REVIEW: EVE'S NEW YEAR BY SARAH CASS

Eve Ellery has been in love with her best friend for years, but an old wound keeps her from telling him how she feels. Certain she's been forever relegated to being the fat friend and naïve girl he has to protect, she jumps on a job offer three hours away. When her mother's illness worsens, Jake's there to help her, but is it just his white-knight act?

Jake Gardner has been fighting his growing attraction to his life-long friend tooth and nail. The last time he tried to bridge that gap, she cut off their friendship. He decided he'd rather have her in his life as a friend then not at all. Lately, the feelings are harder to ignore, but when she says she has a job offer that can help her out of a tight spot, he knows he has to let her go if he really loves her.

A drunken night leaves both of them thinking it's over for good.
Will Jake and Eve’s bold resolutions bring them closer together or farther apart?



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REVIEW:

 

RATING:  4 Stars

‘Eve’s New Year’ is a short, nicely written love story, involving two characters, Eve Ellery and Jake Gardner, who started a relationship in high school that they both called ‘friendship’ – because that’s what each of them thought the other one wanted.  Eve was one of the unpopular girls in Lake Point high school, and is convinced that the only reason Jake pays any attention to her was that he felt sorry for her.  But Jake no longer sees her as a shy, lonely girl who needs protection; he just believes that friendly protection is all this attractive woman will accept from him.


On top of her unpopularity, Eve had a lot of other struggles in Lake Point, mostly because her father abandoned her and her mother when she was still in high school, but she still managed to get her college degree.  His father has retired, so Jake has taken over the family business, and Eve is now his assistant in the store. She’s very good at her job, and with her help, Jake has kept the business running quite well. Then Eve gets a very tempting job offer that would require her to move several hours away, but it would pay considerably more, helping both Eve and her mother, who has Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home.  Jake is torn; he wants Eve to stay, but he still believes she only wants him as a friend, he can’t pay her any more, and so the new job could help her. Things continue to tangle up, especially when Eve’s mother’s ex-lover comes back into the picture.  So, will Eve leave Jake to take the new job?  Will they lose any chance of getting together, or will these two long-time ‘friends’ finally get past the fake wall they built between themselves?


Sarah Cass did a good job putting all this together, especially in her careful characterization of Jake and Eve, blended in with other small town events and relationships, making this an enjoyable story.  Although certain elements are predictable, what the characters do to cope are pleasantly appealing – and, in some ways, still surprising.  All told, this is a believable, interesting romance, with likeable characters and very nice settings.  I would have liked to see more of Eve with her mother, and learn more about her experiences getting her college degree, but it was still a fun book to read.  So, I give ‘Eve’s New Year’ 4 stars.

I am very grateful for the reviewer’s copy I was given.


Reviewed by: Roberta 

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REVIEW: Better She Live by Judy Baker

Ruby Thornton, the proprietor of the Silver Sage Saloon is a business woman, not a prostitute. But, because she runs a saloon, the proper folks of Silver Sage Creek treat her as such, until the wealthy Richard Webster moves into town. His reputation of being a gentleman and a lucrative railroad businessman has the entire town smitten, including Ruby.

When a cowboy named Jesse Stryker comes along working for the wealthy Webster, Ruby is torn by her conflicting emotions. His angry eyes contradict his proposition for a night of pleasure. She’s tempted. Only, she isn’t a prostitute.

Ruby’s first instincts about a person is usually right, until now. Who’s the shrewd and fiendish man, the wealthy Webster or Stryker? Caught up in a charmed life, Ruby’s backed into a corner of kidnapping and murder, putting her life and others in danger. Who can she trust?

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REVIEW:

4.5 Stars

 

Like many Western towns in the years following the Civil War, Silver Sage Creek is facing some drastic changes, brought about mostly by the explosive growth of the railroad.  Ruby Thornton’s saloon, inherited from a man who helped her rebuild her life after she was traumatically separated from her home and family back in Atlanta, is falling a little behind.  Large numbers of railroad employees, ranch hands, and other travelers are looking for services she does not provide, and has no intention of ever providing: prostitution.  So she needs to consider other attractions, like musical performances.  She also finds herself caught up in a romantic triangle, torn between wealthy, charming railroad businessman Richard Webster, and his employee, Jesse Stryker, equally appealing but more rugged, less sophisticated and just a little mysterious.

 

Ruby also has an eye for helping people in need of rescue, like she had been once.  Complicating her life just as much as her two suitors, is her growing involvement in rescuing young girls kidnapped and forced into prostitution by someone called the Railnapper.  Could one of her two beaus be this villain?  And how can she keep those she has rescued safe, not to mention surviving threats to herself?

 

There are strong elements of romance in ‘Better She Live’, but the intriguing triangle is expertly blended with the suspense involving the Railnapper, all woven nicely into a good portrayal of Western history.  Not only are Ruby, Jesse, and Richard all interesting characters, there are many wonderful secondary characters.  Details of Ruby’s past are carefully included, giving readers all the information needed to understand this story, without slowing it down.    

 

Overall, this book is very well written; the only flaw, in my opinion, is that the build-up to the final climax feels unnecessarily drawn out, even though many of the details are interesting.  I truly enjoyed reading it; in fact, I’ve already read most of it a second time, as I really like historical romances with good suspense.  Therefore, I definitely recommend Judy Baker’s book, and award it 4.5 stars.

 

I am grateful for the free reviewer’s copy that I was given. (NOTE: I also intend to read the earlier book in this series, ‘Better She Die’, and watch for when the next one is published.)

Reviewed by: Roberta 

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