would have liked to sound more real, with flaws.
More that by the romance this story is worth to be read by the narrative; the extreme weather and conditions so severe the characters have to face are impressive. It seems impossible that someone can survive in this scenario. It is a story that speaks more of self-improvement and adaptation to the environment than a romance.
The end was not very realistic and the cover has been very mistaken. I don't understand how somebody can put a nearly transparent white girl photo when the protagonist is mulatto, and is an important part of the story. It have been very misguided.
No ha estado mal, pero tampoco me ha encantado. Me ha resultado demasiado lenta en cuanto al romance, no pasa nada casi hasta el final del libro, y no hay nada de atracción o tensión, todo pasa casi de puntillas y porque tiene que pasar, no porque deseen que pase…no sé si tiene sentido lo que digo!
A pesar de que los protagonistas son maravillosos los he encontrado demasiado perfectos, y la historia, en general, un poquito empalagosa. Todos intentan ser (o son) bellísimas personas y lo hacen todo bien. Me hubiese gustado que sonara más real.
Más que por el romance esta historia merece la pena ser leída por la narrativa, el clima tan extremo y las condiciones tan severas a las que tienen que hacer frente los personajes son impactantes. Parece imposible que alguien pueda sobrevivir en ese escenario. Es una historia que habla más de superación personal y adaptación al medio que un romance.
El final no ha sido muy realista y la portada ha sido muy desafortunada. No entiendo cómo pueden poner la foto de una chica blanca casi transparente cuando la protagonista es mulata, y es parte importante de la historia. Muy desacertada.
3.5 stars.
It has not been bad but I have not loved it. I have found it too slow when it comes to the romance, nothing occurs almost until the end of the book, and there is nothing of attraction or tension or longing, everything happens almost on tiptoe and because it has to occur, not because they wish to... I don't know if what I say makes sense!
Despite that the protagonists are wonderful I have found them too perfect and a bit overly sweet the story in general. They all try to be (or are) good people and do everything right. I would have liked to sound more real, with flaws.
More that by the romance this story is worth to be read by the narrative; the extreme weather and conditions so severe the characters have to face are impressive. It seems impossible that someone can survive in this scenario. It is a story that speaks more of self-improvement and adaptation to the environment than a romance.
The end was not very realistic and the cover has been very mistaken. I don't understand how somebody can put a nearly transparent white girl photo when the protagonist is mulatto, and is an important part of the story. It have been very misguided.
November 4, 2014
3.5 rounding up
This book fits the "Carla Kelly" mold perfectly. By that I mean that it had all the things I have come to expect from her writing and her books. There were no nonsense main characters, lots of historical background and a very slow growing, barely even there romance.
Lily Branson is a girl that knows heartache and disappointment yet she doesn't let it rule her life or how she treats others. Lily has spent her life at the mercy of extended family and is now, after years and years apart, being reunited with her drunken father who has a bad habit of gambling. Lily is kind yet determined to face what comes with dignity and grace. She is strong but she really is kind too. Her mixed heritage add an extra element to the whole story line.
Jack is hardworking and also very determined. He has a plan and goals. He knows what he wants. He encourages Lily to make plans as well. To me, Jack seemed more like a father to Lily than her own father. He sort of played that role a lot.
The romance in this story was so slow, it almost wasn't there at all for most of the book. When things did happen, it was in a very practical, no nonsense kind of way. The story was a good one though- one of perseverance and patience. The secondary characters were all very good and added depth and flavor to this book. It was well written and the scenes played out easily in my head. I enjoyed it quite a lot!
My thanks to Cedar Fort for allowing me to read and review this title for them. This title will be released on November 11th.
This book fits the "Carla Kelly" mold perfectly. By that I mean that it had all the things I have come to expect from her writing and her books. There were no nonsense main characters, lots of historical background and a very slow growing, barely even there romance.
Lily Branson is a girl that knows heartache and disappointment yet she doesn't let it rule her life or how she treats others. Lily has spent her life at the mercy of extended family and is now, after years and years apart, being reunited with her drunken father who has a bad habit of gambling. Lily is kind yet determined to face what comes with dignity and grace. She is strong but she really is kind too. Her mixed heritage add an extra element to the whole story line.
