Customer Reviews

Fair Game

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just finished Fair Game and what a wonderful story filled with some interesting characters. The story centers around Jana and Grant. Both grew up together. Grant came from a stable, loving family while Jana grew up in a sad, disfunctional family. She became wild and married a wild school mate. Had two beautiful children. Now widowed she comes back home to pursue her dream of researching wildlife while caring for sick ones. She plans to ask her grandfather for some of his property to put this wildlife sactuary.

Enter Grant Gonzales. He has returned home after a bad business experience and has talked Jana grandfather into selling him the land for a hunting camp.

Sparks fly between these two. They have a strong attraction but are so different in their views concerning wildlife.

Their relationship becomes strained but because they are believers they try to handle it in a Godly way. Her children fall in love with Grant and he falls in love with them too.

The story is filled with zippy dialog, great characters and kept me turning page after page to find out how it all comes out. You feel like you know the families when you get done with the story.

I highly recommend this book if you like a light read with fun characters but a very real message. Great job Elizabeth!

Looking forward to "Off the Record".

What do you get when you cross an vegetarian animal conservationist with a bow and arrow toting hunter? Fair Game!

Widow Jana Cutrere is heading back to her hometown of Vancleave, Mississipi with her two young children hoping to inherit her grandfather's property and open a wildlife rescue centre. She brings with her a lifetime of regrets but a new faith which gives her hope for the future.

Grant Gonzales has finally convinced Alvin Goff to sell his prime land so he can realise his dream of a hunting reserve and leave the city rat race behind. He didn't count on rescuing a woman, her two kids and an injured deer from the woods nor did he anticipate that it would be Cupid's arrow flying straight for his heart!

Elizabeth White has penned another engaging romance brimming with humour, unique characters and just the right amount of attraction and tension between Jana and Grant. Their differences of opinion are well fleshed out and the moments of conflict are authentic and not trivialised.

Elizabeth has brought back some of my favourite characters of all time, Tommy Lucas and Carrie Gonzales from her novella, The Trouble with Tommy in Sweet Delights . Tommy, Carrie and other quirky secondary characters add depth and spiritedness to the story. While this is a delightful romance, Elizabeth adds extra substance to the story with Jana dealing with the fallout from her wild youth and her own insecurities while Grant contemplates his approach to the animal species of God's creation.

This book is a keeper and leaves me highly anticipating Elizabeth's next novel, Off The Record, releasing August, 2007.

Okay, so what's a 'red light read'? This book is so fantastic, I took it along on my errands. Didn't mind the line at the DMV, nor the 45-minute wait to see my doctor. When driving home, I didn't pray for traveling mercies, but for every traffic signal at every intersection to turn red so I could read a few more lines. THAT'S a red light book.

Folks, this one's a winner. The perfect balance of faith and fun. Not preachy. Ms. White weaves in Christian beliefs with skill and finesse. The characters have depth and the story shows both sides of a sensitive issue without either overpowering the other. You can feel for both Jana (the wildlife rescue vet), and Grant (the champion hunter). Real conflict solved by each character giving a little, not sacrificing all of their beliefs for one another.

As a literary agent (no, not Ms. White's) reading is my business. I read pages and pages and pages, and it ain't always fun! So it's a pleasure to pick up a book I don't HAVE to read, and love it so much I wished it were longer. 'Fair Game' is the first book of Ms. White's I've read, but it won't be the last.

Snaps to you, Ms. White. If you're ever in the market for a new literary agent, I'm available!

Once again Elizabeth White has written a "can't put it down, till I'm
through" book. If you enjoyed her novelettes about the Gonzales
family you will be glad to know that several of the characters are
written into the pages of Fair Game.

Grant Gonzales is an avid hunter who meets Jana Cutrere, a
veterinarian who wants to start a wildlife rescue on her grandfather's
land. The same land that Grant Gonzales wants to buy for a hunting
camp. White's sense of humor shines through in this book. I really
enjoyed the chapter about the fishing boat incident. It brought back
funny memories of when my uncle took me water skiing with his boat.
She also has the ability to weave a story about how two people are
trying to seek God's will for their lives. If you loved reading
White's other books you won't want to miss this one, and if you've
never read anything by her before this is the book to pick up.

Elizabeth White's, Fair Game, is an entertaining journey between two people, who are new in their faith and in direct conflict over 1,000 acres of land.

A young widow, Jana Cutrere, returns home to make a new start for her family. After a bad marriage, the death of her husband, graduating from vet school, and raising two small children, Jana is ready to pursue her dream, opening a wildlife rescue center on a thousand acres owned by her grandfather. Things immediately happen on the day she arrives, starting with coming face-to-face with her high school crush, Grant Gonzales

Grant Gonzales has also returned home leaving the corporate world and a bad business partnership. His intentions - buy the land owned by Jana's grandfather and open a hunting reserve and he has the investor backing. But being with Jana and her children has him longing for other things.

