Customer Reviews

Diamond In The Rough (Harlequin Romance)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

John Callister and his brother, Gil, own a ranching empire in Medicine Ridge. His brother has a wife and kids and John feels like the odd man out. He decides to expand their enterprise by purchasing a rundown ranch in Hollister. He goes under an assumed name, not wanting the locals to get wind of his financial status.

At the local feed store, he meets a Sassy Peale, an attractive young woman who carries more weight on her shoulders than one person should. When he comes to her rescue, she views him as her prince. He's attracted to her, but feels there is too much of an age difference between them.

Readers familiar with Diana Palmer, this is the typical older man - younger woman scenario. The female character is poor and wholesome to a fault. The thirty-something John Wayne style hero is rich beyond imagination and feels like falling for a nineteen year old virgin isn't right.

Yes, DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH is predictable, but sometimes I like it that way. Coming off a stressful day, it's nice to plug into something light. And at only 192 pages, I can read it all in one sitting.

I am a diehard fan. I have almost every Diana Palmer book ever written even the ones under Diana Blayne and Susan Kyle and there have been a few in recent times that haven't been up to total Diana's best, but this one was a true disappointment. I was very excited to see it being offered and had it reserved only to be very disappointed with the read. The hero John, although had some more depth that the usual cowboy could have gone so much further with a deeper story. And Sassy, again, without a strong story, just withered and died as a heroine. There was too much that was just left out, not even alluded to... just plain left out...like... the entire wedding night Diana. Her sensual writing has always been such a strong point and her western heroes so delicious but this was a real sad story. And the whole sexual predator angle could have really been a page turner but again, fell flat. And the cancer aspect....come on Diana...in today's time...do you really want us to believe that doctors would have this poor woman suffering needlessly and then it takes a master surgeon to realize that she just needed an operation to recover completely. Oh Diana. Maybe you need to get away for a little while and recharge your batteries. We miss your wonderfully written western heroes with their strong attitudes and sensual natures and their heroines with their sassiness. This wasn't it by a long shot.

Though I tire of Palmer's devotion to the virginal woman/experienced male scenario, I will often overlook it for a good story. Unfortunately, this wasn't. There was so much potential in these characters, but they ended up having no depth. I kept reading, hoping something would develop, but as I neared the end of the book, I realized it was just going to play out as predictably as I feared. Even when I know there will be a happy ending, I enjoy the misunderstandings and conflicts along the way that require resolution, the missteps and questions that require trust and forgiveness. There was no complexity, nothing you could sink your teeth into. Even the revelation to Sassy that the very identity of her hero was a lie resulted in barely a hiccup along the way. My hope for more from Sassy and John kept me reading, but in the end, I felt I had wasted my time.

This book started out great - a good detailed visual of building a cattle ranch and I was fascinated. We've got a single man (John) in his 30's who is heading up this new ranch and using his middle name as a last name so he's not instantly recognized as 'that millionaire'. When he goes into the local feed store he meets 19 year old Sassy who's being harassed by her boss and he steps in to ultimately save her.

Our hero is good natured, has a kind heart, and seems like a great boss too. The heroine is working hard to live at poverty level - supporting her dying (cancer) mother + her little (adopted) sister. She has no thoughts of herself - wanting, longing... she just takes care of her family and counts her blessings. The heroine does not grow during this story. She's just who she is start to finish, and I had a hard time believing we were talking about a 19 year old girl.

There was definitely enough plot line and detail to keep this story going, I just didn't like where it went. I'm ok with stories about innocent young virgins, but I just wasn't buying that this was an all consuming love, felt more like they made each other feel good so they decided to get hitched up.

If you want a super sweet story - this may be your ticket.

3.5 Stars

One word: Sweet

This is a new Medicine Ridge Story, featuring John Callister. The Callisters recently bought a farm in Hollister, and John came down to oversee the renovations. While in town, he meets Sassy Peale, who works at a feed store. Like most millionaires in romances, he changes his last name so he could walk around town as a normal guy. He finds himself attracted to Sassy, but didn't feel comfortable with dating someone so young. Soon, circumstances brought them together, but he still had to tell her who he really is.

This book was a pleasant, straightforward read. Diana Palmer's recent stories had heroes that acted like jerks and going out of their way to abuse, harass and embarrass their heroines. And this story, John is the total opposite. He goes all out to protect and rescue Sassy, no matter the cost. A really great guy. Our girl, Sassy, is still the typical Diana Palmer heroine. Meaning, she's still straight out of high school. In this case, nineteen (I don't know why author can't just add 2-3 more years to their ages). She takes care of her family without complaining, happy to be surrounded by her loving family and friends. The perfect girl. I liked it but didn't love it. Normally, I'm all for smooth sailing romances, but this was maybe a little too smooth, little too predictable. I wished there were more quick witted, humorous conversations or emotional conflicts that I usually enjoy in Palmer's other romances. All in all, a cute story.

