2 out of 5 stars
Susannah leaves her home in Detroit to head to the Dakota territory as a mail-order bride for her minister's brother, Jesse Mason. Upon her arrival, Dakota is nothing like she expects. Even worse, marriage demands far more than she expected. Shy and wounded, she believes Jesse could never lover her. Jesse is patient with Susannah, waiting until she learns to love him. They grow to love each other. Then a locust plague wipes out their crop. With few options left, Jesse leaves to find work in the growing towns. Somehow he ends up in Fort Lincoln, and things continue to get worse. Will Susannah and Jesse ever be able to rekindle their new found love?
I initially found myself excited about this book. My excitement, however, soon diminished as I began to read it. I'm not sure if it's the author's voice or the writing itself, but I found this book a very hard read. It became entirely too confusing at times. The proportion in this novel proved to be an issue. Some scenes were so fast-paced, jumping from one location to the next--or from one action to the next--that it became near impossible to discern what was taking place or even form a solid idea of the story itself. Some events needed to be slow-placed to build important tension, yet they were glossed over so much so that one had to wonder what just took place.
The dialogue lent much confusion as well. At times it became difficult to know who was speaking as character reactions and actions had been placed with the wrong dialogue.
The conflict itself seemed too devised and unnatural, almost forced. Arguments often sprung out of nowhere, the heroine's past hurt didn't seem to justify her current state of mind, and it seemed like the stakes were never high enough to make me understand the true conflict.
I wish I could have enjoyed this story, but overall, I found it very difficult to do so.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, through Bookneeze, for the purpose of providing an honest review of the material.
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