Fair Game is an enjoyable read about Jana and Grant, two souls in direct conflict with their idea on how a thousand acres of land should be used. I found White's characters well developed and instantly recognizable and the reader will connect with each one. Her ability to work family values into the story is flawless. I found the book hard to put down. If you are looking for a good read on a lazy afternoon or standing in line at the store, I highly recommend Fair Game.

Jana Cutrere's plans are clear cut. Return home to Vancleave, Mississippi. Obtain property from her grandfather to start a wildlife rescue center. Make a fresh start and a better life for herself and her two children, Ty and LeeLee.

Grant Gonzalez, having recently abandoned the corporate circus, has also come home to Vancleave - with the sole purpose of starting a hunting camp. The property he has earmarked for his dream is none other than that Jana wants for her wildlife center. But good old Grandpa's taking his own sweet time making a decision. Will the old man carry through with his half-promise to sell the land to Grant, or deed it to his widowed granddaughter, though he has no sympathy for her purpose?

While the adults hurry up and wait, the kids fall in love with Grant, even as they wrap him around their little fingers. Jana's own wounded heart shows unsettling signs of response, but she firmly quells its silly stirrings. How can a relationship between her and Grant ever work? He hunts and kills the animals she loves and feels morally bound to protect. Besides, the two of them are vying for Grandpa's property with wildly opposite goals in mind.

The only thing they seem to have in common is their allegiance to God - and even in that arena, they both have lessons to learn. Will they trust Him enough to let Him work things out for them? Or will rampant emotions and stubborn wills destroy their chance at love?

Fair Game is a frolicking adventure through a down-home paradise of sometimes friendly, sometimes feuding folks and furry friends. From crotchety old Grandpa to adorable little LeeLee, the characters live and breathe. This is masterful storytelling that readers won't soon forget - nor will they wish to. Elizabeth White's aim is unerring - she definitely hit the bull's-eye with this one!

Jana has returned to her hometown with her two young children after trying to find a new start in life. She has dreams about opening an animal conservatory on the land her grandfather owns. Meanwhile Grant is also eying that same piece of land to use as a hunting reserve. The two clash over the way the land should be used, but added tension is thrown in because Grant was Jana's high school crush! Add some kittens, fawns, runaway fishing boats and flash floods and you got yourself a story about trying to figure out how to find common ground with someone you care about.

This was a really great book. It was fun to read about how opposite viewpoints clash. I love how the opening of the book is Jana hitting a cow. It's a funny, grab your attention opening and, for me at least, familiar since I went to a college where cow tipping was the norm. I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian, but I tended to share Jana's viewpoints on animal treatment in this book. I'm all for eating meat but I hate the thought of shooting animals just for sport. Luckily the storyline doesn't take a one sided approach to the issue and shows the pros and cons from both Jana's and Grant's views. I also did like how the two were able to compromise and Jana was not portrayed as the type of character that gave up all her beliefs just to get the guy. All of the characters weremulti -dimensional and I enjoyed meeting all the members of both Jana's and Grant's families. They certainly added a lot of spunk to the story, especially Jana's children. I kind of wish there was more back story about her ex-husband, it doesn't seem that we know his complete story or what really happened to him. Other than that small hiccup, I really enjoyed reading this book. I learned a lot about animals too during this book, so it was a learning experience as well as a fun read. This was my first Elizabeth White book, and I have definitely now become a fan!

Fair Game is a charming, well-written story of two people dealing with the ups and downs of small town life, past hurts, and uncertain futures. Elizabeth White breathes life into a cast of likeable, quirky characters. The enjoyable escape was hard to put down, while reiterating the importance of seeking God's face in all we do.

This is a joyride you won't want to miss.

I read Elizabeth White's Fair Game in one sitting. This is a well written, funny book full of characters you'll love, characters who are far from one-dimensional, characters with enough flaws and foibles to endear them to the reader. They all spring to life in settings that I could almost feel and smell - the woods of the deep south near the coast, a veterinary clinic, a small town feed store that took me right back to my growing up years. Elizabeth does an excellent job of weaving in Grant's and Jana's desire to please God and their all-too-human struggles to figure out the best way to do that, and she does it without being preachy.

You will enjoy this book!

Did you ever come across a book you would have liked to have loved but you just couldn't? One that you picked up again and again, each time determined that this time you would find the gem within? That's how I feel about Fair Game by Elizabeth White. I chose to read this book because of the overwhelming amount of good press it has generated. Unfortunately once I started to read it I had trouble continuing to read it. It isn't that the story line isn't good (it is) or that it doesn't move along fast enough (it does) or that the characters aren't fully developed (they are); for me the trouble with Fair Game is that the writing isn't up to par. The author has a good command of the language for sure but at times the writing feels forced; at other times, the dialogue almost feels like that that would be exchanged between teenagers (rather than the mature dialogue of two adults). As I slowly worked my way through this book, I was struck by the amount of references to prayer, the amount of time spent on the Gospel and I wanted to love it all over again but alas, due to the style of writing Mrs. White chose to use, my desire was in vain.

There are those who can read this book and love it; sorry to say, I'm not one of them.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Zondervan for purposes of review. I was not required to give a positive review, only a fair and honest one. My opinions are my own.