Morning Comes Softly

I enjoyed this book so much. In a way, it reminded me of MacKenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard, one of my favorites, which I consider high praise. Western man, a rancher, a little rough around the ages, and a bit of an outsider, marries a plain, bookish woman from the South. Mary is a librarian who was considered too brainy and too plain to ever receive much attention from young men. She also dressed like an older woman, extremely conservatively. Travis is a little on the rough side, a cattle rancher who has been left to raise two nephews and a very young niece after the death of his brother and sister-in-law in an car accident. He advertises for a wife in desperation. He is afraid he is about to lose custody of his niece and nephews. Mary wants a life and answers the ad, sucked in by the prospect of being a wife and particularly a mother to the three children. Her marriage prospects are nil in her home town. She marries Travis and then the two begin to get to know each other. The road is a little rough, to say the least. I love that Mary was a strong character - at one point, Travis said that he was drawing a line that she could not cross, and Mary said that she was too - right down the middle of the bed. Heh. Travis fell in love with his Mary and she became beautiful to him. I loved how he would listen - after a bit of ranting and raving - and become a reasonable human being. Travis had his priorities right - he put his wife and the children first. This is a beautiful love story. I enjoyed the children. The author got them just right.

Travis didn't know what he would get when he advertised for a wife, but he wound up with more than he bargained for as did Mary!

The marriage of convenience trope is basically my catnip. So, of course, I loved the opening of this book even if it did push the boundaries of suspension of disbelief. The CPS plotline is silly. So, is the idea that Mary has never had suitors. It is hard to buy the idea that two grown adults living in the 1990's wouldn't be looking at background checks, nor even discussing finances or birth control before getting married. But, honestly, I did not care. Mary's loneliness was well-written as was Travis's chaos and I was rooting for them. The second half of the book is where things started to fall apart for me. Mary had a total personality change after the wedding and spent most of the book picking petty fights. Travis was horny. That was pretty much his whole personality. There was just so much lack of communication. I get it. Communication is difficult when emotions are raging, but at least seventy pages of this book could have disappeared if Mary had just calmly uttered what was apparently a wildly difficult sentence. "Hey, babe, can you tell me where you're going before you take off, so I don't worry about you?" That was it. Most of the marital problems would have disappeared with a basic request any normal woman could make. But, Mary doesn't really communicate anything and she blames Travis. I'm really not sure whether to give this three or four stars. I read it in a few days and really enjoyed the beginning. I would recommend it for a quick, comfort read.

Great book.

I can't praise this book enough! It's been a long time since I finished a book in one day, but this one was truly "Un-put-downable!"

I am not a frequent reader of Debbie's work, but they are good books when one needs a break from heavy and poignant reads which take alot out of you. I try to add in some lighter fiction with happy endings during my month of more serious reads and this selection fit the bill. Although the theme of the read has been done hundreds of times before; i.e., Mail order bride meets country boy who has suffered some form of trauma, this story did have some different nuances which made it seem like I hadn't read this them before. The characters were likeable and made me crave the beauty of Montana for sure. Give it a try as your once in awhile type of read and it will do the trick to take you away from your everyday life.

MORNING COMES SOFTLY by Debbie Macomber is a lovely marriage of convenience/ugly duckling story. Rancher Travis Thompson has suddenly become guardian to his brother’s three children, and is struggling to adjust to his new life and familial responsibilities. When quiet librarian Mary Warner responds to his desperate ad for a wife, neither of them expects to also find love. Debbie Macomber’s portrayal of this family in crisis and how their willingness to accept help ultimately changes all their lives is sweet and lovely. And seeing how Travis and Mary’s views of each other change as they get to know each other and learn to communicate and alter their initial impressions is moving and uplifting. A keeper.

A little bit of romance, mystery, sadness, reality all rapped up in a feel good story. Yes it's not a unique story it's been repeated numerous times... he needs a caregiver for his orphined neice and nephews she needs love...but it was unique in that it is modern day Mail Order Bride story with a slight mystery. Travis was moody and Mary was to nice in my opinion. The children: Jim (12) had way to much attitude he needed more attention or a good counseling session wouldn't have been a bad idea, Beth Ann was way too in tune for her age and at times you wanted to put a sock in her mouth but she was adorable and Scottie was just too grown up for 8. It was an abstract family that somehow worked because of all the issues they each had. I enjoyed Tilly and Logan's character's. He was sooooo in love with her and she was such a lost soul you wanted to get them together soooo bad. The ending was a good one but still not exactly the way I wanted it to end but all in all it worked. Enjoy

L'histoire est belle et les personnages intéressants , de plus , l'écriture en anglais est tout à fait de mon niveau , ce que j'ai beaucoup apprécié ...

An enjoyable read author always delivers.

やっぱり、次はどうなるのか気になって一気に読んでしまいました。

One of my favorite authors, so really enjoyed the book.

A good tead.