Review: Good! (but a bit grim)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 8, 2014
*************CONTENTS: About four explicit sex scenes, several scenes of murder and mayhem, including violence against a ten-year-old boy, minimal or no profanity (much appreciated),  minimal or no typos (yay!)*************I'd go as high as 4 stars. Those who love Pamela Clare's like-titled bookSurrendermight really like this book -- the first in a series of three, and Farrelly's debut novel.For me, there was a little too much grim villainy. Too many mayhem scenes.  As soon as something good would happen, it would be followed by something violent. Up-down-up-down, like a yo-yo. I could feel a pattern in the flow. Yet well done, for all that.WRITING SKILL: The writing is of decent quality. The plot is coherent, at times poignant, and the smexy times sizzle -- especially in the hot springs. The historical aspects felt authentic, too. More so than most books of this genre. However, I felt the author reveals too much. I predicted *almost* every single bad thing that happened. She needs to keep her cards a little closer to her chest, instead of revealing everything the villains are up to, as the third-person POV switched from hero to heroine to villains. But to her credit, Farrelly doesn't slow the pace and fill the pages with repetitive internal reflection. There is some of that, but not too much. Further, she portrays children fairly authentically. The ten-year-old boy is credible. Also, the dialogue includes the idiomatic expressions of the past.AUDIO: I listened to this book and also read it, switching between kindle book and audio. The narrator is Keith Tracton. See audio review at the bottom. His narration gets 3 or 4 stars, I'd say.STORY IN BRIEF, NO MAJOR SPOILERS, WITH MY COMMENTS:Set in Wyoming just after the Civil War, the story spans 1865-1867. It begins with Confederate Captain Michael Cantrell, our hero, listening to his beloved General Robert E. Lee address the troops with a "farewell to arms" speech. The author made this authentic historically, including the papers Michael carries, stating that he will never bear arms against his own country again (something like that). Michael lost his entire family and is heartbroken, so he leaves Dixie and heads west on his black steed, Jet.A year later, he happens upon Annie Devlin and her ten-year-old brother Robbie, losing ground fast under deadly attack. The siblings are alone in the world, because their schoolteacher mother died six years ago, and their horse-breeder father died one year ago. A corrupt landowner wants the Devlin ranch, but Annie stubbornly won't sell and won't cave to threats and bully tactics, so the corrupt Colonel sends out his worst thugs, including a nasty piece of work named Skinner.In the nick of time, Michael rescues Annie and Robbie,  but he gets badly wounded. Annie takes him home and nurses his wounds. This happens early in the story. At first, Michael is aloof and distant, because he doesn't ever want to feel any more loss or pain. However, the Devlins win his heart. He becomes a brother to Robbie, helping him with homework and horses, etc. Eventually, Annie and Michael become lovers and get married.SOUNDS LOVELY, RIGHT?Well, yes and no. It's a fairly grim story, with splashes of joy. Like a Pamela Clare historical romance, there is no surcease fom the wicked schemes of amoral men. All three protagonists -- even Robbie -- must repeatedly battle various vicious villains. Too many times, in my opinion. However, there are some brief joyous scenes in between the mayhem. Some laughter. Some warmhearted at-home scenes, bonding with Robbie and Annie. Some fairly humorous banter between Annie and Michael, and I loved the comaraderie between Michael and his older roommate from West Point, the local Calvary Major he calls "Chief" (and Chief calls Michael "The Brat"). Eventually, some sizzling sexy times. Then a wedding at the Fort. The reception scene was quite something! Chuckles all around! There is also a lot of "coming to terms" with past deaths, and with all the Yankee men in blue -- especially the horde at the military outpost. The author neatly portrayed Michael's sense of anxiety and unease around the Yankee regiment, and his slow adjustment to them, and inclusion back into the fold.CHARACTERIZED BY GUILT:  Michael Cantrell, only 24, was a prime cadet at West Point Academy before war broke out: top of his class, tall, strong, lethal. Dark blond hair and deep blue eyes. He was born into a prosperous and loving Virginia family that didn't approve of slavery, but did uphold states rights. During the war, he lost his entire family, especially his little brother Gavin. Michael blames himself for Gavin's death. I really dislike maudlin, self-glorifying guilt-tripping scenes -- and it seems to prevail in romance books -- but in this case, it was handled fairly realistically, and the cause was believable: Michael shouldered the blame for Gavin's death because he was the one who pulled strings to transfer Gavin to the unit that came under the heaviest fire. So, Gavin, long dead, plays a major role in this book, albeit a ghostly role. Literally. There are a handful of paranormal ghost scenes -- Gavin wants Michael to be happy. I liked the scenes with Gavin the ghost. I liked Gavin.EPILOGUE: I did NOT like the epilogue, because it was just another sex scene. Who cares? The sex scenes are well written in this book -- I could feel the heat -- but after the first time or two, I lose interest. This book had about four sex scenes. In the epilogue, I wanted to see the family settled safely, with scenes of prosperity and productivity. I wanted to see Michael doing what he was born to do -- breed horses. I wanted to see MORE of Robbie, recovering nicely from his grievous emotional and physical wounds. After all the hell these guys went through, I wanted to close the book with a satisfied feeling of healing and happiness.AUDIO: I listened to this book and also read it, switching between book and audio. The narrator is Keith Tracton. He could be superb, in terms of his ability to perform character roles. Good rendition of Annie, the heroine. Unlike some narrators, he didn't make his voice all squeaky and high pitched for her. His voice for the boy was good, too, as was his impression of the hero Michael, a Johnny Reb, even though I would rather he'd used his normal voice for Michael, with a Southern accent overlaid. His normal voice is pleasing on the ears, and has more depth, texture, and resonance than his character voice. At one point he had to sing -- a great little a cappella performance. However, when he is simply narrating, he sounds almost robotic. That is a real problem. Like a machine almost. So, narration gets 3 or 4 stars, I'd say.In the sequel,Terms of Engagement, Robbie (Dr. Robert Devlin) falls in love. In the third book,Terms of Temptation, Michael and Annie's daughter falls in love. Both sequels included Michael and Annie, according to the reviews. ToE sounds too grim for me, but I might try ToT.