Customer Reviews

Pampas

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Raul Escobar is employed by Señor Pancho Mendoza only five years before the man died. During that time, Señor Mendoza became the father he never knew. Señor Mendoza instinctively knew that Raul did not want to discuss his past and never asked about it. Raul loved his employer dearly. When Señor Mendoza died, he left the hacienda to his housekeeper, Doña Helena. Most everything else was left to Raul, now Señor Raul Escobar. Of course this made some people furious, such as Ambassador Jeremy Whitcomb. He believed that he should have been included in Señor Mendoza's will.

Raul and Helena meet Samantha Manchester less than a week later. She is the wealthy daughter of the Manchester International Corporation owner Reginald Manchester. She is also an archeologist. What she wants most is to dig on Raul's land and is furious when he refuses her. But Helena invites Samantha to stay a few days with her in the hacienda. By doing so, Samantha and Raul will have a chance to sincerely talk. Samantha can explain WHY she wishes to dig on his land, as well as inform him of what Ambassador Whitcomb is up to.

Love slowly blooms between Raul and Samantha. However, Raul fears that his hidden past could sneak up to destroy everything.

As for Ambassador Whitcomb, Samantha and Cassie would need to teach him to be more generous and less selfish.

**** A beautiful romance story set in the heartland of Argentina. In this lovely tale, readers get two romances in one. The author has hidden a few surprises, strategically placed, to keep the story rolling along smoothly and the romance exciting. ****

Like all great books, Smith established a strong narrative voice for the characters early on so the reader could sense the tone and tint of the story line. By using fluid descriptions of the players she established excellent characterization that left room for expansion as the novel progressed. Most of all Janet Elaine Smith has a wonderful skill in establishing a subtle description of the settings intermingled with a touch of mystique. She made reading Pampas a journey into the unknown folklores and mores of Argentina and those proud inhabitants. She brought the "western" feeling of the massive pampas to light like a Louis L'Amour western. It is a great combination of a romance suspense novel and the hard life of the Gauchos by handling the culture clash of North and South America with finesse and understanding. A truly "can't put it down" read for all walks of life.

L Lee Parmeter Author

War Stories and Little White Lies

Janet Elaine Smith has a quote on her website that not only tells a very large truth it makes a statement that is as true of Pampas as if it was written expressly for it. The quote
"A great book is like a great mind; it keeps on giving
over and over and over again! "

I do not know the author of that quote; but what I do know is whoever it was would be willing to lend it to a review of her book. Pampas will keep giving over and over again ;as you will want to reread it again and again.

Pampas takes place in Argentina. What You've never been there? You won't need to travel as Smith takes you on a tour throughout the pages of this engaging book. You'll become a gaucho. You'll know what living in an Estancia is like. But more than that you will become one with the characters, Dona Helena and Raul Escobar as you uncover their secrets. Pampas is a mystery, it's an adventure, it's a peak at the lives of characters wh! o live and breathe as surely as if they are real.

Smith pulls you into her story and holds you tenderly throughout as you laugh, cry and root for her characters. I would highly recommend Pampas to anyone who appreciates a good story, a good mystery, a good laugh or a good cry. It's all there in Pampas. If I were giving Cups of coffee as Senor Mendoza would want - Smith would rate a 10 cupper with this delightful novel. I highly recommend it as an unputdownable read!

In the colorful land of Argentina, a handsome gaucho (cowboy) comes to the door of a hacienda in search of work. During the next five years he becomes like a son to the owner of the vast estancia (ranch), an aging bachelor. Raul wants nothing more from his employer than friendship, so he's astonished when - in the wake of Senor Mendoza's sudden death - he finds himself owning most of the estancia. Mendoza's long-time housekeeper, Dona Helena, is equally amazed to find herself owning the hacienda she's spent her whole adult life tending.

What in Raul's past terrifies him when, since the passing of a great landholder's property into unexpected hands is news indeed, the press shows up to cover the story? And who, really, is the beautiful and wealthy young woman who arrives at the estancia on the arm of the U.S. ambassador and wants to start an archaeological dig?

Contemporary romance in an intriguing setting. Faith woven into the story naturally. Clashing cultures put to good, plot-driving use. Janet Elaine Smith's latest book reads easily, with twists and turns that kept me turning its pages until I'd finished it in a single evening.