Customer Reviews

Meggie's Remains (Five Star Expressions)

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First of all, let me begin by saying that I've never read Jane Eyre. I know, I need to get with it!! I will definitely be reading it after completing this book!

I was drawn to this book because of the cover and the title. When it came in the mail, I dove in and began reading it every chance I had. It took me awhile to get into this book, and truthfully, I almost gave up. Something kept driving me back to the pages of this story and I'm so glad that I followed through and finished this book. It is a story that you shouldn't miss!!

Meghan "Meggie" McMurphy is a young woman who has had an extremely hard life. At the age of four, she finds herself in an orphanage at the hands of a cruel head mistress. The cruelty continues when, at the tender age of 17, the head mistress sends Meggie out on a mission to deliver some important papers to one Benjamin Howard. Will Meggie ever get away from the cruel confines of her life?

Once Benjamin thinks she is dead, Meggie takes what little is left of her belongings and leaves Boston for Denver. Sadly, her life doesn't get any better and she feels the devil nipping at her heels. She meets some wonderful people along the way who show her that life can be better and things begin to look up for Meggie. She obtains a job as a teacher and enjoys her work. She also meets Ethan and instantly feels something for him. However, due to her infatuation with Edward from Jane Eyre, Ethan thinks that she is in love with another man and her troubles continue again.

What remains of Meggie throughout this book is remarkable. I was pleasantly surprised with this story and, as mentioned earlier, will find a copy of Jane Eyre and read it after reading this delightful story. I will warn those who are concerned about language and intimate scenes that there is quite a bit of both.

I hope you will give this book a chance. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

I would like to thank the author for sending me this book to read. Thanks Joanne!

The description of this book, and it's genre crossing was a little daunting to me initially, and if there's one thing this blog has done, it's made me excited to try new things. This one is touted as historical romance, paranormal, thriller, and mystery all rolled into one. So I was nervous to read it, and a touch hesitant. Do not make that mistake. I do believe Ms. Sundell has added one or two more genres to my like list. Great story!

Meggie has just stepped off the train from Boston to Denver and is ready to begin her life anew, away from the demons that have haunted her day and night for years. To begin this process, she sheds her name and becomes Rose Rochester. Finding no teaching jobs available in Denver and with very little money, she sees a post in the newspaper that a teaching position is available in Hot Sulphur Springs. After convincing the man at the newspaper she is well aware of the dangers that a new dwelling so close to the Utes can pose to a single young woman in the 1800s and still wants the job, she is granted the position.
Between the time she enters Denver and before she settles down in Hot Sulphur Springs, she meets Ethan, and the two immediately clash and yet are drawn close by something magnetic between them. Meggie avoids all contact, as scared of men as she is, and Ethan, witnessing her craziness firsthand upon first encounter willingly obliges. Yet fate has something else in store for them and they keep being thrown together.
As I said, this book was one I was unsure of when I read the description, but I am so glad I read it. I don't really know that I would agree there is a paranormal aspect to it at all, but the mystery, the plot, and romance are there in spades. The book started a bit slowly for me, but that was definitely a mental block on my end because I was hesitant about reading historical romance (the delegation of that genre always conjures up one of the Fabio covers, gross) but I am so glad I read this. The intrigue was there throughout and I couldn't wait to finish. The cover of the book is also beautiful!

"Meggie's Remains" is a superb romantic suspense novel that will capture you from the very first moment you enter Colorado Territory.

Meghan McMurphy flees Boston and her past with few belongings and her copy of "Jane Eyre". Arriving in Denver, she hopes to lose herself in the city where the nightmares might not reach her. When dashing Ethan Rourke stumbles upon Meggie on a snowy Denver street, he believes the woman must be insane. But Ethan has no idea of the life she's lived or the secret she is determined to keep hidden.

Assuming the name Rose Rochester, Meggie is hired as a teacher in an isolated mountain town in rugged Ute country. Settling in to make a life for herself--and hoping for a life simliar to that of the main characters of her beloved romance novel--Meggie knows that somehow and someway, the monstrous changeling from her nightmares will find her, killing any possibility of a life at all.

Sundell creates two multi-faceted and intriguing characters whose experiences are as different from each other's as night is to day; develops feelings between them that neither is willing to accept or act on; and comes out with a huge winner.

Meggie's story is one of pain and terror while Ethan's is a story of tragedy and loss. Battling against their growing feelings, each time that it seems Meggie and Ethan will end up together, Sundell tears them apart and keeps the reader turning the pages. And as if that isn't enough, Meggie's past is slowly creeping up to get her, and she knows it!

