Customer Reviews

Carrera's Bride: Long Tall Texans

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Amazing story and great book. When i read the insert by Diana Palmer saying it was one of her favorite written stories, i figured it would be like all the rest. And although the plots dont cease to be alike, this one had something different and special.

So story is about his woman (Delia) who is getting manhandled by a man in a casino. The owner of the casino (Marcus) rescues her and they both find that they have incredible chemistry from the start. The next couple of days they are with each other and manage to form a relationship that leads to Delia getting pregnant. For certain circumstances, they are forced to be apart and while Delia saves Marcus' life, she loses her baby and he suffers amnesia and can't remember Delia.

Incredible characters. Palmer always portrays the male character as arrogant, selfish, and plain annoying. Marcus however, is great. Hes not the type to play hard to get. He instantly tells Delia how he feels and he makes no excuses. The only ones he makes are in order to protect Delia from any harm that may come as a result of his past.

Delia is also great. Shes strong and passionate. She gives everything shes got and fights for whatever she believes is hers. Shes a great character and i wish Diana would portray her females like she did with Delia.

The other characters add nice elements to the story. Everything is very much in order and it works out beautifully. I dont understand why people are saying it drags. If it would to have ended in the first 30 pages, it would have been like any other Diana Palmer story. This one went on to a more interesting twist.

Highly recommend it if you are a Diana Palmer fan. Ive read over 40 of her books and find this one to be one of the best. If youve never read Palmer, then this one is a great one to start with.

Marcus is a wonderful hero and Delia is a sweet heroine. It is true that Marcus and Delia get together very early in the book, but the following amnesia story increases the tension and suspense. I liked the amnesia twist to the story. Marcus doesn't remember anything about Delia, but he feels something for her that he can't explain. That section of the book had me biting my nails because I couldn't wait to find out what finally causes him to remember her and what his reaciton would be.

The first 30 or so pages will really get you going. There were no heated conflicts between Delia and Marcus, which could lead the reader to anticipate rough waters ahead (nothing in life is too good to be true, anyway) and expect something exciting. However, along the way the story fizzled out. The consequence of the memory loss sustained by Marcus was just not believable. The plot was good, though, it had a small twist that one could guess from the get go.

I am not going to write much, just want to say I have read about 80 of Diana Palmer's books and this is in my top 10. I have reread it many times, I just reread it because Lawman just came out and I am rereading her lastest books before I read Lawman. I enjoyed the whole book. Also I enjoy that this book has many of the characters from her other books show up to help.

And the verdict is in, he was big. Yep, that's right (and I don't mean that in a dirty way). According to nearly every page describing the hero of the story (Marcus Carrera), he is a big dude. If he's not grabbing the heroine (Delia Mason) with his "big arms" then she's watching his "big body" saunter into the room. I kid you not, this description is used in almost every single scene involving this character, and this is only the start of a list of negatives.

Okay, so maybe I got ahead of myself up there. The story goes something like this: Delia Mason is on a vacation from her hometown in Texas. During a bad blind date, one very rich Marcus Carrera comes to her rescue and sparks fly (immediately), only Marcus has a few things he's unwilling to discuss (such as his shady past).

Let's start with that blind date leading to the meeting of these two main characters. After said date and a wardrobe malfunction, Delia is rescued by Marcus (really no big spoiler here), and how does he get her to come with him after such an assault, one might ask. Well, of course! He offers to sew her dress for her! If you're balking at that or are absolutely stunned, then your reaction and my own upon reading that scene are quite similar. Delia doesn't even bat an eyelash at such an offer. She acts like the guy has just offered to open a door for her so that she can enter a store/home/etc. I mean, people must offer to sew her clothes every day, that's totally not weird (and kind of creepy), and after being assaulted and almost raped, I'm sure she has no qualms about leaving with a perfect stranger. Yep. So, she goes with him, and guess what? He fixes her dress (tiny stitches and all, which Delia gloats about with her sister), and she discovers that they both share a hobby. See, they already have something in common! He loves quilting, too!!

I have to say that while it can be okay to give the main male character an odd/different/even slightly feminine hobby...this one is just...I don't even have a word for it. Stupid comes to mind, trying too hard to make the main male character soft, trying too hard to link the weak heroine who has an annoying inferiority complex with her much older hero...Suffice it to say that I thought this addition to the story was just one more negative in a sea of negatives.

The Inferiority Complex

That's my title of this little section, as it probably deserves one. Delia is plain, her bust is not ample, she has never been the one to be called beautiful, oh, and she reminds everyone of this (including the hero) every chance she can. I began to think (after about the fifth/seventh time this occurred) that she may not actually suffer from an inferiority complex. She might just be fishing for compliments. In one instance, she was standing before some family members, throwing her arms out dramatically, and belittling herself, and even I thought she was being a terrible actress (and I have never ever thought that when reading any book). She's also a weak main character, and I admit to hating weak female characters (they annoy me to death) but there have been some books that I enjoyed despite the presence of this pet peeve. Unfortunately, Delia is dependent, seems immature for someone about 23 (? I believe this is her age...in one scene she keeps repeating the word "honest" because, you know, she's lying), and she's just...a Mary Sue. That name is like a curse word, but Delia is...Mary Sue.

