Status Updates From Western Christmas Brides: A...

A Kiss from the Cowboy - cute, but idiot woman assuming the worst. Smh. Ended cute tho.

Miss Christina's Christmas Wish by Lynn's Banning. Cute. Strong, independent woman wanted to work, teaching kids, even if love came along. But he made sure she could keep all that she loved. 3 stars.

A Bride and Baby for Christmas by Lauri Robinson. It's like a 0.5 filler story that didn't fit in the series, but worked great as both a stand alone and +1. I really want to read her Oak Grove books now! Hanna and Teddy's story.

"'You'll get used to Pa. Oh, and there's one more thing.' Edwina went up on her toes, circled her arms about her husband's neck and drew his head down. She whispered in his ear.

He gasped out loud, then held Edwina at arm's length to look her in the eyes. 'We did it?'" (281) what. what kind of reaction is that to being told by your estranged wife who ran off with your child that she is pregnant now.

"'I know how you all loved your tree,' Edwina said. 'And it was a lovely thing, but there is a new baby—a Christmas baby. You ought to take heart in that'" (259). I'm trying, Edwina. I'm trying to take heart in the fact that this novella has used both the phrase "Christmas child" and "Christmas baby." But it's not working.

"'Wouldn't it be simpler to simply let her know who you really are? You've nothing to be ashamed of.'

'It's not that I'm ashamed, Kit'" (221). No, you just wrote lies about your life to your cousin that are currently coming back to bite you because you're so extremely proud of your Spartan life

"'I have a confession to make, Kit. I, well—I suppose you thought I hired you to ramrod my ranch'" (219). until this point I thought references being made to him being her ramrod were about her needing a man to be someone to rely on, but from how it's being used here apparently it's an actual term. huh.

"Wasn't that the most foolish thought to ever invade her mind? It was Edwina who used to go on about love at first sight and all kinds of like nonsense. Of course, Edwina had never been left under a walnut tree waiting for a kiss" (210). really milking the being stood up by her beau who ran off to join the circus bit. I guess instead o/being shown this had an impact we're just being flat out told multiple times.

"She probably should not have led the man to believe that this was a lasting position, but she'd feared he would not come all this way for a two-week job. She only hoped that when he discovered the truth, he would not quit on the spot" (203). No honestly I think that's about what you'd deserve. wtf.

WHAT THE F IS THIS EPILOGUE NONSENSE

"What heaven a kiss can be, she thought hazily. It went on and on and she never wanted him to stop. Inside she felt shaky, as if she had swallowed a mouthful of stars, and when he finally lifted his mouth from hers she couldn't remember where she was" (183). I actually kind of like "mouthful of stars." first thing that's struck me (positively) since the dedication to this novella.

"'Rub,' Ivan ordered. 'Rub hard.'
Suddenly he tossed away her shawl and the jacket covering the the motionless girl, bent over her and began pushing down on her chest.
'What are you doing?' Christina shouted.
He didn't look up. 'I must try something.'
Terrified, she watched his hands move rhythmically up and down on Roxanna's thin chest" (181). Now he's inventing CPR? This is going into Jean M. Auel territory

"When she was in the classroom she knew who she was and what she was meant to do in life. She was valued for her knowledge and her skill. She felt worthwhile.

And it made her happy. She could never give that up. Never" (177). Well, there's only about 20 pages left in this novella, so this "never" is going to be pretty short-lived.

"Ivan was a good man. He was a simple man, not educated, as she was, but he was intelligent and knowledgeable in his own way, and he was certainly skilled at woodworking" (171). If not for the rest o/this novella, might give the author the benefit of the doubt to assume she's showing the heroine's POV to satirize the heroine's pretentious condescension, but as it is...I'm all out of benefit of the doubts to give

"So, Christina acknowledged, she was to be a guest at supper tonight with Annamarie and Ivan" (165). Yes. That is, in fact, what the entire conversation preceding this established.

(2/2) 2) you've never seen these complicated steps before, of course you've never known anyone who could execute them, wtf

"What an interesting man Annamarie's brother was! She had never known anyone who could chop wood and execute these complicated steps with such panache and still be so pigheaded when it came to his sister's schooling" (147). 1) this is like the fourth quote I've pulled that starts with her talking about how she's never done something. we get it. 2) you've never seen these complicated steps before, of course you've nev

"And what intriguing steps he and the line of dancers he led were executing!" (146) Ah yes, the intriguing exoticism of Russian immigrants. don't you miss those days when we got to exoticise Eastern Europeans as well as people of color (is apparently the question the book seems to be asking???)

"How cruel young girls could be! What got into children that made them so mean to one another? Was it something they learned from their parents or from their brothers and sisters and the other students?" (133) You. Are. From. A. (at the time this story is set, Barely) Former. Confederate. State.

"'She will grow up very beautiful and she will marry. In old country, a wife does not need much education.'
'What?' She almost screeched the word" (131). if she was screeching at the "in old country" part and not because a man in her time dared to not believe in education for women, maybe I'd sympathize more. as it is, I guess here comes the feisty spirited hoyden of historical inaccuracy wooo

"Young girls certainly liked to gossip! Why could they not get along with each other? ... Young girls tolerated no one who was different; they wanted other girls to be just like them!" (123) Again, I repeat: WOMAN YOU'RE FROM MISSOURI. you gotta know this isn't restricted to young girls being cruel to other young girls. although on the other hand there's no black people in this story so far sooooooo

"While she ate her supper of scrambled eggs and toast she idly thought about Adam Lynford walking the Ness girl home, and a little pain darted into her chest. Nobody had ever walked her home. She wondered what it would have been like" (122). FFS I can't with this woman

"Shaking, she moved back into the schoolhouse and shut the door, then threw the rest of her lunch into the wastebasket, put her head down on her desk and burst into tears. What made people attack other people just because they were different? Was it something in human nature?" (113) GIRL YOU MOVED HERE FROM MISSOURI IN THE 1800s, DON'T PRETEND LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE

"That prompted a chorus of jeers from the boys. 'Smarty-pants, smarty-pants, your jeans are all baggy and full of ants!'" (112). research with citations showing this chant was historically accurate or GTFO

"Charlie shoved the bread loves against Ivan's chest and gave him a wide, knowing grin. 'Confucius say, easy to lose brain when belly empty. Heart, too,' the twinkly-eyed man added under his breath" (109). OH HELL NO. I don't care if this was historically accurate, this was published in 2017. The author should know better. Or footnote this to death. But in the absence of the latter...NOPE

"Never, never had she expected teaching school to be so difficult. or so tiring. She felt as if she were staring at a mountain of ignorance and disinterest in front of her, and she was heartsick. She had wanted to teach so desperately, but after today it looked...impossible" (107). is this a Teach for America story set in the old west because I swear if it is I'll

"But she had to admit she had not excelled at conquering her fear of standing up in front of people and—she shuddered—talking to them. And never once in her teacher training had she faced a room full of schoolchildren who would stare at her" (99). wait she's never actually taught? okay okay maybe historically accurate, maybe historically accurate