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O'Brien Brothers #2
Memphis
In a sweeping Civil War saga, courageous Sophia Merrick vows to defend herself against the invaders, and soon cavalryman Caleb O'Brien shows Sophia how powerful passion can be. Original.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1994
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65 people want to read
About the author
Sara Orwig
491 books112 followersUSA Today bestselling romance author, Sara Orwig, has over sixteen million copies of her books in print. Internationally her books have 200 translations of her novels into 26 languages. She has written 97 books and was one of the first 6 inductees into the Oklahoma Professional Writers Hall of Fame and 2-time winner of Oklahoma Writers Federation awards for Best Oklahoma Novel. Sara is winner of eight ROMANTIC TIMES awards which include the Award for Best Western Historical Romance Writer and the Award for Best Contemporary Fiction Writer. aka Daisy Logan.
Sara currently is writing books that are a published by Harlequin Desire.
Sara currently is writing books that are a published by Harlequin Desire.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 16, 2014
Memphis is the second in a trilogy about the O'Brien brothers from Ireland and their...ummm...romantic adventures in America. Book #1 took place prior to the Civil War, and this book begins in 1862. Caleb O’Brien is a major in the Confederate Army (never did figure out why he was so hot to serve since he's against slavery and I don't recall the boys gaining citizenship yet). Caleb comes across Sophia Merrick ("spirited" per the book description) when his troops are under fire from the boys in blue. Sophia took over the family newspaper after her father's death (her brothers are off fighting), and she dresses up in blue to infiltrate the Union army and get news and secrets and stuff.
Got all that? Good. Caleb and another fellow soldier (Will) are badly wounded, and only Sophia is around to get them home to Memphis and to Will's family doctor. Will's home is too full of other wounded soldiers so there's no room for Caleb, and Sophia brings him to her home to nurse. She's only seventeen and only has two servants in the house, and she takes in two other wounded soldiers and nurses them back to health. That includes lots of late nights wiping Caleb's fevered brow and naked chest.
OK, so Caleb gets better and then there's all kinds of ups and downs and the Yankees taking over Memphis and underground dealings and stealing weapons and payroll and of course - an ebil, mean-as-mean can be Union Officer lusting after Sophia.
*yawn*
I usually like Civil War romances, but this one was a definite dog - at least for me. I prefer a bit more realism in a story, and for things to make sense and there just wasn't a lot of anything that made sense in this book.
1) How did Amity (perhaps around 15/16 in this book), the younger sister of Caleb's sister-in-law and Caleb's very young brother manage to travel from New Orleans to Memphis with a fortune in gold all by themselves? Did they come by train or carriage? Trains were mentioned, but still - there's a war on, and later in the book Caleb and Sophia had to ride horse because all the trains were disrupted by the conflict. Which was it? And why in the hell were they not accompanied by adults, or better yet why didn't the adults go in their place?
2) Sophia is seventeen, and all the town thinks of her as a plain spinster, yet all the new-to-town men think she's the hottest thing evar. And boy, does Sophia learn all the positions with Caleb lickety split.
3) About 2/3 of the way through, the whole Union army is hot to catch our pair, yet they have time to make whoopee in the woods, check into a hotel and do it, and even on public streets in a carriage. Oh hell, it was after dark, so no one looking for them would notice them in the carriage making whoopee.
*head desk*
I know a lot of readers don't mind a sexed up book (there's a lot of sex in this book) in a wallpaper historical setting, but I'm just not one of those readers.
Got all that? Good. Caleb and another fellow soldier (Will) are badly wounded, and only Sophia is around to get them home to Memphis and to Will's family doctor. Will's home is too full of other wounded soldiers so there's no room for Caleb, and Sophia brings him to her home to nurse. She's only seventeen and only has two servants in the house, and she takes in two other wounded soldiers and nurses them back to health. That includes lots of late nights wiping Caleb's fevered brow and naked chest.
OK, so Caleb gets better and then there's all kinds of ups and downs and the Yankees taking over Memphis and underground dealings and stealing weapons and payroll and of course - an ebil, mean-as-mean can be Union Officer lusting after Sophia.
*yawn*
I usually like Civil War romances, but this one was a definite dog - at least for me. I prefer a bit more realism in a story, and for things to make sense and there just wasn't a lot of anything that made sense in this book.
1) How did Amity (perhaps around 15/16 in this book), the younger sister of Caleb's sister-in-law and Caleb's very young brother manage to travel from New Orleans to Memphis with a fortune in gold all by themselves? Did they come by train or carriage? Trains were mentioned, but still - there's a war on, and later in the book Caleb and Sophia had to ride horse because all the trains were disrupted by the conflict. Which was it? And why in the hell were they not accompanied by adults, or better yet why didn't the adults go in their place?
