TEST
Sometimes an author gets too ambitious. In a series romance, due to length restraints, there really is only room for a story about a developing relationship, with maybe a tiny bit of subplot thrown in. In Springwater Seasons: Savannah, Linda Lael Miller attempts the impossible – to stuff a book with fewer than 150 pages with a story about the healing of two emotionally wounded people, their budding romance, plus the continuing growth of a community. She ends up shortchanging everything in the book by trying to do too much in too short a space.
Savannah has been working in saloons since the age of sixteen and has turned herself into a self-supporting businesswoman. She ends up in Springwater as part owner of the Brimstone Saloon and discovers that her circumstances are different here – people don’t treat her the way she is used to being treated. They not only accept her but offer friendship as well. For the first time since she was sixteen, Savannah decides she wants more from life than just being a saloonkeeper.
Dr. Prescott Parrish has experienced more than any person should in his short lifetime. He served as a doctor during the Civil War, tending soldiers from both sides. He finds that Springwater is a place where he can no longer run from his memories. He has to stay there because his money has run out, and Springwater and its people seem to be just what he needs to clean up his life and start fresh. It isn’t long before Savannah and Prescott find themselves drawn together.
As I mentioned earlier, this book is less than 150 pages long. In it, both Savannah and Prescott need to come to terms with their pasts and learn to live in the present. Unfortunately, due to the short length of the book, they actually interacted less than ten times. In the end I felt I didn’t know either of them, and I certainly didn’t believe that they could have formed an attachment with so little actual time together.
What Linda Lael Miller does well in this book is demonstrate a small community working and living together. I loved the quilting bee, the house raising, and the generosity of neighbors. She obviously has great knowledge and affection for the time period, and it shows, making Springwater a lovely place to spend the afternoon. I would however, rather spend it with one of the other books in the series.
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.