Jack is hardworking and also very determined. He has a plan and goals. He knows what he wants. He encourages Lily to make plans as well. To me, Jack seemed more like a father to Lily than her own father. He sort of played that role a lot.
The romance in this story was so slow, it almost wasn't there at all for most of the book. When things did happen, it was in a very practical, no nonsense kind of way. The story was a good one though- one of perseverance and patience. The secondary characters were all very good and added depth and flavor to this book. It was well written and the scenes played out easily in my head. I enjoyed it quite a lot!
My thanks to Cedar Fort for allowing me to read and review this title for them. This title will be released on November 11th.
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December 13, 2015
Softly Falling wasn't an easy book to read. No, it wasn't Ms. Kelly's writing style but the story itself, which was quite grim and chilling.
Lily, a mulatto girl bread as an English lady, comes to Wyoming in search of her errant English father. She's exiled here by her own titled uncle largely due to the color of her skin, also because of her father's "shameful" past aka marrying a woman of color when he was in Barbados. Upon arriving in the USA, Lily is quite bombarded with several bad news. On the train station, she meets Jack, the foreman of the ranch where her father currently works and thus it begins. Yes, her father is here, and no, he doesn't own the ranch as he'd notified in his letters. Several vices, including drinking and gambling, have caught up with Clarence Carteret and he had lost the ranch to none other than Jack himself.
Jack has is a veteran of the Civil War. He was young (in his teens) at that time, poor and illiterate. As a soldier, he'd seen it all, done it all, the cut on his face a testament of that life. After the war, all he ever wanted was to make a life for himself, earn enough to have a ranch of his own and settle down. He has just started to build up that ranch of his dreams, even if it's quite small and made him the butt of cowboy jokes. Yet when Lily arrives, she changes his lonely, bleary world. Wyoming, back in those days, was as lonely as it can be with lands stretching bare miles on end, with nothing but cattle on sight. For a cowboy, there were too few people to talk to. Few or no entertainments to speak of. No respectable lady wanted that harsh life and settle down with a cowboy, especially not a pretty, educated one like Lily. Yet here she was, in Jack's life. I'd say Jack fell for her on spot (oh to read him blush every time Lily was near or he had to acknowledge his feelings even to himself :p).
Even with the string of bad news and disappointments, Lily doesn't give up hope, a big motivation would be Jack and his ever friendly ways. He was nothing like her father which attracts her to him too. At one point, Lily decides to earn a few bucks by teaching the very small community where she only had 4 students in all. She had planned to move away as soon as she'd earned enough money, right after the winter that was coming. What she didn't realize that the winter of 1886 would be the most vicious, most cruel winter of her life, or the lives of anyone who lived to tell the tale of those 5 months of deaths, misery and suffering of all kinds. The people of that ranch, the ones who didn't perish, had to come together to survive, not knowing if they'd ever make out of it. Jack had already warned them all as he'd recognized the signs early on. Their boss, a dumb guy, didn't heed Jack's premonitions. People and cattle, likewise, suffered for his idiocy.
The narratives of that winter send chills down my spine. Just how long and hard they had to fight just to get through with strictest rationing of food and wood was simply unimaginable. A grim shadow of death and depression was cast on everybody's mind, though Lily, her students, Jack and the few surviving members of the ranch did their best to not give into that. It was really difficult to get through. At times I felt quite miserable myself.
That winter brought them a lot of misery, but several good memories too. A iron-strong bond of friendship was built, without which none of them probably would've survived. Even in the midst of it all the children, and Jack, learned to read and write with Lily's help. Love blossomed between him and Lily and another couple. The affection between Lily and Jack was very palpable without any scenes of deep kissing or detailed sex scenes. That affection was palpable in every single person who fought to survive the harshest winter of their lives.
Softly Falling is not only about love and friendship, but also about hope and survival. When you think you can't go on, look closer and you'll see the light at the other end of the tunnel. Jack never took his foreman duties lightly. He was an overall gentleman, a man of his words who could shoulder any burden. Yet that winter almost brought a man like him down. When he thought he was failing his little bunch, Jack found his way out of those dark thoughts with Lily's help. Actually, each of them helped the other and with a hope for the coming spring, they held on. Every single man, woman and child of that ranch were a survivor.
But when the story ended, I wanted for it to go on. When the long awaited spring finally arrived, Lily and Jack found themselves on the cusp of a new life; a life full of potentials and expectations. I wanted to be a part of that too, as I have been for their struggle of survival.
It's not really possible for me to express what Ms. Kelly has through her storytelling so I'd ask you to read it and find out for yourself. 4 stars.
Lily, a mulatto girl bread as an English lady, comes to Wyoming in search of her errant English father. She's exiled here by her own titled uncle largely due to the color of her skin, also because of her father's "shameful" past aka marrying a woman of color when he was in Barbados. Upon arriving in the USA, Lily is quite bombarded with several bad news. On the train station, she meets Jack, the foreman of the ranch where her father currently works and thus it begins. Yes, her father is here, and no, he doesn't own the ranch as he'd notified in his letters. Several vices, including drinking and gambling, have caught up with Clarence Carteret and he had lost the ranch to none other than Jack himself.
Jack has is a veteran of the Civil War. He was young (in his teens) at that time, poor and illiterate. As a soldier, he'd seen it all, done it all, the cut on his face a testament of that life. After the war, all he ever wanted was to make a life for himself, earn enough to have a ranch of his own and settle down. He has just started to build up that ranch of his dreams, even if it's quite small and made him the butt of cowboy jokes. Yet when Lily arrives, she changes his lonely, bleary world. Wyoming, back in those days, was as lonely as it can be with lands stretching bare miles on end, with nothing but cattle on sight. For a cowboy, there were too few people to talk to. Few or no entertainments to speak of. No respectable lady wanted that harsh life and settle down with a cowboy, especially not a pretty, educated one like Lily. Yet here she was, in Jack's life. I'd say Jack fell for her on spot (oh to read him blush every time Lily was near or he had to acknowledge his feelings even to himself :p).
Even with the string of bad news and disappointments, Lily doesn't give up hope, a big motivation would be Jack and his ever friendly ways. He was nothing like her father which attracts her to him too. At one point, Lily decides to earn a few bucks by teaching the very small community where she only had 4 students in all. She had planned to move away as soon as she'd earned enough money, right after the winter that was coming. What she didn't realize that the winter of 1886 would be the most vicious, most cruel winter of her life, or the lives of anyone who lived to tell the tale of those 5 months of deaths, misery and suffering of all kinds. The people of that ranch, the ones who didn't perish, had to come together to survive, not knowing if they'd ever make out of it. Jack had already warned them all as he'd recognized the signs early on. Their boss, a dumb guy, didn't heed Jack's premonitions. People and cattle, likewise, suffered for his idiocy.
The narratives of that winter send chills down my spine. Just how long and hard they had to fight just to get through with strictest rationing of food and wood was simply unimaginable. A grim shadow of death and depression was cast on everybody's mind, though Lily, her students, Jack and the few surviving members of the ranch did their best to not give into that. It was really difficult to get through. At times I felt quite miserable myself.
That winter brought them a lot of misery, but several good memories too. A iron-strong bond of friendship was built, without which none of them probably would've survived. Even in the midst of it all the children, and Jack, learned to read and write with Lily's help. Love blossomed between him and Lily and another couple. The affection between Lily and Jack was very palpable without any scenes of deep kissing or detailed sex scenes. That affection was palpable in every single person who fought to survive the harshest winter of their lives.
Softly Falling is not only about love and friendship, but also about hope and survival. When you think you can't go on, look closer and you'll see the light at the other end of the tunnel. Jack never took his foreman duties lightly. He was an overall gentleman, a man of his words who could shoulder any burden. Yet that winter almost brought a man like him down. When he thought he was failing his little bunch, Jack found his way out of those dark thoughts with Lily's help. Actually, each of them helped the other and with a hope for the coming spring, they held on. Every single man, woman and child of that ranch were a survivor.
But when the story ended, I wanted for it to go on. When the long awaited spring finally arrived, Lily and Jack found themselves on the cusp of a new life; a life full of potentials and expectations. I wanted to be a part of that too, as I have been for their struggle of survival.
It's not really possible for me to express what Ms. Kelly has through her storytelling so I'd ask you to read it and find out for yourself. 4 stars.
