Customer Reviews

My Enemy, My Love

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

 

 

I really wanted to like this book, I truly did, but there were a couple things that truly grated on my nerves.

First off, let me say that I had been looking for this book for a few years now. I had read a short blurb of the opening chapter in another historical romance book and for the longest time I couldn't remember the title of this book. All I remembered was the opening scene of the hero and heroine meeting for the first time in the barn of the heroine's Aunt and Uncle's home in Tennessee. That scene was very memorable and so I had high hopes for this book and once I found it at a local used bookstore I was very excited. This book is set in 1860s Tennessee and Texas. Mourning Howard meets her stepbrother Clint Kincaid who is to take her to Texas to be with her mother, who married Clint's father a few years before. They are at odds from the very beginning and this pretty much sums up their entire relationship.

Well, what did I find wrong with this book? For starters, the heroine, Mourning Howard, was just clueless and annoying. Oh, I have no problem with the young, innocent heroine who is naive but she just came across as dumb every time she was with the hero, Clint Kincaid. She would be speechless with fear or awe (although she was portrayed as feisty and stubborn, it didn't show when she was with the hero. It was obvious who had the upper hand and it wasn't Mourning). I think the author tried to make up for her melting in the hero's presence by making her so fiery, but it wasn't effective. It just made the heroine come across as over-the-top, and a clumsy and awkward walking disaster!

The personality of the hero also didn't make much sense. The author described him as being a hard and dangerous man, skirting death and others viewing him as a reckless man when it came to his own well-being. Okay, that would be easy to see and understand in a strong or alpha hero, but in Clint's case it didn't work because there was no description of his past or current life to give credence to that depiction of Clint. The author doesn't delve into any of his past history to shed light on what has caused him to be so hard and why he is so wary of women and not giving in to commitment and love. He had a troubling beginning the first 6 years of his life, but I felt that wasn't an adequate enough explanation about how he could be the way he is 22 years later as a man. Yes, he was a Texan and during the history this book is set, in the 1800s, it was a hard land but again, you aren't privy to any of the events in his past life. It would have been helpful to have seen something that shaped why he is the way he is. Why he is such a loner and not trusting of women except for a one night stand.

Not only were the hero and heroine not believable, but I couldn't believe they fell in love. In Mourning's case I can see how a young and sheltered girl would fall for a man like Clint. He is smooth and seduces her every time he is with her. In Clint's case, it wasn't as easy to understand or see. No where during their time together did Clint profess love to her, he doesn't do anything but bait her, tease her, get angry at her, or walk all over her.

But what I really disliked about this book was the gaps in the time-line of the story. What I mean by that is one part (the book is divided into "parts") ends on a chapter with Mourning and Clint together. The next chapter is a *year* later and Mourning is all alone and Clint not in the picture and I thought to myself, "What the heck happened during the intervening time!?!".

The author tells what happened in a "flashback", Mourning's flashback, and this is where the reader learns Clint had left her, and went to war, and also where we learn she is pregnant with his child. If that isn't frustrating enough, the author does it again where 4 years pass, and Clint has finally returned to find Mourning is caring for his children. Yep, you guessed it, Clint has come back to declare his love for Mourning, after leaving her without a word over 4 years previously.

I felt this book could have had potential, but sadly the story didn't work because of the hero and heroine. Plus, it is very jarring for a reader to not know what the heck is going on because the timeline jumps from present to future from literally one page to the next. In my opinion, it was a disaster for the author to format the story in this way, glossing over important details or not mentioning them at all, and leaves the reader bewildered and wondering what has happened.

I couldn't agree more with the other comments. This book is truly one of the best romances, even novels, out there. I too would love to see Cad and Anna's story, or that of Mourning's daughter. I have never given this book to anyone who didn't love it!

I read this book more than 10 years ago and I am still in love with it! There have been many history/romance novels I have read since then. However, none of them have compared to the way this book touched my heart. I encourage all you history/romance fanatics to read this. You won't regret it!!!

I can't even begin to describe how much I love this book! I first read it nine years ago and I honestly did not put it down until I finished it. I have been a huge fan of Ms. Coffman's ever since. Mourning and Clint are my favorite historical romance couple ever. I LOVE THIS BOOK !!!!

This book was the most dramatic, stupid, unappealing piece of...garbage! The whole dumb blond thing is NOT romantic. There was nothing even happy about this story. The first part is the beginning of what sounds like the dumbest coupling in the world. The next part is written like we're watching some stupid teenage drama where the characters think back and cry and deny and act so immature. Once again, we're brought to a part that's more like a movie of two past lovers who broke things off but now see each other again and want to be with each other but don't want to appear vulnerable and "weak" if the other doesn't feel the same way. Really, these two were like middle-schoolers. She was so air-headed, and we don't even know enough about his past to decide if his attitude was understood or not, so he comes off as an arrogant, shallow jerk. And the sex scenes? They go down in history as some of the worst I've ever read. They're right up there with Nan Ryan's angry sex scenes.

There is so much potential in this book that I was so excited to read it. I was a little put off by how small the print was and it's length only because I wondered how long it would take to tell a story. I read 800 page books that is nothing, but in this case this story was far too long in telling. I could not stand the fact that the author could not describe how someone was feeling without using an old adage. "She was happier than a fox in a hen house." "He was madder than a cat with his tail caught." I just got so tired of it. Next was Mourning herself, she was not an extremely likable heroine. She was obstinate when it didn't call for it and when she should have stood her ground she wilted. The tediously long scenes were not effective in relating their developing love for each other and the love scenes were more about talking than loving. More often than not, I just skipped the love scenes all together. The worst offense of this book was the fact that the author felt it absolutely necessary to spend pages describing scenery and other irrelevant things, thus contributing to the length of the book, but absolutely nothing to the story. All in all, it was dull and I finished it on principle alone. What should have taken me no more than a day and a half, took me a week to read.

My Enemy, My Love
This is the book that started it all! I read this book as a fluke, only intending to aleviate a long camping trip. I have now read this book three times and am addicted to historical romances! I have read 10 in two months, but nothing compares to this book. The characters are so well rounded. I identified with the "bickering, love/hate" banter that is so well written. I loved everything about this book. It even inspired some improvements in my own 13 year marriage. I have read 3 more of Ms. Coffman's books and find her writting to appeal to me specifically as a southern woman. She goes to so much detail in describing the making of lye soap, shoat's head, ect... that you think she must have lived it.

I have never forgotten this book.I read for the first time about 5 years ago and fell instantly in love with Clint and Mourning.The attraction and the conflicts were very memorable to me.Now I wish I had never loaned my copy to a friend who moved away and never returned my book.

This was the best book I ever read. It touched my heart and I fell in love with the charcters If you haven't read it yet do. Clint and Mourning will stay with you forever I only wish it were still in print.

I agree with all of the other reviews, this was the best book I ever read! The characters are wonderful and Elaine Coffman is a fabulous writer! I read this book over 9 years ago and have read it over a dozen times since then!! Read it and you will fall in love!!