Review: A Beautiful Story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 18, 2011
It's a wonderful story. Ruth Ann Nordin's writing is so clear and vivid, I feel as if I'm viewing the scenes in person.  The plot of "Shotgun Groom" is believable, especially in the late 1800's and the mid-west setting. From the very beginning, I found myself rooting for April and her baby, Nora, and April's brother Sep, commiserating with their plight, and looking forward to a great read, a beautiful romance, and (keeping my fingers crossed) that happy ending. And I was not disappointed.  I listened to it on my Kindle and could hardly put it down for a night's rest, before finishing it.This story is not a comedy.  It is a serious, sensitive, deeply emotional tale of a young woman's plight to find true happiness after a first marriage to a cruel, selfish, immoral drunkard.  When he is killed in a saloon brawl, his brother, Lou, of no better character, attacks her, but she is saved by her younger brother, Sep (short for September) and his shotgun. Joel Larson (Dave Larson's brother from "Eye of the Beholder) is a confirmed bachelor and the local doctor's assistant, and is in Sep's opinion a good man, the right man to protect and love his widowed sister, so when the local doctor sends Joel to check on April's ailing baby, Sep keeps him at their farm and eventually with the aid of Joel's own brothers and the shotgun convinces him to marry April.  One has to keep in mind that if Joel truly did not wish to marry April or deep in his heart already care for her, then no one could have forced him.This story is also a mystery.  April keeps a room in her small house locked at all times and will let no one enter it. Also, Lou, has more than one reason for wanting to take his dead brother's place with April and the farm. And finally, Sep's own past holds dreaded memories. Ruth developed the story beautifully and kept me glued to the very last word.Shotgun Groom's love scenes between April and Joel, for a mature audience, are tender and sensitive, while at the same time realistic for two gentle, married people who have fallen deeply in love. I give "Shotgun Groom" five well-deserved stars.  Ruth Ann Nordin has done it again! :-)