November 23, 2014
Lovely, sweet romance about strong, good people surviving under the harshest of winter conditions. Boy howdy, did this book make me glad I live in Florida! Just reading about a killer Wyoming winter chilled me to the bone.
Carla Kelly's books aren't about dukes (most of the time) or spies or vampires, they're about ordinary people who reaffirm one's faith in the basic goodness of humanity. She writes wonderful tales about people who could live next door or down the lane or be our ancestors, and she does it with style and flair. She's also one of the top Western romance writers today, and shouldn't be overlooked.
Softly Falling isn't explicit, but is delightfully romantic and can be enjoyed by all romance readers. It's a good starting point for those who've never experienced Kelly's special brand of romance.
Carla Kelly's books aren't about dukes (most of the time) or spies or vampires, they're about ordinary people who reaffirm one's faith in the basic goodness of humanity. She writes wonderful tales about people who could live next door or down the lane or be our ancestors, and she does it with style and flair. She's also one of the top Western romance writers today, and shouldn't be overlooked.
Softly Falling isn't explicit, but is delightfully romantic and can be enjoyed by all romance readers. It's a good starting point for those who've never experienced Kelly's special brand of romance.
March 23, 2019
Had to finally write a review.
Romance, clean; period
Definitely dealing with an interesting part of American History and culture. Ranch/range life and an English woman come to find her father and find him drunk and failed again at his most recent venture. She pulls herself together, and with Jack Sinclair and the other hands and workers on the ranch, she gets a plan, and finds her heart with Jack.
Lovely, heart-wrenching, and poignant as they face daily struggles of life on the range set post Civil War, survival at it's finest with the help of good people, and of course, a lovely fall.
Romance, clean; period
Definitely dealing with an interesting part of American History and culture. Ranch/range life and an English woman come to find her father and find him drunk and failed again at his most recent venture. She pulls herself together, and with Jack Sinclair and the other hands and workers on the ranch, she gets a plan, and finds her heart with Jack.
Lovely, heart-wrenching, and poignant as they face daily struggles of life on the range set post Civil War, survival at it's finest with the help of good people, and of course, a lovely fall.
November 19, 2014
I was bored for the first 100 pages. It picked up, but overall was not the satisfying fluff read I have come to expect from Carla Kelly. I'm convinced this book did not receive much editorial attention of any kind. There were so many silly inconsistencies, pacing should have been better with an overall reduction in length of at least 50 pages, and the typos, oh the typos!! Ah, but perhaps I expect too much.
March 19, 2015
Carla Kelly knows how to write historical fiction!! She is so good at putting me right into the middle of whatever event in history she is writing about. I knew nothing about the winter of 1886, one of the harshest winters recorded in North American history, which caused a huge loss of livestock in Wyoming. You might want to bundle up in a blanket and fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate before you begin this one.
May 5, 2015
Read our review here:
http://readforyourfuture.blogspot.com...
http://readforyourfuture.blogspot.com...
November 9, 2014
Once I started this story, my attention was completely captured by it. This story is of a hard life through a terrible winter on a cattle ranch. Lily is a proper lady. She was raised mostly by her uncle because her father kind of lost it once his beautiful wife from the Caribbean had died and left him with a daughter. He started drinking and making bad decisions. His brother would send him here and there in attempts to put him away with some responsibility. But he continued to fail. He is now on a ranch that supposedly was his. Lily’s uncle sends her off to him.
When Lily arrives, she is met by Jack, the man who now owns her father’s ranch and who is the main man at the nearby ranch. She is embarrassed to find out her father no longer owns the ranch and is an alcoholic. Jack feels responsible for everyone on the ranch even though the one he works at is not the one he owns. Jack has his mind set on making money on another type of ranching. So while he waits for offspring on his own ranch, he works hard at the other. Jack seems to take a liking to Lily, but would never voice it.
Lily realizes she needs to work and Jack tells her to make a plan. She sees an old abandoned school house and decides to teach the children there. She has no idea how rough it is to live there but is quickly learning. She learns as much from them as they do from her. Then the winter comes early and hard, as Jack had predicted and the owner had refused to believe. Now everyone’s lives are in danger.