This is one of my favorite books Ms Palmer has written since she got her college degree. She got back to basics and I really liked it. This almost how she used to write, no explanations of the things that happened in previous books, no preparation for upcoming books.
Way to go D P!
John Taggert(Callister) was prejudice, he thought he was better than Sassy (Cassandra) Peale because he was rich, well educated and powerful.
He saw her as a young woman too poor to be of any use to someone as high up in his own prideful esteem as he was.
Sassy treated him like he was just a plain cowboy, (which is how he thought he wanted to be treated, after having people sucking up to him so much) but it turned out that he felt he was of a different world than the poor, lowly Sassy.
Then Sassy made him feel small, in that she was thankful for all she had, even though compared to what he had, it was very little.
John started out finding Sassy being mistreated both with work, and sexually by her boss Mr Tarleton, and he didn't like it. After investigating Mr Tarleton, John leased the store and had Mr Tarleton fired.
Mr Tarleton got around his attorney by telling him lies, that Sassy had come on to him, and John was jealous, the lawyer almost got Mr Tarleton out of the jam he got himself into.
But then Sassy mom Mrs Peale, who had cancer had to be rushed to the hospital, she thought she and her little adopted sister Selene were taking their mother to the hospital to die.
Again John stepped in, he made sure she had the best of care, and because of MONEY (sad but true)she was given a operation that saved her life.
I was hoping Sassy's ran-away father had been found and whipped to within an inch of his sad life. Or at least kind of like the book Evan.
From the back of the book: 'Sassy Peale is desperate to help her family, but her meager salary doesn't stretch far. Then she meets John Callister, and she thinks her new friend is an honest-to-God cowboy-rugged and trustworthy.
But John isn't a ranch hand, he's a millionaire from one of Montana's most powerful families!
And when Sassy finds out who he really is, she's certain the arrogant millionaire is just playing with her. John has to convince Sassy that he's the man she first thought he was-a diamond in the rough.'

This story would be probably one of Ms. Palmer's best stories. I've been reading quite a few of her books now. One thing that I don't like is that there really isn't much to the heroine than there is always the hero in her writings.
All in all - I enjoyed reading this book. =)

Here we have a handsome, filthy rich man, who is kind and thoughtful and getting over a broken heart after discovering his fiance was a gold-digger. He buys a rundown ranch in a podunt town and starts pouring money into fixing it up in order to start a cattle operation. He heads to the only store in town to buy supplies and finds a young girl who is full of spirit and burdened with familial responsibility, but who possesses the heart of a saint. She is back-woods, never been kissed, and everything she says and does is done with a "blinka blinka" disposition.

Give me a break!

This was the worst pairing of a couple ever! That worldly, rich, handsome man had to go to Elk Snout to find his soul-mate in a girl who didn't even know what decent towels looked like? Didn't she work in a store?!

The whole book was ridiculous. What's with these 30-something guys always falling for teenagers? And, what's with these handsome men always falling for unbeautiful woman? In what universe does that happen?

Anyway... the handsome, rich man pays for everything the poor people need, without question and as if money grew on trees. And, of course, the poor people aren't only poor but stupid too, because they believe everything the rich man tells them as he tries to keep the fact that he's rich hidden from them.

Don't waste your time.

I'm giving Diana Palmer credit for trying on this one.

I'm a huge fan of Diana Palmer and have read her since the very early 80s. So I love the formula she works with: older alpha man, innocent younger woman. Those who keep asking for her to change that formula should probably save their breath. It's what she does and it's something many of her fans love.

In recent year, though Diana Palmer's heroes have begun to shift from tough, world-weary alphas to cruel, verbally abusive boors. And her heroines have gone from strong, sweet caring women to doormats. It was getting too much to bear and I'd even skipped a couple of her hardcovers that just looked like they were going to be too painful. I kept reading her series romances, but they were suffering the same problem. Worse, she'd started spending more time on the outside plot and other characters than her own hero and heroine. I was wondering if I'd have to give up on her completely.

With Diamond in the Rough I feel like Diana Palmer has recognized what was happening and has taken a HUGE step back. Of course, in many ways she's let the pendulum swing too far in the other direction. As one reviewer said, this book is "sweet." But after a series of too-cruel heroes and borderline stupid heroines, this book was a breath of fresh air. I don't ever want Diana Palmer to give up on her alpha heroes who mis-trust women or those heartbreaking scenes where they misjudge the heroine for one reason or another, but she'd gone way too far in my opinion and I'm thrilled to see her pull it way back.

Now that she's found her "sweet" again, she can add back a little "spice" in the next book and it will be perfect.

This book was fairly interesting. There was alot of unnecessary information, that was not pertinent to the story. Ms. Palmer has done much better work. This one was just something to put out there.