Customer Reviews

Remember Me: A Rosewood Novel (The Rosewood Trilogy)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On the Rosewood Virginia horse farm, the eighteen year old daughter of the owner Margot Radcliffe decides to make love with the man of her dreams, employee Travis Maher. Although he wants her he rejects Princess Margot. She leaves for New York humiliated and becomes a successful supermodel.

Eight years later, irate family patriarch RJ accuses his horse trainer Travis of cheating with his wife Nicole, which Maher denies, but is fired anyway. Soon afterward RJ and Nicole die in a plane crash. The three offspring are stunned as married Jordan, teen Jade, and Margot must decide what to do. Margot realizes the only hope to save the nearly bankrupt Rosewood is with the man who rejected her when she threw herself at him.

Believe Me (Jordon's upcoming tale) that the first Rosewood Trilogy is a terrific horse farm romance starring two strong lead characters supported by a solid cast to include steeds. Readers will empathize with Margot who still loves Travis; but root for him as he wanted her back then, never moved passed desiring her, and still needs her, but to this day feels he did the right thing for both of them when he rejected her. Fans will enjoy this fine tale as Laura Moore proves Virginia is for lovers.

Harriet Klausner

Margot's heart was broken at the tender age of 18 by hunky horse trainer Travis and now she finds herself returning home eight years later and asking Travis for help. Margot swallows her pride in order to do this and while Travis had his reasons for pushing her away at the end of the day Margot is still hurting from his rejection.

Right now Margot has to concentrate on trying to save her family's ranch, to manage her rebellious teenage sister and make sure everyone is taken care of making her feelings for Travis the last thought on her mind or is it every thought. Can Margot and Travis overcome all their old baggage and give their love a chance?

What a delight to stumble across this book and get drawn into the world of the rambunctious and loving Radcliffe sisters. Set amidst the backdrop of the horse breeding world, this is a story you will not want to put down and will only because you have to. The relationships between the sisters is so real, and I should know since I have 6 sisters! The passion and longing between Margot and Travis is so riveting that I set an entire day aside to make sure I could keep reading. Then to make things even more wonderful we get an amazing teaser for Jordan's story the next book. Can't wait for that!

I've waited so long for another book by Laura Moore, whose writing is such an absolute pleasure to read. Her latest, Book One in a new trilogy, is written with exceptional care shown to language and detail, as well as to plot and character. Her books weave passion onto the pages. She is a marvelous writer!

Set in two different milieus of high fashion modeling and Virginia horse farming, the backgrounds are realistically defined and presented. Two smart and wonderfully well-developed main characters share a myriad of emotions. They are supported by an equally interesting and well-drawn secondary cast. "Remember Me" is a remarkable story of love almost destroyed by a long history of misunderstandings and self-doubting. As a reader, I could feel the emotions of hurt, mistrust and love. Plenty of steamy romance and fun is included, as well.

I didn't want this book to end - thoroughly divine read - from beginning to ending! As with each of her previous books, Laura Moore did not disappoint. Anxiously looking forward to Book Two in The Rosewood Trilogy".

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I enjoyed the setting of the horse breeding world, but the plot and sources of conflict were frustrating. I was angry while reading it and still angry at the end. Travis and Margot lie to each other throughout the book. These lies cause the other to be hurt, angry, and frustrated. Margot's main motivation for lying to Travis is that she doesn't want him to leave the farm. Later they have a fight, and he's going to leave. Now she no longer has her motive for lying. So does she admit she's been lying? No, she lets him leave thinking all the wrong things. I also disagreed with Travis' motivations. He didn't need to lie to Margot and her father. These were just excuses for more conflict. He also took some negative actions because he incorrectly assumed Margot had a relationship with another man, which was not true. He didn't ask her about it so she could clear it up, he just assumed. The main conflicts revolved around my pet peeve: vague communication and inaccurate assumptions about each other. Great storytelling doesn't need to use this. Conflicts are so much better when based on outside events happening or actions of other characters based on "reasonable or interesting motivations." Aside from the above, the author has a good writing style. She just needed someone to fix her plot/conflict outline before she started writing.

ON THE SUBJECT OF LYING:
Sometimes lying makes a good story. For example, guy and girl just met. Guy likes her. Girl calls an agency to hire an escort for the evening. Guy is not an escort, but he shows up and tells her he is. That kind of lying is ok and can be fun. What is not ok is when the couple has secretly liked each other for a long time. The girl makes the first move, and the guy lies saying "I'm not interested. You're not my type." She feels humiliated and rejected. His motivation is she's the boss' daughter and he doesn't want to lose his job. Since he secretly loves her (which means he shouldn't want to hurt her feelings) he should tell her "why" they can't be together - not reject her in a way that hurts. He did not act in accordance with his own feelings and motivations. This is the cheap way to create conflict. It's not good storytelling.