Lily learns to be resourceful in the first snowstorm she has ever seen and all while she is teaching the children at the school and adapts to keep the children warm and alive until help comes whenever that would be since the snow was so high. They had to dismantle most of the desks and chairs to keep them warm. From there, Lily shows her talents as a leader and a fighter. But she sort of has to be, since she is a woman of color and has learned over the years how to deal with the way people treat her even though she is well educated. Jack wants to protect her and be her champion.
From the first snow of the season in September, the winter gets worse. This is where I became hooked. Every time I had a break, I would interrupt my daughter from her own reading with how horrible the winter in this book was and what they did to survive. I am grateful to live now with modern amenities.
There are so many people and children and loss and so much going on that I can’t even begin to tell you. I did find myself liking the characters and wonder what would happen with some people after so much went wrong. The writing was well done and well paced. I really had a hard time stopping it and would pick it up from beside my bed before I even got out of bed. The characters are real and I wanted to reach out and help each one in their struggles. The winter was very long and it didn’t seem as though anything would go right and for the most part it was so realistic that I wasn’t sure if it would have any happiness at the end. But, sometimes you have to be grateful for what you have and that’s what they were grateful for. The romance was a back burner to everything else. This was real life in the time period and it made my heart squeeze for them all!
I have always loved Carla Kelly's books long before I was a blogger. I love the way she weaves a story.
Thanks to Cedar Fort Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review!
So, if you like the late 1800’s, terrible winters on a ranch, getting by with very little, proper romance that gets a back burner to strong winter advisery conditions, books with diversity, getting an Indian name (I personally would love to see what my name would be), a feral cat, a pack rat, trying to overcome alcoholism, snobby rich people, children who learn how to survive and are respectful, being able to handle death of animals and people, learning to read as an adult, clean reads, and hope for a future than this book might be for you.
When Lily arrives, she is met by Jack, the man who now owns her father’s ranch and who is the main man at the nearby ranch. She is embarrassed to find out her father no longer owns the ranch and is an alcoholic. Jack feels responsible for everyone on the ranch even though the one he works at is not the one he owns. Jack has his mind set on making money on another type of ranching. So while he waits for offspring on his own ranch, he works hard at the other. Jack seems to take a liking to Lily, but would never voice it.
Lily realizes she needs to work and Jack tells her to make a plan. She sees an old abandoned school house and decides to teach the children there. She has no idea how rough it is to live there but is quickly learning. She learns as much from them as they do from her. Then the winter comes early and hard, as Jack had predicted and the owner had refused to believe. Now everyone’s lives are in danger.
Lily learns to be resourceful in the first snowstorm she has ever seen and all while she is teaching the children at the school and adapts to keep the children warm and alive until help comes whenever that would be since the snow was so high. They had to dismantle most of the desks and chairs to keep them warm. From there, Lily shows her talents as a leader and a fighter. But she sort of has to be, since she is a woman of color and has learned over the years how to deal with the way people treat her even though she is well educated. Jack wants to protect her and be her champion.
From the first snow of the season in September, the winter gets worse. This is where I became hooked. Every time I had a break, I would interrupt my daughter from her own reading with how horrible the winter in this book was and what they did to survive. I am grateful to live now with modern amenities.
There are so many people and children and loss and so much going on that I can’t even begin to tell you. I did find myself liking the characters and wonder what would happen with some people after so much went wrong. The writing was well done and well paced. I really had a hard time stopping it and would pick it up from beside my bed before I even got out of bed. The characters are real and I wanted to reach out and help each one in their struggles. The winter was very long and it didn’t seem as though anything would go right and for the most part it was so realistic that I wasn’t sure if it would have any happiness at the end. But, sometimes you have to be grateful for what you have and that’s what they were grateful for. The romance was a back burner to everything else. This was real life in the time period and it made my heart squeeze for them all!
I have always loved Carla Kelly's books long before I was a blogger. I love the way she weaves a story.
Thanks to Cedar Fort Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review!
So, if you like the late 1800’s, terrible winters on a ranch, getting by with very little, proper romance that gets a back burner to strong winter advisery conditions, books with diversity, getting an Indian name (I personally would love to see what my name would be), a feral cat, a pack rat, trying to overcome alcoholism, snobby rich people, children who learn how to survive and are respectful, being able to handle death of animals and people, learning to read as an adult, clean reads, and hope for a future than this book might be for you.