In addition to historical accuracy and attention to detail, Sundell's ability to create realistic characters makes "Meggie's Remains" an excellent read. You can tell that she has lived and breathed each of the characters she has created: Meggie and Ethan, their friends and associates, even the villain.

With a touch of the paranormal, this book becomes an engaging and intriguing read. Anyone who enjoys romantic suspense, a historical love story, complex characters and a book that you can't put down will want to read "Meggie's Remains".

Synopsis:

Meggie's Remains is set in 1874 in what was then known as Colorado Territory. The novel opens in Denver, which had been largely organized by and centered around gold seekers, miners, and railroads. The West was in the process of "being tamed" and while truces were being negotiated there were hints of the atrocities to follow. Colorado was still rough territory and very few women traveled there alone.

Meggie's trip came out of desperation and fear - she's clearly run away from someone and needs to stay hidden. She's suffered some sort of trauma and as she relives her nightmare, Meggie is found hallucinating on the street. Ethan Rourke comes across the disheveled and incoherent Meggie. Moved to pity, he helps her to the main hotel and quietly settles her bill. He doesn't expect to come across her again.

Nearly out of funds, Meggie takes a teaching post in a small town outside of Denver. Meggie's past experience keeps her wary of men and afraid of romance, but the welcome from her students and their families helps Meggie build a life for herself. All seems to be going well until Meggie's past catches up with her. Her possible rescuer, Ethan Rourke, is facing dangers of his own.

Review:

In Meggie's Remains, the location is a character in the novel. Joanne Sundell describes the Wild West with details and research, giving the novel a certain richness. I found the characters of Ethan Rourke and Meggie McMurphy are fleshed out and interesting, although I did not enjoy the earlier passages that depicted Meggie's point of view. Meggie's hallucinations and instability made her an unsympathetic character and it took her relocation to the small town and the revelation of her past before I began to care about her. On the whole, Meggie McMurphy is an unusual herione and Meggie's Remains is an interesting and enjoyable read. I would recommend it to people who enjoy Westerns, romances and suspense novels.

Publisher: Five Star (ME) (July 17, 2009), 299 pages.
Courtesy of Pump Up Your Book Promotion and the author.

Raised in an orphanage, abused by the matron and one of the orphanage's benefactors, Meggie believes herself to be unworthy of love. She escapes to a convent and there discovers joy in teaching. When the man who assaulted her shows up one day at the convent, Meggie flees to the west and finds a teaching position in rugged Colorado. Haunted by her past experiences, Meggie struggles to create a new life for herself, but finds love and friendship in the rugged Colorado territory. When her past meets her present, she is able to face it once and for all.

This was a slow starter for me. I actually kept setting it down with the intent of not finishing it, but I finally did. It took me awhile to really like Meggie. As you get into the story and learn the back story and Meggie's history, it finally all comes together and makes sense. But, before that history is revealed and you understand that there are true horrors in her life, the woman comes across as completely nuts. However, the effects of any abuse are far reaching, and Ethan finds himself at once drawn to her and confused by her.

The tie in to Jane Eyre works as you get into the story and understand what has happened to Meggie to make her grasp onto the fantasy of Jane and Edward, and why she can draw strength and inspiration from her beloved novel.

Some readers may want to be aware that there is a description of a rape scene which is inherent to the story line. There is also some sensuality and a mildpre-marital sex scene, although nothing overtly graphic.

An interesting, historical read and one that I am sure will resonate with many people, even if I wasn't one of them.

In 1874 twenty-five years old Meggie McMurphy flees Boston without a penny to her name, which by the way she tells everyone she is is Rose Rochester. She manages to get to Denver where businessman Ethan Rourke sees her dancing in a nightgown in the snow at night. He thinks she is a nut so he calls her "Nutmeg".

Meggie obtains work as a teacher at a nearby mountain town Hot Sulphur Springs. She keeps running into Ethan and realizes she loves him, but is unable to have a normal relationship with him due to her life in Boston. To his shock, Ethan falls in love with his Nutmeg, but thinks she loves someone named Edward. However, although he makes little progress breaking through her barriers though he sees the physical signs of abuse on her, Boston arrives in Colorado to finish what was started several years ago.

With the abuse and the Jane Eyre spin, Joann Sundell provides a fresh Reconstruction Era romance starring a woman who prays for a normal life but believes she is so damaged that is impossible. The story line is character driven by Meggie, but enhanced by a strong secondary cast especially Ethan. Although the villain coming from Boston to Colorado to finish what he started seems initially unnecessary as he holds the cards and makes the rules, but Ms. Sundell also insures he comes across as a miscreant with an obsessive compulsive disorder. Fans will root for Nutmeg to emulate her heroine.

Harriet Klausner