Customer Reviews

Silver Lining

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me just say - I love Western romances. Usually they have heroines who are spunky, heroes who are tortured but adorable, and storylines fraught with drama without being overly intense. This story was sadly lacking a great hero, and as a result it was terribly disappointing.

Low Down, aka Louise Downe, has led a rough life. She's an orphaned woman who has been living on her own since she was a kid, and has been doing this without compromising her values. She is the only person in a mining town in Colorado willing to tend a bunch of sick men, and if she hadn't they'd have all died of the pox. Thus, when they offer her anything she wants as a reward, and she says she wants a baby, one of them must marry her to give her her wish. However, because Low Down has been tending for their sick butts and mining for quite a while, she's a mess when all this happens, and no one wants to marry her, least of all the guy she gets hitched to.

Max, the guy that marries Low Down, is actually a visiting rancher who has led a pretty good life and wants to return to it ASAP, not marry the haggardly Low Down. Plus Max is a little ...[mad] because he was supposed to marry this manipulative, vapid woman back home named Philadelphia. So, Max loves Philly (for some ungodly reason), but he felt honor-bound to marry Low Down.

My problems with this storyline were many. First, Loise/Low Down has been tending to these men for a while but yet none of them gives her the benefit of the doubt. Everyone, including the hero, assumes she's a hag. This does not endear the hero to the reader at all -- apparently in this world it's more important that you look cute than that you are a kind, compassionate, honorable person. Second, Max is so upset for so long with his marriage to Louise that I ended up not liking him. He insists on seeing only her faults, and misses all of her wonderful qualities, and he does this *so often* that I questioned his judgment. Third, Max showed horrid judgment by falling for the manipulative Philadelphia in the first place. How could he not have seen that she is all show and no substance? Finally, it takes the book so long to get to the time when Max does start realizing how wonderful Louise is, and when he does so the book zooms past this revelation to the mystery/suspense angle, that it's hard to really believe in the supposed love story. Max had been such a jerk for so long - thinking the worst of Louise and not protecting her from an initially suspicious family and a mean ex-fiance - that I wanted him to have a moment of clarity, and then to repent, and to have to work for Louise's affections. Instead, the book glosses over this aspect of the story, and left me wanting.

Maybe what went wrong with this book was that the author made the heroine so eminently likable and compassionate that anyone who wasn't able to pick up on this seemed either mean or stupid. I kept thinking - if she's so great, and he's so great, why can't he *see* how great she is? It's too bad that this is what happened, because this is how the hero came off in the end, and I ended up not liking the book as a result.

Low Down is prospecting for gold when a small pox outbreak hits the camp. She rolls up her sleeves and cares for all the miners, bullying them into surviving, loaning them the sheer force of her will until they can't do anything but survive. Full of gratitude they promise to give her whatever her heart desires. A piano? A house? No, Low Down's secret heart's desire is a baby -- someone who will allow her to love them, and will love her in return. What she didn't ask for was a husband, but that's just what the prospector's give her. A reluctant husband to be a father to her baby.

Max McCord doesn't know what to make of the whiskey swilling, cussing woman he finds himself tied to. She saved his life, and now marrying her has ruined it. He sees his dreams, the life he planned disappear. What on earth does he do now?

Marrying Max begins Low Down's transformation into Louise, the woman she's always kept hidden from the world. Their marriage sets all kinds of trouble into motion, but the relationship they forge soon proves strong enough to handle each and every one of them. The only question that remains by the end of the book, is will these two strong people allow themselves to let down their defenses and let love flourish?

Maggie Osborne is a powerful storyteller and Silver Lining was truly a heart-warming read.