November 19, 2014
(4.5 stars) This is my second Carla Kelly novel and I am a fan! Lily Carteret is a proper lady who sets out for Wyoming to stay with her father, who she hasn't seen in nine years. He drinks and gambles and she's not thrilled but has nowhere else to go. When she meets him, he seems to want to change but he continues to disappoint her. Lily's mother has died but was from Barbados and her father is white so her skin is the color of "cambric tea" according to her father. There are a few people who don't like or trust her based on her skin color, but the majority of the people accept her right away.
Jack Sinclair meets Lily at the train station. He is a hardworking foreman at The Bar Dot ranch who takes her under his wing and helps her figure out what direction to take. He's big on having a plan and is willing to help Lily, especially since he wants to be included in her plan! Their relationship was slow moving but I did enjoy it and how they were always there for each other, especially when things got rough. There are also some great side characters throughout the book and I especially loved Mr. Li, Preacher, the children and the butler.
This book is so authentic that I felt like I was there with them, living through one of the worst winters ever. I almost felt guilty that I was wrapped up in a blanket while reading about the suffering they were enduring. I enjoyed seeing how the community worked together to make it through such a difficult time.
My only complaints are that it moved slow in some parts and the romance was light. However, there's still lots to love about this book so if you're looking for a good book to read when you're bundled up in front of the fire this winter, this is a great pick!
I received a copy of this book to review. My opinion is 100% my own.
Mel's Shelves
Jack Sinclair meets Lily at the train station. He is a hardworking foreman at The Bar Dot ranch who takes her under his wing and helps her figure out what direction to take. He's big on having a plan and is willing to help Lily, especially since he wants to be included in her plan! Their relationship was slow moving but I did enjoy it and how they were always there for each other, especially when things got rough. There are also some great side characters throughout the book and I especially loved Mr. Li, Preacher, the children and the butler.
This book is so authentic that I felt like I was there with them, living through one of the worst winters ever. I almost felt guilty that I was wrapped up in a blanket while reading about the suffering they were enduring. I enjoyed seeing how the community worked together to make it through such a difficult time.
My only complaints are that it moved slow in some parts and the romance was light. However, there's still lots to love about this book so if you're looking for a good book to read when you're bundled up in front of the fire this winter, this is a great pick!
I received a copy of this book to review. My opinion is 100% my own.
Mel's Shelves
November 17, 2014
Lily has spent her entire life trying to feel like she fits in. Her mother is black and her father is white and in the 1800s in England, that isn't a great combination to be. Lily's father seems like a nice man, yet he spends all his money on liquor and fails at every endeavor he embarks on because of this vice. When Lily's uncle ships her off to Wyoming to live on her father's big ranch, she finds that not much has changed--her father is the same as ever...and has lost the ranch. The life that Lily builds that winter really tells of her character. She's used to feeling inferior and works hard anyway.
Lily is such a great character! I love how she doesn't let prejudices get her down. She finds that the ragtag ranch people are made up of all kinds--from mixed races to good ole Southern boys to Indians to uppity women who look down on everyone. Lily makes the best of her situation and pulls her resources together to make things work. I love the way the characters rely on one another and use their strengths to overcome trials.
Of course, Jack is awesome. Right away, he admires Lily's tea/coffee colored skin and accepts her for who she is, really focusing on the beautiful parts to her--her voice, her kindness, her soul. He's a great advocate for Lily and her father.
The way the characters learned to pull together and the way the story gently progressed were my favorite parts. Nothing is glossed over--the details are real. I love a good, clean romance, but romance wasn't the main focus--and I still really appreciated the story.
Content: Clean!
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review*
Lily is such a great character! I love how she doesn't let prejudices get her down. She finds that the ragtag ranch people are made up of all kinds--from mixed races to good ole Southern boys to Indians to uppity women who look down on everyone. Lily makes the best of her situation and pulls her resources together to make things work. I love the way the characters rely on one another and use their strengths to overcome trials.
Of course, Jack is awesome. Right away, he admires Lily's tea/coffee colored skin and accepts her for who she is, really focusing on the beautiful parts to her--her voice, her kindness, her soul. He's a great advocate for Lily and her father.
