[.ca] The Ranger And The Redhead (ISBN 0373293739)

It Started So Good . . .:
Miss Charlotte Greenfield has to get to Oregon. She has a teaching contract. She also has a secret. Rugged Will Bondurant is her ticket. Through hostile Indian Territory, he will protect her. Over rough terrain, she will obey his authority. During the long dark nights, they will . . . well . . . In the magical world of writing, an author must maintain reading interest by using crucial strategy. In THE RANGER AND THE REDHEAD, Lynna Banning's crucial strategy is . . . simply . . . writing a very good story . . . for 178 pages. In the beginning, Banning's story is colorful, alluring, and a degree of doom flickers throughout. . . . and then . . . It is true; the difference between a 'good' book and an 'ok' book can be a matter of a few words or a poorly constructed scene. In THE RANGER AND THE REDHEAD, that scene occurred on page 178. Worse, it occurred during the BIG moment! Setting: Will and Charlotte are hot for each other; they are ripe for intimacy. * * * "She was as hungry as he was . . . "Will (Bondurant)," she murmured . . . "What is happening?" she said in a dazed voice. "Damned if I know," he said . . ." * * * (Reader: GROAN) (NO! NO!) Will Bondurant's four words are definitely NOT in character. No way would this man utter those words! Will Bondurant is an intense gunman, a killer, an experienced man. "Damned if I know" sounds like something a fourteen-year-old boy would say! Talk about 'yanked' out of a scene! And not just any scene, this was the BIG scene - the pivotal plot-point! Sadly, irreversible reading damage was done. Suddenly the dreaded 'nitpick syndrome' took over and all the remaining dialogue began to appear misplaced. Regrettably, what started as a very good book, suddenly turned into just an ok read! Grade: C+ MaryGrace Meloche.