I wanted so hard to give this a full five stars, because Osborne is just such a good writer. Your eyes skim smoothly through the prose, you stop and laugh out loud here, you stop to wipe a tear from your eyes there, your heart gets all warm all over. She has such a gift, Osborne does, and her greatest being that of creating unconventional heroines in hard-luck situations who have amazing backbone and integrity, even when life stomps them down a few times. You just have to love her tough gals!Unfortunately, Osborne's villains do tend to be on the cardboard side--sociopaths with no redeeming qualities. Yeah, I like my good guys to be good, and my bad guys to be bad, but I like some subtlety, too. That's my main quibble with SILVER LINING--which is nevertheless a terrific read and one I recommend to all lovers of Western romance, or just plain romance in general. Low Down will win your heart, no question!My other quibbles--a very shopworn cliche plot situation at the end of the book which is beneath a writer of Osborne's true talent. And a hero that is just not really an equal match for Low Down. (Same problem in The Promise of Jenny Jones). I'd like to see Osborne's next one give us a hero who is as gritty and tough and deep down wonderful and well-drawn as the heroines she crafts.But I'll BUY that next Osborne, just as I've bought all the preceding ones. The woman can write. The woman can make heroines that make me want to hug them and make them my best friends. It's a gift, I tell you. : )BTW..if your heart doesn't just break over the things that happen with the spoon on the book's cover, you need to check that ticker of yours. And if you don't laugh out loud several times over the early scenes with the miners and Low Downe and the preacher, or later on about the "dawdling" (inside joke for the novel's readers), you're just plain "daid" inside, ma'am. *Mir*

"Low Down" wanted nothing in return for nursing a mining camp full of men thru disease, but after the mens recovery, they excitedly force her to reveal her hearts one true desire. They are willing to do anything in thanks for her nursing them back to health and saving their lives. Reluctant at first, Low Down finally admits that she wants nothing more than a baby.
The men are shocked...rightfully so, but through a wild string of events, Max McCord finds himself the one offered up to fulfill her wish. Max and Low Down agree to a temporay marriage that can only end in disaster... Low Down wants nothing to do with a husband and Max is in love with another.
"Silver Lining" is such a good book that I could die! I read this in one sitting with only a 3 hour nights sleep interruption. How could I possibly sleep with this amazing story just aching to be finished?? I loved everything about this. I loved Max and his family so much, but really this was "Low Down"'s book. She was amazing I loved her so much. She has definitely become one of my favorite characters that I have ever met. Truly, this story is just so amazing, and heartwarming, and funny, and just all around wonderful... A genuine keeper.

She has created a truly memorable love story, and her characters are not fairy tale perfect. The hero and heroine each bring seemingly insurmountable problems to this marriage of convenience, but they grow together in a loving and convincing way. I laughed and cried and went back and reread scenes as soon as I finished the book. A true five star recommendation.

The reviews below give you excellent feedback about the storyline, but I want to underline the point that the herione Low-Down (Louise) is "the bomb" (as the kids today say)! Osborne has created a character who isn't "miss perfect" in her appearance and manner, but will charm you with her no-holes-barred dialogue and strength of character. I didn't believe that I would laugh out loud, like the other reviewers promised, until I started reading this book on the airplane today and cracked-up! My seat partner looked at me and said, "must be a great book!" It was. I read the whole thing during my cross-country flight and I couldn't wait to get to the hotel and write my comments to other romance readers! This one is a must read! You'll be charmed!

I simply love reading early western stories about strong and courageous women and this is one of the best I've ever read. You can just see the dirty mining camps and "smell" the dirty ripped clothing that they all wear. The one thing that the heroine wants from the men that she nursed back from death is a baby to love (something of her very own), so she marrys the man that draws the "short straw" so to speak. When he takes her back to his family's acreage she has to prove to herself, her husband, and his family that she is truly a woman to be honored and respected. The only thing that she has of value is a small silver spoon that she puts up on the mantel in their home, which was suppose to be inhabited by her new husband's ex-fiancee and himself. This is a story of Montana's worst winter in history and how a man and woman work together to save their livestock and their very lives. The best book I have read in years and I read "strong women" types of books constantly!

Well, I enjoyed it and would recommend it. Yes, it has some problems and even starts out unbelievable but I had to remind myself that that is some of the fun in romance stories. And you know I almost hate telling you the story- incase I ruin it for you. So I won't. I will tell you that the story starts in a mining camp of about 100 men and 1 woman ("Low Down" short for Louise)who has been thought of as one of the men for so long that it is almost impossible to consider her being a woman. An epidimic goes through the camp and it is because of her nursing skills that many of the men survive. Now the men want to thank her from the bottom of their hearts and what better way than to give her something that her heart desires - no matter what it is. This is where it gets sticky... and where Max McCord really gets involved.