The way the characters learned to pull together and the way the story gently progressed were my favorite parts. Nothing is glossed over--the details are real. I love a good, clean romance, but romance wasn't the main focus--and I still really appreciated the story.
Content: Clean!
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review*
November 6, 2014
Lily Carteret has been searching for most of her life to find a place where she can feel comfortable, loved, and at home. She has lived off of the good graces of her Uncle, because her father has proven himself to be unreliable, a gambler, and a drunk. She didn't fit in at boarding school because she did not look like all of the other girls. Her mother was black and her father was white. In the nineteenth century England, this was a social problem.
She was shipped off to live with her father in Wyoming. He supposedly had a prosperous ranch. Her father's financial situation was not what she was led to believe. She arrived in Wyoming to find her father beaten by life once again.
Lily learns through a rough winter to find herself, a purpose, and eventually love. This book takes readers through a process. The process doesn't involve just Lily, but all of the survivors of the ranch. They become bound together in their determination to survive.
I enjoyed the fact that Carla Kelly doesn't sugar coat the hardships of surviving a harsh winter. The brings great detail to survival, the toll on people and animals that multiple blizzard can bring. The book is man vs nature. It is about survival. The romance is sweet, but not the main focus of the book.
I also loved that this particular group of people band together as equals. There were a few of mixed or different racial heritage. From the beginning most of them treated everyone as a person of value.
Another great historical fiction romance from Carla Kelly.
She was shipped off to live with her father in Wyoming. He supposedly had a prosperous ranch. Her father's financial situation was not what she was led to believe. She arrived in Wyoming to find her father beaten by life once again.
Lily learns through a rough winter to find herself, a purpose, and eventually love. This book takes readers through a process. The process doesn't involve just Lily, but all of the survivors of the ranch. They become bound together in their determination to survive.
I enjoyed the fact that Carla Kelly doesn't sugar coat the hardships of surviving a harsh winter. The brings great detail to survival, the toll on people and animals that multiple blizzard can bring. The book is man vs nature. It is about survival. The romance is sweet, but not the main focus of the book.
I also loved that this particular group of people band together as equals. There were a few of mixed or different racial heritage. From the beginning most of them treated everyone as a person of value.
Another great historical fiction romance from Carla Kelly.
December 2, 2014
A new Carla Kelly book, especially one about the old west, is something to celebrate. This is one of her best.
Set in the infamously hard winter of 1886-7, it makes you feel simultaneously grateful for modern conveniences and the sheer wealth of our lives here in the USA now, with hot water on demand and fully stocked supermarkets, as well as fat and soft compared to our recent ancestors.
The story includes insights into what life was like for civil war vets from the losing side, how investors' greed ruined the vast American grasslands, how a one-room school might have run, etc.
I always like Kelly's books because she nails the history, and tells us about ordinary extraordinary people of their day. Not lords and rich people, but poor and illiterate people as well. She also keeps a thread of deep and abiding faith, morality, thoughtfulness, and spirit running through all her books -although they could not be termed 'Christian' fiction. It's generally not an overt thing, and aside from her few LDS-specific books, it is not identifiable as any specific faith, or even Christianity, but more of a humanistic thing. Although I cannot abide overtly 'Christian' literature, Kelly's work resonates deeply within me.
The only other authors I know who do this as well are the late great D.E. Stevenson and Rosamund Pilcher. And neither of them handled it while also juggling historical accuracy!
Set in the infamously hard winter of 1886-7, it makes you feel simultaneously grateful for modern conveniences and the sheer wealth of our lives here in the USA now, with hot water on demand and fully stocked supermarkets, as well as fat and soft compared to our recent ancestors.
The story includes insights into what life was like for civil war vets from the losing side, how investors' greed ruined the vast American grasslands, how a one-room school might have run, etc.
I always like Kelly's books because she nails the history, and tells us about ordinary extraordinary people of their day. Not lords and rich people, but poor and illiterate people as well. She also keeps a thread of deep and abiding faith, morality, thoughtfulness, and spirit running through all her books -although they could not be termed 'Christian' fiction. It's generally not an overt thing, and aside from her few LDS-specific books, it is not identifiable as any specific faith, or even Christianity, but more of a humanistic thing. Although I cannot abide overtly 'Christian' literature, Kelly's work resonates deeply within me.