For anyone who enjoys romances between older men and younger women, one is present in Carrera's Bride, though I'd have to warn any reader that it's not really a "romance-romance." It seems like lust. After only one meeting the two characters, Mary Sue (cough* Delia) and Marcus (who, fortunately isn't Gary Stu, because that would be creepy because then they could, technically, be related) are wham-bam all over each other and talking future plans and it really comes off as ridiculous. There is no build-up, no getting to know one another, no anything. This is one of those romances that runs at full speed. By their third date, Delia is practically glowing with love (cough* lust), is deceiving family members for someone she doesn't even know (yeah, she's known the guy for like two whole days, which is like an eternity - as a character I already disliked, this made me like her even less) and I shall bring up another point that only added to my dislike. Delia is (well, was, once you reach a certain page) a virgin. This is usually not something that would get on my nerves, but this book is sort of packed with clichés and this was another that only joined the sea of negatives until the sea of negatives had to be renamed the Sea of Negatives and Clichés.

And, oh, how the prose was purple...

(I think someone should make a song using that line)

Let's talk about Ray Bradbury. He loves descriptions. He wields them like razor blades, and the impact is sharp and gorgeous and stunning. Some people call his prose purple; I think of it as something close to poetry. Now, you may wonder how I could bring him up when talking about a romance novel, but I have a point to make and I'm just about to make it clear. Diana Palmer, at least, in this book, writes some awful purple prose. She has to describe EVERYTHING. From the crisp sails snapping in the wind to the big main character (and yes, she gets very repetitive) to just EVERTYTHING. I rarely notice huge, glaring, and bad examples of purple prose, but if this book were a boy it could be the poster boy for purple prose. And in this case, the writing is awful. Want an example? Even if you just said/thought "no, I don't," I'm gonna give you one anyway (of the bad, repetitive writing, that is).

Carrera's Bride by Diana Palmer (excerpt from page 27)

"He was big enough to intimidate most troublemakers, even without those threatening dark eyes that could threaten more than words."

(?!?!?!)

Points up-> my face looked something like the above when I read that horrendous sentence (and I also think my toes might have curled a little, but, don't worry, I am okay). Does that make my point, though?

And did you see that?!??!! Points up again at excerpt from book and smacks forehead. There is such a thing as a thesaurus, and big is a word that doesn't normally leave me thinking someone is handsome, etc. In fact, because the author uses the word so often, I now think of Marcus as a sumo wrestler. If you ever come across this book and read it (please don't), feel free to just picture Marcus as a sumo wrestler.

I do not recommend this book. I have read and liked other romance novels. To prove my point (to anyone who might think I hate them), I have enjoyed work by Linnea Sinclear (mostly sci-fi/romance), Julie Garwood, Judith McNaught, Susan Carroll (The Bridefinder), and others. I also read a little of everything from Harlequins and classics to graphic novels and nonfiction. But I am a picky reader and this book doesn't even reach my lowest standards. I highly recommend skipping it. While I've heard that Diana Palmer has written some great books, this just might be the first and last of hers that I will ever read.

This is up there with my Palmer favorite's. I so disagree with those who felt otherwise. Palmer dared to be different with Marcus's character. It just completely sucked me in. Loved reading about some of the other familiar characters. Just love Mr. Smith. I hope there's a book about him.

I am not sure how I feel about this book other than I don't absolutely hate it or love it.

Most of the story happens at the beginning and then just drags on. The champion quilting thing was a bit much...guess Ms. Palmer needed something to make the gangster hero seem gentle. I didn't like how Marcus didn't want kids (at least not right then) but wasn't as cautious as he should have been. After Marcus got his memory back, he showed an abundance of emtion that made the story better to me. I do wish DP would throw away her cookie cutter characters though.

Diana Palmer is a wonderful author and her Long Tall Texan Series is the very best. Carrera's Bride is a very heart warming story. When you start reading about Marcus and Delia you just cannot put it down and when you are done reading there wonderful love story and all the heartache that they went through brings tears to your eyes. This is a must read!

This is one of the worst by my favorite author!

But I will forgive Mrs. Palmer for this mistake, because I have been collecting her books for years!!!

Well, there are 250 pages of this book, but everything was done by 30th page, so Marcus and Delia met tonight for the first time, and next day everything was done, straighten up, and what was it to expect in the next 200 pages or so???!!! There are not any arrguments, disagreements, and conflicts between them. I hoped something would happen after that accident in disco club, but Marcus got amnesia, so Delia did not have any chance for any kind of revenge at all. Marcus is a criminal and gangster who quilts and saws Delia's dress,... well, well, even for Romance and even from my all time favorite author, it's a little bit too much!!!

Since I do collect Palmer's books, I did buy this one to add it to my collection, but will I ever read it again??? NO, no, no!!!But there are a lot of them that I do read over and over, so I will forgive her this one!!!

Diana Palmer's book is excellent. I love the way this author incorporates action, humor and romance. I loved it!