Customer Reviews

If You Love Me

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

 

 

By the way, I didn't find this book had the same plot asHeaven Knows at all. These books couldn't be more different! This isabout the sister who was kidnapped by indians as a child. Her brothers had given up hope of ever finding her. Then an English lord who paints indian life buys this white captive when he sees her being sold by the indians. He buys her to get revenge on his father, marries her and takes her home to England, walks in on Christmas Eve with a buckskin clad wife, and stuns everyone when he leaves without her. What happens next ought to be in a movie. You've never seen a woman like this, who not only makes a My Fair Lady transformation, but takes London by storm! The hero's mother and sister are a stitch! You'll die laughing. A perfect ending to a perfect 7 book series. Wish she'd consider doing one or two more!

The heroine, Margery, was held captive for 20 yrs. of her life. During that time she has been traded through three different Indian tribes. While in the middle of another trade, Will, the hero, encounters the negotiation. He decides right then and there to purchase her and make her his bride for the purpose of getting back at his dad. Margery, unaware of the true purpose of his "heroic" act, looks at Will as her savior.

When they arrive at Will's family home on Christmas Eve, he and his father exchange angry words and he leaves Margery. In that moment she realizes his true purpose for marrying her. Broken hearted, abandoned and betrayed, she hardens her heart and with the help of her mother-in-law she no longer is the "little savage" Will deemed her to be. Margery is accepted by the ton and learns to be independent.

All the while, Will is in America with his dying friend pining away for Margery. After two yrs Will returns home to find his shy and submissive wife is no longer so. However he prefers the new headstrong Margery than the meek and biddable Margery. After a couple rounds of battle of the wills, they finally come together.

This book is part of a series, but the only one I read. It can be read as a stand alone. It was a great read, but my only complaint was the battle of wills was too brief. After two yrs being away, I felt, Will should have fought harder and longer to win his wife back. And I know I know, his physical ailment is the reason it brought them together sooner than it would have otherwise, but I felt he owed her more than, what was it, two weeks of trying to win her over? The author could've added a couple more pages with him on his knees... ^_^

The ending was quite lovely and was the perfect ending to the series. Even though I didn't read the other books, it just seemed to fit.

Helen Holzer, THE ATLANTA JOURNALROMANCE REVIEWS: Simply the best book I've read in a year. Elaine Coffman touches the heart while making her readers laugh and cry as she tells the story of Margery MacKinnon, a woman who's just been purchased at an Indian auction by a London lord. Having survived 21 years as a captive in the Wild West, Margery is transported to England, only to be dropped off at the doorstep of her new master's family. And for the second time in her life she must adapt to rvive ---this time overcoming the snobbery of the British aristocracy.

The last book in the MacKinnon series, this book has everything is everything a romance should be--laughter, tears and a great ending

It is an very touching story and an enjoyable read. As the reader I felt for the characters. It is truly a "My Fair Lady" version but the setting is early American to England. William Woodville is escaping from his father's strong and family title hold by going to American to discover America's wilderness on a canvas through paint. He and his friends come upon indians trading a white woman, Margery Mackinnon, that has been raised by indians as a slave. Feeling for her he trades for her- only to be used by him. He marries her and takes her back to England humiliate his father and show his father that only he controls his destiny. Deserting he and going to back America, he realizes that he has love for her and slowly makes his way back to England to claim her heart which takes a couple of years to accomplish- only to find her transformed into a beautiful, well trained, lady with a surprise (or make that 2 surprises) of her own for him. I say read it for yourself, but it's not a keeper.

I tried to read this book but there were things that bothered me like the fact that the heroine, Margery learned English from a catholic priest while she was a slave in three different Indian tribes. Really? Are you kidding me? So these Indians in the 18th century was all christians right? How convenient. I mean she was kidnapped at six and was a slave for 22 years and yet her thoughts and demeanor were that of a civilized woman no different from any other romance heroine. This book was rediculous from the beginning. I read "Ride the Wind" the story of Cynthia Ann Parker and the contrast between the reality of a kidnapped white child and this Margery person was completely incomparible. Also, the hero was nothing to write home about. Honestly, other than the fact that he was angry at his father, you really don't get a sense of him at all. At least for as far as I got in the book. Ms. Coffman really didn't give much of a description in the first 50 pages which is all I will give a book to capture my attention. What we do get in this story is that the hero is the slender artistic dreamer type. He paints. In the early american west. This skinny english lord who paints among the cowboys and indians. Ok. Whatever. Personally I prefer the big tough alpha heros like Tor MacLeod.in "The Chief" or at least the super intelligent witty heros who exude charm and charisma like Ian Thornton in "Almost Heaven. Another thing that bothered me was that he turned his back on his English life but yet he cared enough about his title to go back. However, the thing that bothered me the most was the way he just saw this unrealistic slave and married her. It just seemed so made up to me. It was really kind of dumb. I gave up after they got married. I didn't even make it to the part where he brought her to England. I feel bad because I purchased the book based on the editorial and customer's reviews and really wanted to give it a chance. Can someone please give me a reason to pick this book up again and give it another go?

The plot of "If You Love Me" is basically the same as that of Ms. Coffman's earlier novel "Heaven Knows". Although I highly recommend "Heaven Knows", I find "If You Love Me" incredibly disappointing. In "Heaven Knows", Coffman explores in great depth the profound love that the heroin, Elizabeth, has for the hero, Tavis, and the resulting pain over Tavis' betrayal. In "If You Love Me", however, Coffman barely scrapes the surface of the relationship between Margery and William. For this reason, William's abandonment is much less realistic, much more painless, and much less heartfelt. In addition, the characters in "If You Love Me" remain utterly undeveloped. Read "Heaven Knows"; skip "If You Love Me".