2) Sophia is seventeen, and all the town thinks of her as a plain spinster, yet all the new-to-town men think she's the hottest thing evar. And boy, does Sophia learn all the positions with Caleb lickety split.
3) About 2/3 of the way through, the whole Union army is hot to catch our pair, yet they have time to make whoopee in the woods, check into a hotel and do it, and even on public streets in a carriage. Oh hell, it was after dark, so no one looking for them would notice them in the carriage making whoopee.
*head desk*
I know a lot of readers don't mind a sexed up book (there's a lot of sex in this book) in a wallpaper historical setting, but I'm just not one of those readers.
March 28, 2014
Memphis by Sara Orwig is the second in the Civil War series of the O’Brien family. The second book could stand alone but is much more interesting having read New Orleans first.
Caleb O’Brien joins the Confederate army and heads off to battle. Like most men, he thinks the war will be over quickly and does not seem to worry about what it will really be like. That is until he and his best friend, Will Stanton are both wounded at Shiloh. Here they see that the fight will be long and bloody and that there isn’t a thing to like about war. Will begs Caleb to take him home to Memphis where the doctor there will have the best chance for saving his leg. Caleb, wounded as well, agrees and sets off with Will. They hide for the evening in a barn that is already occupied. Sophia Merrick has dressed as a boy and has gone to the Union camp to gather information for her newspaper. She is identified as a woman and runs to escape the Union soldier. Caleb and his men attack the Union soldiers and Sophia is caught in the middle of the fight. Having escaped from the battle, she also spends the evening in the barn. When she finds out the wounded man is Will, she agrees to get them to Memphis.
What can a gambling, drinking, smoking soldier have in common with a prim and proper maid? She is forced to have him in her house for his convalescence and finds herself attracted to him.
When Memphis is taken by the Union, Caleb has another surprise. One of the Union officers is his long lost brother Fortune. Can Fortune help save Caleb and Sophia from being arrested by the Union soldiers?
Caleb O’Brien joins the Confederate army and heads off to battle. Like most men, he thinks the war will be over quickly and does not seem to worry about what it will really be like. That is until he and his best friend, Will Stanton are both wounded at Shiloh. Here they see that the fight will be long and bloody and that there isn’t a thing to like about war. Will begs Caleb to take him home to Memphis where the doctor there will have the best chance for saving his leg. Caleb, wounded as well, agrees and sets off with Will. They hide for the evening in a barn that is already occupied. Sophia Merrick has dressed as a boy and has gone to the Union camp to gather information for her newspaper. She is identified as a woman and runs to escape the Union soldier. Caleb and his men attack the Union soldiers and Sophia is caught in the middle of the fight. Having escaped from the battle, she also spends the evening in the barn. When she finds out the wounded man is Will, she agrees to get them to Memphis.
What can a gambling, drinking, smoking soldier have in common with a prim and proper maid? She is forced to have him in her house for his convalescence and finds herself attracted to him.
When Memphis is taken by the Union, Caleb has another surprise. One of the Union officers is his long lost brother Fortune. Can Fortune help save Caleb and Sophia from being arrested by the Union soldiers?
November 4, 2014
In Memphis we find Caleb O'Brien fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War. He happens upon Sophia Merrick who has disguised herself as a man to gather information for her family newspaper. The two instantly dislike each other but keep finding themselves stuck together. When Caleb and his friend Will are injured in battle Sophia helps them get back to Memphis. Not only that but Caleb is sent to her house to recover because the hospital is full. The two clash frequently as sparks fly between them.
This is your usual hate each other/fall madly in love romance. It isn't hard to guess right away what the future holds for these two characters. With this being said I did enjoy reading the book and found it interesting but a little drawn out at times. I liked that we caught up with the other O'Brien brothers and were brought up to date about the goings on in their life.
This would be a good read for anyone who likes historical romance and Civil War stories.
This is your usual hate each other/fall madly in love romance. It isn't hard to guess right away what the future holds for these two characters. With this being said I did enjoy reading the book and found it interesting but a little drawn out at times. I liked that we caught up with the other O'Brien brothers and were brought up to date about the goings on in their life.
This would be a good read for anyone who likes historical romance and Civil War stories.
September 27, 2013
I normally do not read Romance Novels, so when a friend of mine gave me this book to read I was reluctant to read it. However this is the best Romance novel that I have ever had the good luck to read. Sara's writing is so well rounded and so authentic about the time era, that it was hard to put down. And now I read am trying to read every book that she has published.
November 24, 2014
A similar version too Gone with the wind.
History of Civil war times. Very long reading. Calvin and Sophia would make Rett and Scarlet blush. A lot more of the war violence then I care for.
History of Civil war times. Very long reading. Calvin and Sophia would make Rett and Scarlet blush. A lot more of the war violence then I care for.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews