キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第九章 - ヘイ、黒いトイプードル マリの心臓は胸で激しく鳴っていた。彼女は母の家の玄関に向かって歩いている。隣の家から耳をつんざくような吠え声が突然爆発したとき、彼女は驚いて身を引いた。 何だとこれは?!彼女はリー
Captain's Log, Stardate 04.04.2008
Petticoat Ranch
By
Mary Connealy
From the back cover:
Sophie Edwards is doing just fine, until a strange-yet oddly familiar-man rides into her life, insisting on rescuing her and her four daughters. Can she find a way to love a headstrong mountain man? When Clay McClellan discovers his brother has been murdered, he's bent on finding the killers and seeing them properly hung. But first his Christian duty demands that he marry his sister-in-law. After all, Sophie needs someone to protect her - right? Faith and love help unruly wed newlyweds find common ground and a chance at love on the Texas frontier.
Camy here:
I have to say upfront, I normally don’t care for Western historical romances. They just don’t float my boat.
However, this Western historical romance was a lot of fun, because the female characters were awesome.
Sophie and her girls are sensible, tough, capable, skilled, and smart. They are some of the best historical romance heroines I’ve ever read. It’s so nice to read a woman who’s so independent and capable, rather than a typical mothering type.
The hero is okay, Clay’s a little too bull-headed for my taste. I also didn’t quite understand why Sophie and the girls were so careful of his feelings when he wasn’t particularly careful of theirs. However, his panicked reactions to typical female behavior is hilarious and adds a lot to the family relationship.
The storyline moves quickly and the inspirational thread is quite nice. There are a few times it gets a bit preachy for my taste, but on a whole, the characters’ relationships and issues with God are what I can relate to.
I especially liked this book because it’s one of the few humorous Western historical romances I’ve seen—the majority of them are more serious, whereas the entire way through this story, you can tell the author likes poking fun at her characters. It’s highly entertaining to have characters who don’t take themselves very seriously.
This is a great read—I finished the book in a couple sittings. I would have no qualms about giving this book to a reader as young as junior high school, because the content is clean and appropriate, and young readers would appreciate the humor as much as an adult reader.
Petticoat Ranch
By
Mary Connealy
From the back cover:
Sophie Edwards is doing just fine, until a strange-yet oddly familiar-man rides into her life, insisting on rescuing her and her four daughters. Can she find a way to love a headstrong mountain man? When Clay McClellan discovers his brother has been murdered, he's bent on finding the killers and seeing them properly hung. But first his Christian duty demands that he marry his sister-in-law. After all, Sophie needs someone to protect her - right? Faith and love help unruly wed newlyweds find common ground and a chance at love on the Texas frontier.
Camy here:
I have to say upfront, I normally don’t care for Western historical romances. They just don’t float my boat.
However, this Western historical romance was a lot of fun, because the female characters were awesome.
Sophie and her girls are sensible, tough, capable, skilled, and smart. They are some of the best historical romance heroines I’ve ever read. It’s so nice to read a woman who’s so independent and capable, rather than a typical mothering type.
The hero is okay, Clay’s a little too bull-headed for my taste. I also didn’t quite understand why Sophie and the girls were so careful of his feelings when he wasn’t particularly careful of theirs. However, his panicked reactions to typical female behavior is hilarious and adds a lot to the family relationship.
The storyline moves quickly and the inspirational thread is quite nice. There are a few times it gets a bit preachy for my taste, but on a whole, the characters’ relationships and issues with God are what I can relate to.
I especially liked this book because it’s one of the few humorous Western historical romances I’ve seen—the majority of them are more serious, whereas the entire way through this story, you can tell the author likes poking fun at her characters. It’s highly entertaining to have characters who don’t take themselves very seriously.
This is a great read—I finished the book in a couple sittings. I would have no qualms about giving this book to a reader as young as junior high school, because the content is clean and appropriate, and young readers would appreciate the humor as much as an adult reader.
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