Customer Reviews

A Midwife Crisis

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4 star:		(1)
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Historical Romances set east of the Mississippi River are few and far between. Ms. Cooke demonstrates in her fun and compassionate story set in the West Virginia mountains that this exclusion of American romances is a travesty. Can't wait to see more from Ms. Cooke - and more romances set on American soil.

I really enjoyed A MIDWIFE CRISIS. Lisa Cooke's writing injects just the right amount of wit, angst, and sexual tension to keep me rooting for the hero and heroine and turning the pages. Her sometimes quirky secondary characters (and mules) are endearing and the West Virginia setting is a refreshing change from Western America historicals. I look forward to reading more from this talented romance author.

Katie Napier is a midwife, a country healer whose herbal remedies are trusted by her neighbors. When her quirky family members--Grandma, Grandpa, and Pa--each produce a prospective fiance for her, Katie decides she might as well get to know each candidate and see what develops. But without even realizing it, she is losing her heart to the big-city doctor who has recently moved to the area.

Sermons on Sunday, visits to the country store and helping neighbors with a barn raising are all part of life in this quiet mountain hamlet, and it's not what Dr. John Keffer, is used to. But with Katie's help, he slowly begins to heal from tragedy and build a new life for himself and his young daughter.

I loved the way that Katie and John quietly grew closer, forging a friendship which develops into a love that allows them to bridge the differences between them. It's a satisfying romance, blended with liberal doses of humor and a charming glimpse of Appalachian life a hundred years ago.

In 1898 Wayne County, Virginia, midwife Katie Napier has a major crisis to face. Her family has decided she must be married so they have selected three viable candidates who they feel will make a proper husband. Katie feels like she suffers from battle fatigue disorder syndrome when she realizes three men claim to be her fiancé.

Dr. John Keffer left the big city and tragedy to start anew in Appalachia. Katie asks John how to gently tell the three males no and more important prevent her matchmaking family from sending three new recruits. However John has a different remedy to solving Katie's problems than she expects: marry him instead.

This is an entertaining Americana romance starring a wonderful cast of eccentric characters. The lead couple is a nice pairing, but it is her family who steal the show as Katie and the audience knows from the onset when the brood sets its mind on something it gets done. With humor, Lisa Cooke bakes a fun lighthearted historical romp as the doctor makes a house call to help the midwife with her crisis.

Harriet Klausner

This has to be the best book I've read in a long time. I laughed so much and loved all the characters in the book. What a great author!!

What drew me to pick up this story was the summary and the unusual situation of the heroine having three fiancés, but what kept me turning page after page was Lisa Cooke's easy fluidity with words and her amazing wit and humor! I never expected to be charmed, but A MIDWIFE CRISIS is an engaging read that kept me riveted to the pages, despite the title being a bit of a misnomer. Though the heroine Katie Napier certainly did deliver babies, however, she's more than that. She's the community healer, healing the little fits like coughs and fevers of the people in Wayne County, West Virginia in 1898.

Thus, when Dr. John Keffer arrived to make a new life for himself with his little daughter, he was nonplussed to discover that he didn't have any patients at all. Armed with advice from his housekeeper, he went to the general store where the locals would gather in hopes to meet some of the people, when who should arrive but Katie herself. When it seemed that the locals continue to seek Katie's help, despite his being right there in front of him, he hit upon the idea of hiring her, in hopes that people would come to his office, never mind that he was in fact, hiring the enemy...

Katie Napier is a simple woman whose grandma, grandpa and pa decided (well, the grandma really) that it's high time she marry because didn't she want young'uns? Of course, Katie did, but the trio was more of motivated by how they'd benefit from Katie's marriage. I don't know how Katie did it, but she's so patient and long-suffering, never raising her voice nor complaining (aloud) to her elders of how she'd practically took care of them in the years since her mother died with no help from any of them. Not only did she have to cook and clean, she also had to raise money to support their needs. She was saved from being a goody-goody by her sly and ironic wit, which made this story a real delight to read. So when the good doctor offered her a job, she took it, and circumstances made it that she had to spend more and more time with him and his daughter, which had her in a quandary actually because though she was attracted to him, he didn't seem to be. Aside from which, she had three fiancés.

How she came to have three fiancés was due to her grandpa, grandma and pa, who took it upon themselves to provide a suitor each for her. Plus points to Ms Cooke for creating this cast of non-stereotypical secondary characters (Katie's relatives). They provided comic relief, and they had me from disbelief to outrage on Katie's behalf to approval of their meddling ways. And here is the secret of Katie's behavior toward them: That at their core, they truly do have Katie's happiness in mind.

John Keffer, on the other hand, moves from New York to this small town to begin life anew with his small daughter, after the guilt he felt at having caused his wife's death. He needed Katie to fit in in the town that didn't remember him, but through Katie, he slowly learned the pulse of the town and how he could fit in. Being a city girl, I found it interesting to learn how towns like these work, the way they raise a barn together, had lunch box auctions to raise funds, etc and I saw these through John's and Katie's eyes. The slow pace of life that they had then is sure appealing.

I love love love Katie's and John's romantic development. It was slow and filled with glances and thoughts and seemingly accidental touches, but the scenes are written with a sensual hand that left me breathless. The fiancés provided fodder for John's moments of jealousy, which thrilled me no end, especially the scene after he bought Katie's lunch box.

Soothing, gentle and romantic, A MIDWIFE CRISIS is also filled with drama and heartbreaking loss and humiliation. My only gripe with the story is that I wished John could've stepped up more toward the end. I understood that he allowed himself to be manipulated because he believed it a matter of honor, and yet, when the obstacle was later taken away, he then leaned the other way. He had been a great hero up to that point that I wished he could've stuck to his guns and found a way out himself instead of having other people make the way for him. At the same time, I appreciate the community spirit that the townspeople showed in that scene, how they stuck their necks out to help one another.

That said, A MIDWIFE CRISIS will still worm its way into your heart with the unusual setting, unique and charming characters, and a story that will warm you and keep a smile on your face long after you've closed the book.

Reviewed by Silver
for The Romance Reviews

Lisa Cooke's A MIDWIFE CRISIS is as clever as its title. Her fish-out-of-water NY doctor hero and her skilled and determined Appalachian midwife heroine make an interesting and often humorous couple as they deal with the many obstacles in their way to their happily ever after. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

What a great book. I laughed a lot through the whole book. Lisa Cooke has a great sence of humor, but does not go over board. The Hero was not the typical rough western that I usually read, but I fell in love with him just the same. He was goodlooking, sexy and manly. I enjoyed Julia, his daughter. And I couldn't help but think of granny from the beverly hillbillies everytime grandma was pulling one of her stunts. The whole family was hilarious. I liked the fact that the H and h didn't jump in bed one the second day, yes there is a nice sex scene, two actually. But they are towards the end and well written. I do recommend this book. I enjoyed it and will read it again.

Ms Cooke has done it again with her lovely tale of love and romance in the American Heartland. In addition to clever titles - Texas Hold Him and A Midwife Crisis - Ms Cooke delivers romances that are sweet in tone without being sugary. Katie and John acted and reacted like real people and the supporting cast was just quirky enough without spilling over into cartoon characters. Though in the early part of the book I wanted to smack the heroine's family, by the end they redeemed themselves and found a way to help the heroine and hero come together. If you want a humorous, romantic read I suggest you try Ms. Cooke's A Midwife Crisis. I wouldn't have a problem recommending her books to either my 86-year-old mother, a teenager or anyone in between. I'm looking forward to whatever she comes up with next.