Review: like Sour Cream and Chive kettle chips for the creamy sweetness of the romance flavoring details of a  historical racing farm
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2013
I figured going into this story that I was going to be dissatisfied with the pacing of the romance between the heroine, Imogen, and her puca. I have bad luck with novellas in the romance genre.And I was. Things got going just a tad too quickly for my own, romantic taste. I like the drawing out of that first kiss or touch.But by the end of the book, I had forgotten my earlier unhappiness because I was caught up in the mysterious accidents at her racehorse farm, just how evil Hammersley was influencing people, and waiting to see how Imogen was going to break out of the terrible pink suits, gingerbread trim, and strict rules her mother and ex-husband had bequeathed to her.But what I especially liked, and what got this story the 5 stars, is the very practical, down-to-earth feeling of the "good people" elements. Despite the novella length, one gets a sense of Imogen desperately struggling to keep her farm, her practical work-arounds for not touching iron, and how her relationship with her mother-in-law is her one anchor in a sea of loneliness.Guaire himself keeps to the outline of the puca legends in terms of playfulness and binding promises, but manages to surprise Imogen and the reader in how he plays out those characteristics.I went into this story thinking it might be heavy on the puca aspects, but found myself reading a more historical fiction-y story (with bonus turn-of-the-century horse racing details) where the puca element just served as one way to expose how Imogen has been constrained her whole life.And it worked well. (Made me remember fondly RA MacAvoy's The Grey Horse)This Book's Snack Rating: Sour cream and chive kettle chips for the creamy sweetness of the romance flavoring details of a sturdy, historical racing farm