STORY BRIEF:
Wealthy RJ owns a horse breeding and training farm. His daughter Margot has been attracted to Travis for years. Travis works for RJ as a horse trainer. At age 18, she tells Travis her feelings. He lies and says (page 18) (shaking his head as if enjoying a good joke) "Sorry, but no dice, Margot. Screwing a spoiled princess just isn't my idea of a turn-on. You see, I'm only interested in real women. I don't do pity." Her father also says some things to hurt Margot, so she runs away to become an internationally famous model. Eight years later her father dies, and Margot returns to the farm. There is no money from the estate. To avoid selling the farm, Margot continues modeling to earn money to support the farm. She hires Travis to run the farm but doesn't tell him of the money problems. A second story involves Jade, Margot's stepsister. Margot becomes Jade's guardian. Jade is difficult to get along with and has difficulties at school.

DATA:
Story length: 391 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious words. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 4. Total number of sex scene pages: around 9. Setting: current day mostly Virginia. Copyright: 2010. Genre: contemporary romance.

I came across this author at a book signing, and I'm so glad I did! I love any story that takes place in the horse world, and I fell head over heels in love with both the hero & heroine, plus most of the secondary characters. So well-written and vivid...sigh. I've already read Believe In Me, the second book in this series, and can't wait to read the third!

In a series of books, would like to see "Book 1", etc. on the cover that way you can start with the first book and know the people instead of getting the second book and wondering how something started.

Margot Radcliffe has been in love with Travis Maher since she was a teenager, following him around as he cared for her father's horses on their farm. Travis was twenty-four and Margot just eighteen when she let him know exactly how she felt about him. Travis turned her down though, so Margot left to embark on a modeling career to get away. Eight years later, Margot has made a very successful career as a model. When tragedy strikes at home, Margot leaves the runways in Milan to help her sisters Jordan and Jade as they face the loss of their parents. She'll have to face Travis too.

Margot's fumbling attempt to seduce Travis in the beginning of Remember Me is both endearing and heart-wrenching. Her feelings of anticipation and then embarrassment for her unrequited love are tangible. Travis broke my heart when he rejected Margot. When it's Travis' turn to do the seducing, he has more success. He's a pretty irresistible cowboy. Jade, Jordan, and Margot have very distinctive personalities. As the youngest of the Radcliffe sisters, Jade is the most traumatized by her parent's death. Jordan, who always seems so in control, soon faces her own personal trauma. Margot has the weight of the world on her shoulders and realizing that time has not dulled the love she harbors for Travis makes things harder for her. The sexual tension between Margot and Travis is intense but it's nothing compared to when they finally admit to and express their feelings for each other. Remember Me is a wonderful story about love, passion, and new beginnings.

Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I loved this book -- the main characters behaved believably to me, and in ways that I admired. I read it in one night! I am now anxiously waiting on Book Number 2 (can't wait to see Jordan's pompous, lying husband get left by the side of the road).

Thanks, Laura. You have a new fan.

Laura Moore did a very good job of researching her subject matter. I have only limited knowledge of fashion modeling, photography, or of horse ranching and training. But I was very impressed with how well Ms. Moore addressed these subjects. Ms. Moore, however, demonstrated ignorance of weather systems when she described weather associated with a warm front. She said, "The sky was a flawless azure and the temperature had climbed back into the sixties. According to the forecast, the current warm front would linger into Sunday, which meant that .... She wouldn't have to be wrapped in thermal blankets between shots." Simply stated, Warm Fronts, are associated with overcast skies filled with stratus clouds and, generally, continuous rain or mist. Definitely not the flawless azure sky she described. She should have said, "The current high pressure would linger..." It just goes to show that even the most trivial of descriptions should be checked for accuracy.

I was disappointed that Ms. Moore used vague and unrealistic communications between Margot and Travis to generate the major conflicts for the story. As I put myself in the position of Travis, there is no way I would make the assumptions he did regarding Margot. I certainly would not lie to her as he did. Had I been Margot I certainly would not have confided with associates at work and not been up front with the person I supposedly loved. Ms. Moore lost points with me in this area.

I was pleased with the way Margot's associates in the fashion industry were mostly depicted as hard working, positive, professional people. This runs counter to the stereotype often presented. I give positive points for this.

I love clean romance novels. I have found that being less graphic and allowing the reader's imagination to fill in the details is much more effective, but it takes a skillful writer to make it work. Graphic sex depictions simply create smut in place of true romance. In my opinion, Ms. Moore dropped the ball in this area. On balance I have to give Ms. Moore only three stars for this offering.