I enjoyed the story and at times felt my heart go out to the characters involved at the time. I enjoy a story that I can truly get lost in and feeeeeeel what's going on. Louise has never loved or been loved and has felt empty and alone in return. She tries real hard not to have feelings but they come through- she's great. Max has his life allll planned out and all because of a draw of a marble it all changes- that quickly. He is torn by the outcome but tries to take all into consideration. I am impressed! I don't know if I would have done what Max did- I probably would have said "No way! Forget this! I've got other plans. I am headed home!" And then he has to live with his decision! But, man, does it work out! Little did he know the outcome (and don't you cheat by reading ahead -or worse, yet, the end!) And then there's Max's fiancee, Philadelphia (couldn't MO have thought up an easier name) -her future and feelings to sort through. I probably would have been more hateful than she was - I might have pulled some hair! And shown them a true "cat fight." ha, ha!!! Then there are others in the story- Phil's father, Max's mother, sister and, oh my, don't forget his brother.

MO is a great story teller! Yes, I would recommend it and hope you enjoy it

Some books just need to rate higher than 5 stars in my opinion. This is one of my American Historical Romance books which deserve that designation. In fact, I'm willing to go to 6.1* on this one. Maggie Osborne created a character in Low Down that was so wonderful, sympathetic, and believable that she just deserves to be rated off the scale.

Yes, this heroine's name is Low Down. This woman at 28 years of age had lived such a hard life that it just made me want to sit her down and fix her a cup of hot tea while we talked. She was fortunate enough to be adopted from one of the orphan trains when she was four years old but the situation she found herself in was far from fortunate. Her adopted mother referred to her as low-down so often that she became known by that name and it stuck. At the time of this story Low Down is panning for gold in Piney Creek, Colorado (just being one of the boys) when an epidemic of small pox struck. After everyone who could leave had gone, she was the only person left to nurse the 60 some men through the illness. They wanted to show her how grateful they were so after they were recovered they offered to give her anything her heart desired. The trouble was, the only thing she had ever wanted was a family and she figured she could get that only by having a baby. Needless to say, the men were shocked, but being honorable men, they decided to make sure she got her wish. Trouble was, there were no volunteers.

The very unwilling hero in this story is Max McCord. He had his future completely mapped out. He was engaged and would be married in two weeks. His future bride was the social leader of the small Colorado town outside of Denver and her Daddy owned the bank. Max really wanted to run his cattle ranch full time but Philadelphia Houser's father had offered him a job in the bank and he had accepted. Everything was going to be glorious for him, the woman he wanted to marry, a newly finished ranch house to take her to after the wedding, a new job and the ranch to run in his own way. Then, he drew the scratched green marble out of the hat and his life changed forever. Because the preacher of the mining camp insisted that he had to marry Low Down. She might only want a baby but the preacher said that wasn't going to happen without a wedding first.

This book has a full cast of characters who are essential to the telling of the story. Every person in the McCord and the Houser families had to share in the burden of making all of these situations come right. As Max says in one part of the story, the ripples from that marble just kept getting wider and wider. Eventually they even affected the workers on the ranches because of the vindictive actions of Howard Houser, the town banker.

This is a wonderful, very realistic feeling story of the old west. The silver mining town, Denver after it has become the state capitol, conditions of cattle ranching in raw winter conditions. There are hardships from the times but there are also some modern innovations beginning to be seen which make for a very interesting read. But, of course, the greatest part of the story is watching Low Down (people do eventually begin to call her by her real name) change from the rough, cussing, totally self reliant hellcat into a softer more trusting woman who gains what she has wanted all her life, a family of her own to love.

I loved this book. I could not stop reading it. I enjoyed the process in which Max and his family falls in love with Low Down. Max at first is a reluctant groom after drawing a marble that makes him marry Low Down. Max thinks he made a mistake and is embarressed by Low Down and her silver spoon in which she treasures and he compares her to Philadelphia (the sophiticated girl he was suppose to marry). The night Philadelphia marries Max's brother (to save Philadephia's honor), Max is so angry and full of pain and can't stand the tought of his brother living the life he was supposed to have. Through hardship Max falls in love with Low Down and realizes he married the right woman after all.