The only other authors I know who do this as well are the late great D.E. Stevenson and Rosamund Pilcher. And neither of them handled it while also juggling historical accuracy!
April 23, 2015
The intriguing Lily Carteret is transplanted from her privileged life in England to the rough Wyoming Territory, only to learn that her alcoholic father has gambled away his cattle ranch. As Lily adjusts to the harsh conditions of her new home, she’s befriended by a number of charming characters — especially Jack, the handsome but illiterate cowboy who quickly falls for Lily. The bulk of the story takes place during a very long, grim winter (known a century ago as "the big die-off”), where Jack, Lily, and the others on the ranch work tirelessly to save the cattle and themselves.
Kelly’s characters and historical details were the highlights of the book for me, but even those were weak. The drama of the terrible winter provided constant tension, but the pacing of the story was incredibly slow. It was a long, long winter, and the reader definitely feels this (for better or for worse, and for me it was for worse). I think 100 pages could've been shaved off to improve the pacing. The action was also very sluggish, but with a few blips of excitement thrown in. The dialogue between the protagonists felt contrived and exaggerated most of the time.
I was also surprised at the poor editing. My copy was riddled with spelling blunders, misplaced punctuation, and missing words. A thorough editing job would've gone a long way here.
Kelly’s characters and historical details were the highlights of the book for me, but even those were weak. The drama of the terrible winter provided constant tension, but the pacing of the story was incredibly slow. It was a long, long winter, and the reader definitely feels this (for better or for worse, and for me it was for worse). I think 100 pages could've been shaved off to improve the pacing. The action was also very sluggish, but with a few blips of excitement thrown in. The dialogue between the protagonists felt contrived and exaggerated most of the time.
I was also surprised at the poor editing. My copy was riddled with spelling blunders, misplaced punctuation, and missing words. A thorough editing job would've gone a long way here.
March 7, 2019
Very well written romance, but it was slow build and after all that build up, everything is closed door. Seriously, it's one sentence, something like, they became husband and wife in truth, or something like that.
Also, some of the things that happened to the animals when it was so cold and a blizzard out there were heartbreaking and very upsetting. It was awful to read about, and I don't think it had any place in a romance novel.
Also, some of the things that happened to the animals when it was so cold and a blizzard out there were heartbreaking and very upsetting. It was awful to read about, and I don't think it had any place in a romance novel.
May 26, 2016
I loved it. It's mostly historical with a little romance mixed in and outstanding characters which is why I love it and highly recommend it. Some of Lily's attitudes seem a tiny bit anachronistic to me but maybe I'm way off . It's really a 4.5 star rating if possible. I didn't feel the pacing was bad at all. Perfect and highly recommended.
July 7, 2016
This was a typical well-written Carla Kelly. Not the most pleasant read but then I imagine Wyoming in the mid to late 1800s during a hard winter was not a pleasant place to be.
Clean romance.
Others have labeled this an LDS book. I'm not sure why (then again I'm not LDS). There are some Christian references but I wouldn't call it a Christian novel either.
Clean romance.
Others have labeled this an LDS book. I'm not sure why (then again I'm not LDS). There are some Christian references but I wouldn't call it a Christian novel either.
April 9, 2019
If you are into Historical Fiction this one was a pretty good read. I liked Lily's character, and the way her presence changed everything on the ranch. But as far as the love story goes, it left a lot to be desired (though let's be honest, was probably more realistic to the time and circumstances).
November 20, 2014
Loved it. Another great one from Carla Kelly. Such an easy read and I couldn't stop.
December 24, 2014
Eh. Probably my least favorite Carla Kelly book so far. By a long shot.
May 11, 2015
Some of the historical parts of this book were very painful to read, but the romance was rather sweet and not so heavy handed as it sometimes is in this genre.
July 19, 2017
I read the first few chapters. I couldn't get into it. I've loved other books by her but this one just wasn't doing it for me.
January 8, 2017
I liked this book, it moved slowly and it was very predictable... but it is a romance, and we know the heroine will get the man.
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