I first tried to read this book a year ago, but couldn't get into it and left it unfinished. Brianna was uptight and David's confidence that he was Daphne's father because she looked just like his mother despite the fact that he didn't recognize Brianna at all.I'm very glad I picked it up again. It's a very sweet story. All Catherine Anderson books are very sweet. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters. While some of the events in the book stretch the mind a bit, the "moral" of the book is family.Seeing how far Brianna goes for the sake of family really showcase her determination and the love she has for her sister and Daphne. Even David's strength to family is showcase very well. He's 99.99 percent sure Daphne isn't his kid, but he still went to see her on that 0.01 percent. So. Disappointed.First, I knew going in that I was getting a Catherine Anderson book, but it was historical, so I thought that a) maybe it was written before she lost her ability to write or b) maybe it would be better because it wasn't about her beloved Coulters. I'd read the blurb on Amazon, and decided to try it... and when I got home with the book, y'know what it said on the bottom? "A Coulter Historical Novel." Oh, gag and truss me right now.The thing about the Coulters that you have to know is that they're myriads of men who are all the exact same personality and dialogue. Every. Single. Book. It doesn't matter WHAT storyline she comes up with, the heroes are good ol' boys with a heart of gold, a stubborn streak, a bad boy charm and a penchant for swearing. Every. Single. Coulter. And each book has at least six of them in it - the Coulter clan (whether called the Paxton branch or the MacKendrick branch or WHAT the heck ever)... you get six guys, all identical, not a shred of imagination from the writer.In this version of the Coulter Crap, David Paxton (sheriff of No Name, Colorado) gets a bag full of letters that make NO dadgum sense at all. Some woman has written hundreds of letters to him, all the same (like Anderson's characters), all saying "Please come and get us." WHY did the heroine send the letters? Because her boss made her. WHY did he make her? Nobody has a clue, and it's really contrived and stOOpid. I was hoping the letter angle would be done well, with insight as to her character that would speak to him. Apparently not.So David goes to her town to get to the bottom of things, spies her little girl, and decides it's his daughter and he must've had a drunken fling with this woman, based on a BIRTHMARK - which is THE dumbest literary ploy, ever. Birthmarks are NOT so heredity that everyone in a family has the exact same shaped one in the exact same spot. This book is like being stabbed to death with a plastic knife. David won't buy Brianna's story that she'd made up a fake husband to write to, and hauls her before a drunk judge and has a mock wedding (wouldn't hold water, ANYWHERE), then hauls her off to No Name. The whole journey is painful to the Nth, with Brianna fighting him (and hurting herself) the whole way. Ever poke at a wound? That's what this book is.David finally realizes that it's NOT his kid, and by then he's head over heels with Brianna (why, we don't know - she hates him, acts like a nun, and is as obnoxious as a sprained ankle the ENTIRE book)... long, blah-blah make-up scene leading to happy, happy ending. R'something. Honestly, it was all so contrived, even withOUT the Coulter BS to pixx me off. I will further and henceforth completely AVOID *anything* with Catherine's name on it.
What do You think about Szerencsepénz (2013)?
I loved this story one of the best books I have read!
—torii
another great love story from catherine anderson.
—Pasolopi
