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The Prairie Prince (2012)

by Marcia Lynn McClure(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0985280735 (ISBN13: 9780985280734)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Distractions Ink

review 1: Funniest book I have ever read. Consider that it's not meant to be a comedy when you see my rating. I did think it "amazing," but not for any reasons a serious author would find flattering.It does not involve a plot, but is rather a series of events written for the sole purpose of throwing the main female into conveniently bad situations so she can have herself a little rescuein' from the "prairie prince of her dreams." That's a good example of an actual line. The cliches are bad. Unashamedly, in your face, not even bothering to disguise the improbability of this happening bad. And it's not just the improbable situations, but the way they're written. I laughed myself to tears throughout the book because I couldn't believe what I was reading! Ah, and there's another thing! ... moreThe amount of exclamation marks in the narrative is disturbing. I lost count of how many times we were told that "he was the most handsome/wonderful man she'd ever met!" How exciting!It seems the author was so eager to put her main character in constant (read: convenient) peril that she forgot to flesh out a few things. There were many times that important details were left out, and I had to wonder... What was Pa doing after Stover threw him in the back of the wagon? Was he sleeping on command? Unconscious from the walloping? Did he fall out of the back and the kids forget about him until he walked home the next day? If Stover rides around on his stallion, rescuin' gals all the time, how do his four sisters get to town? Do they walk while he rides? Why did the author feel it necessary to explain that tying the men up meant that they were restrained, and therefore unable to escape? I felt like I was reading a children's book that was trying to act like a grown-up.Another mystery was Pa's character. In the first chapter, we're told in very decided terms that Pa is a cruel and horrible man, but other than some shouting, rude remarks at the dinner table, and the revelation that he'd whip his kids with a strap now and then (didn't all prairie men at some point?) I didn't get the sense that Katie and her brother were suffering that much from having him as a Pa. There was no real sense of terror, danger, or emotional trauma. When as a reader you're imagining much greater cruelties than the actions the narrative keeps insisting are terrible, odds are, someone's doing a bad job of making a villain.The book is short. I read the whole thing in under two hours, so I don't feel as if I've wasted too much of my life. Towards the middle of it there were scenes that had promise in being taken seriously, and probably would have been endearing if written with a little more awareness of phrasing. But there is absolutely no attempt to show rather than tell, and even less ridiculous scenarios seem absurd by the inelegant phrasing. Also, the sudden switch from narrative to dialogue can be jarring since the author writes the characters with the drawl clearly portrayed in the yer's, ya's, and sparkin's, while the narrative is relatively normal, except for the hilarious cliches. Why did I give it such a high rating? Because it was extremely enjoyable, had nothing truly explicit, and I have no problem with ridiculously fluffy stories that have predictably happy endings. I would never consider this an example of any kind of literary genius, but if you want to inspire a hearty belly laugh, give this a go.
review 2: This was a great read. It didn't have the typical drama you find in most love stories. This is romance at its best. Stover was a strong and loving character and Katie was strong without being out of character for the time period of this story. Katie was very naive about some things. When Stover tells Katie to find a way to occupy his mouth and she innocently hands him an apple....well, I thought i would die from laughter. It was truly a priceless moment. I would read this again and look forward to future stories from this author. less

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