Review: Mush! Mush!
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2012
Emma is hired as Ben's typewriter girl in 1889. She shows up at his house, they have several exchanges where they trade guarded contempt, and yet within a couple of days they are smoldering with passion for each other.Oh, dear. Turns out Emma ran away from an engagement to a stuffy British lord. And Ben had his heart broken (and his right hand shot through) in the Yukon. We are subjected to pages and long paragraphs of confused inner thought bemoaning their complicated plight.Interspersed with this are wooden "journal" passages from Ben's time in the Yukon (the reason he needs a typewriter girl). These are about as exciting as a 5th grader's forced summer diary.If the maudlin ramblings of cardboard characters float your boat, this may be the book for you. I've read a few historical romances that I've enjoyed. I was intrigued by the mention of adventures in the Yukon during the Gold Rush, and hooked by the gorgeous cover. Oh, and it was free. But a great cover doesn't make up for meandering, sophomoric writing about irritating people. The author doesn't show the reader what these people are like, she simply tells us. In spite of relentless stage direction (she moved her hand to the right and looked up at him, he stepped forward, waited a moment, and then ducked his head while he reached for her... that sort of thing), the author fails to paint a picture. She fails the POV test, too. Rampant head-hopping is a sure sign of a writer who hasn't bothered to learn the craft.I pushed on through this cold wasteland as long as I could, but gave up at 35%. The blurb promises nothing more than the formulaic lovers-pointlessly-torn-apart-must-overcome-(contrived)obstacles. This is a mine long ago worked out. I'm moving on to a new claim.Edited to add: Months after writing this review, I noticed the "gorgeous cover" I mentioned has been changed to a "Me Tarzan, you Jane" disaster that would have made me run the other direction instead of trying this book. At least the cover now matches the content. If the cover turns you off, the book is sure to.