Zoe's Reviews > High Country Bride

I often wonder, why a writer would go a certain way with a character and if they cannot rescue the characters from said certain way, why insist on going that way at all?

I asked that question about Rafe and Emmaline in this book from the beginning to the end.

Linda Lael Miller decided to make Rafe and his brothers, both heroes in subsequent books I imagine, rascals. We were introduced to Rafe and his brothers through their father's and the housekeeper's eyes: they were wasting their lives away with drinking, whoring, fighting and not taking their lives seriously. They were cast in such unflattering light too. Their father had to blackmail them into finding a wife and having children, whoever did both will be awarded the lion's share of the ranch and practically be "the boss" of the other 2 brothers. And all 3 brothers were thinking: damn I have to find a woman and get her pregnant fast. There was little brotherly affection among the brothers. Everyone of them was thinking how they must be the first to get married and have a child so that they could own the ranch and lord it over the other 2 for the rest of their lives. I disliked the 3 brothers from the onset. How do you like 3 brothers who were basically playboys in the western fashions and also scheming bastards who seemed to hate one another out of spite?

Then there was Emmaline, the mail-order bride for Rafe. So Rafe's solution was to send for a bride, condition: as long as she was willing to have children and could have children. Basically, he was looking for a womb. Emmaline grew up in a brothel with her aunt, who turned out to be more than just an aunt. Her aunt is the "Madam" of the brothel. Emmaline was the "adventurous" kind. God how I hate a bored woman. Bored women do stupid things. They think of no one but themselves, how dull their lives are, and would give an arm for a wild ride. Emmaline wanted adventure. She was a social pariah because of her association with her aunt. She wanted association, wanted to belong somewhere. Her aunt never allowed her to be involved in the prostitution business, but she was "a fallen woman" nonetheless, in society's eyes. Now what would you do if you were Emmaline? Well, not what Emmaline did, I am sure.

Emmaline dressed herself up as a prostitute and actually engaged a "customer" for herself. Afterwards she wasn't even sure what happened but had to assume that her virginity was lost because said customer, a Texan named Holt, left money behind. Emmaline's aunt was outraged. What loving aunt wouldn't be? Emmaline, aka the adventure seeking genius, answered Rafe's ad and voila, there she was: Arizona.

So Rafe and Emmaline met. The first time, Rafe was fighting with someone in a bar. He did not even see Emmaline. Rafe's brother had to drive Emmaline back to the ranch. And he didn't do it out of goodwill. He did it to make Rafe look bad. So we are constantly reminded of the fact that these 3 brothers were nothing more than the losers that they were portrayed in the beginning. Emmaline's character was unremarkable. She ruined herself because she was bored with her life, then married someone hoping the entire time that her past would not catch up with her.

If there was romance between Rafe and Emmaline, I could not tell. I just saw that Rafe and Emmaline appear to have great sex. And everything else just "naturally happened". They were happy in marriage, not exactly in love, but content. I am certain it is not unusual for the old days, but I ask: where is the relationship development? I was just told that this was the case. I didn't necessarily believe it.

Then the coincidence. Oh my God. Miller wrote that Rafe and Emmaline seemed to settle into marriage life, having great sex and all and somehow were content with their lives. No conflict, we need a conflict for the book to be interesting. Can you guess what or who she brought in?

She brought in 2 people. The first one was Emmaline's aunt, aka the prostitute. Emmaline was afraid that her past growing up in a brothel would come out and Rafe would not want her anymore. So said aunt popped up in town one day, dragging Emmaline's past in along with her. And it just happened, on the same day that Emmaline and her aunt met up with each other in the town's hotel, the same day, the same hour, walked in Emmaline's "customer".

Now this is where I quote from Casablanca: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." Of all of hotels in all the towns in the wild wild west, our Texan walked into Emmaline's, on the day that she happened to be in town meeting her aunt, no less. Now ain't life quaint? Of course he showed up. How else would we continue with Rafe and Emmaline's story without her stunt as prostitute coming back to bite her in her behind?

Unappealing characters and obviously fabricated plot lines. Sometimes I wonder, is it just me? Or the writers have so little respect for their readers that they cook up such stories and believe that readers would just go with it? I developed a severe headache while reading this book and it got worse as more the story got more unbelievable. If you don't mind the characters, how they are presented, and how convenient everything appeared to be, it might not be a bad read. It wasn't for me.