Customer Reviews

Forgiving

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Ok..it's as the official Amazon review says..dialogue from a b-grade movie..granted..cliched plot as "soiled dove" reforms and true love outs..also granted, but, darn it, this was a fun read! When Sarah Merritts' father dies, she travels to Deadwood, Dakota for two reasons, firstly to locate her sister Addie,who, she believes, is working as a domestic in a boarding house, and secondly, to set up a newspaper with her fathers' old printing press. She soon finds Addie who is working as a prostitute, a"soiled dove" as the local townspeople call them, and also falls foul of the local Marshall, Noah Campbell, who throws her in jail. The chemistry between Sarah and Noah is immediate but manifests itself as animosity for a few months until they sort out their feelings. Addies' old beau is summoned to town by Sarah, to whisk her away from her sordid occupation and, eventually, after a lot of misunderstandings and soul searching, harmony develops, along with the raw town which begins to become domesticated. It's not my usual genre of reading but was an enjoyable, light change and great fun, as I could visualise each scene with the appropriate actors from the 50's in the roles, and even hear Doris Days' voice singing "The Deadwood Stage".

"Forgiving" was certainly not my favorite book, but it was still an entertaining one. It tells the tale of a woman named Sarah. Sarah comes to the Dakotas to find her estranged sister and to start a newspaper in the mostly male town of Deadwood. Obviously in a town where the population of men is in the thousands, but is occupied by no more than two dozen women, Sarahs arrival creates quite a stir. Sarah is plain and unused to all of the attention, but eventually settles in and forms a friendship with the marshal of the town...the Big and Burly Noah Campbell.As time passes, their friendship turns into something more, but they face many obstacles on their road to happiness. "Forgiving" was a long book. I felt that Spencer could have shaved off a bit of its length and picked up the pace at times. I liked Sarah, but found her to be immensely frustrating. All in all, this was a good, comfortable read, but it just missed earning a spot on my keepers shelf. Either way, it is worth reading.

I enjoyed the time period and all the historical notes. Though a few times she referred to sending mail by Pony Express. The PE, only survived from 1860-1861. The story takes place in 1876.

I would've enjoyed this much more if it was shorter. Though to me Sarah was likeable, she developed into a pathetic character after Addie left her job. Her constant nagging on Addie was annoying. Did she expect her to change in one day? And her depressed way in the end, just didn't fit. Was she depressed because of what her father did to Addie? Or upset because she didn't know how to love Noah?

This one I liked, although it didn't get great reviews. This was an endearing story and the characters were warm and convincing. There were no husbands and wives cheating on each other, no spoiled teenagers to muck things up. Just hard-working people lucky enough to survive and find love.

This being one of Lavryle Spencer's earlier books it would be expected that it would not be one of the best, but this is the best book of hers that I have read. It is a story of one woman's (Sarah Merritt) courage and determination to uproot herself from her home after her father passes away. She travels across the country to a small town (Deadwood), to try and begin a new life with her runaway sister. And begin her dream of starting and running a newspaper by herself. Against all odds this strong woman came to this town and accomplished both feats and finding a love greater than any along the way. This one character (Sarah) brings to the forefront how with strengh and determination anyone can get everthing possible out of life.This story brought out very strong emotions with each new feat. Courtney Brittain (LEJN74A@Prodigy.com

This book started out with a bang. The main character, Sarah Merrit, comes to Deadwood. She defies the local law enforcement and is strong, independent, and defined. As a character, she is an individual...an actual person. But as time goes by and you are taken further and further into the romance between Sarah and Noah, something happens along the way and you lose any idea you ever had of what Sarah Meritt was. She's no longer an individual; she loses her definition. The same thing happens with Noah. As for the story of Addie/Eve, Sarah's prostitute sister, it starts off well, but declines until Addie becomes a domesticated little housewife and her prime goal in life is to make curtains. You'll find more excitement in the first two chapters of the book than you will in the last two-hundred pages. I read That Camden Summer, and after that I was eager to read more of Ms. Spencer's work, because That Camden Summer was so phenomenal. I hope that she had written other equally emotional and moving novels, but I have yet to find any

This was a great time piece book and I loved reading about the history surrounding Deadwood. I liked Sarah in the beginning, but towards the end, she lost some of her zeal. Spender did explain this, however, by describing how Sarah realizes how little she actually has. She realizes that there's more to life than running a newspaper, and I admire a woman who would give up a career to raise a family. I loved Spencer's description of the newspaper business and the historial events happening around Deadwood- although she made a historical blunder by calling Wild Bill Hickock William Butler Hickok- it's James Butler Hickok and no one seems to know where he got the nickname "Bill". Other than that one inaccuracy, the rest of the book was rather dark with the descriptive life of a prostitute and the horrible things that happended in Addie's youth. I agree with a previous comment that she is content to live a life sewing curtains- get real! Overall, the book is rather mundane and dark, but there are great moments that capture the beauty of Spencer's gifted pen!

This book started off really good. However, it seemed as though it dragged on toward the end. It was not the best book I've read by Spencer, but it was good. I like the way she made the reader feel a part of the time by being so descriptive and also by letting us know what was going on in the time and place that this story took place.

This was a great time piece book and I loved reading about the history surrounding Deadwood. I liked Sarah in the beginning, but towards the end, she lost some of her zeal. Spender did explain this, however, by describing how Sarah realizes how little she actually has. She realizes that there's more to life than running a newspaper, and I admire a woman who would give up a career to raise a family. I loved Spencer's description of the newspaper business and the historial events happening around Deadwood- although she made a historical blunder by calling Wild Bill Hickock William Butler Hickok- it's James Butler Hickok and no one seems to know where he got the nickname "Bill". Other than that one inaccuracy, the rest of the book was rather dark with the descriptive life of a prostitute and the horrible things that happended in Addie's youth. I agree with a previous comment that she is content to live a life sewing curtains- get real! Overall, the book is rather mundane and dark, but there are great moments that capture the beauty of Spencer's gifted pen!