Customer Reviews

Band of Gold (Harper Monograms)

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From the back cover:

A golden trail to heartbreak and heaven...

"Take up a man's profession and there's not a man alive who will think of you as a woman!" Remembering her mother's words, young doctor Aurelia Breighton thought herself quite without charm--until she encountered virile Clay Guardian along a journey to the magnificent Klondike. As she raced to rescue her innocent sister from a scandal--armed only with her granmother's steel barrel revolver--Aurelia found the dangerous and exciting Yukon a far cry from prim Philidelphia.

Clay was eager to be Aurelia's partner on the Chilkoot Trail, because he too was in pursuit of her sister--for reasons of his own. He and Aurelia braved the meanest thirty-three miles on earth together, while they fought for a love shadowed by disbelief and distrust. His honor demanded a high price, and her heart was already deep in debt.

And my review:

This was an okay read. Not a book that would make me rush out and look for more books by this author, but still okay for a one-time read.

First off, I have to say that I liked the author's writing style. It was flowing and easy-to-read. It never felt like work. The author also refrained from annoying point-of-view switches. There was no distracting head-hopping in this book.

I also felt that the historical detail was well done. It made a vivid backdrop for the book without overshadowing the plot. Too many historical romances start to read like textbooks, rather than novels, but that didn't happen here. The historical detail was woven into the plot without distracting from it.

However, I felt that the character development on the part of the hero was sorely lacking. The reader had a really good handle on who the heroine was, but not the hero. He was just there, taking up space. I couldn't see anything all that wonderful about him. I couldn't see why the heroine should be attracted to him (and no, being drop-dead gorgeous isn't enough of a reason to be with someone!).

I also felt that there was nothing drawing them together except for sexual attraction. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a lust-soaked book or a "hop immediately into bed" story, but still, I didn't feel like there was anything else to their attraction but physical chemistry. That's just not enough for this reader. I guess part of that problem was because I never really felt like I knew who the hero was on anything more than a superficial level.

On another note, an inicident early in the book really colored my opinion of the hero for the worse. While on the boat, a bunch of men decide to amuse themselves by shooting a bunch of whales for fun. The hero pushes a young man to join in (even though the boy doesn't want to) because it'll "make him a man." When the heroine is upset, the hero justifies himself by saying that the boy needs to learn how to kill if he's going to survive on the gold rush trail.

I'm no animal rights activist or a vegetarian or anything like that (hey, I love a good steak!), but I don't believe in waste, or in the senseless killing of any living thing. I have nothing wrong with hunting animals for food, or shooting an animal that's about to attack you. But to just slaughter animals for fun and leave their bodies to rot...well, that doesn't sit right with me. I found it hard to warm up to the hero after that. If this is something that really bothers you, then you might be better off avoiding this book.

In the end, I'd have to say that this one was average. Okay to pass a few hours, but nothing outstanding.