Customer Reviews

Texas Fury

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

 

 

A very powerful book 3 in the Texas series. While all the characters are involved in this book, Amelia was a large focus of this one. Amelia is married to Cary who is a good 20 years her junior, and while Cary absolutely adores his wife, she is waiting for the other shoe to drop. She had such a difficult life with so much loss, that she couldn't allow herself to just accept the love Cary gave freely. We were taken inside Amelia, and how she comes to terms with her life, and learns to accept herself for the loving person she is.

More adventure, love and intrigue for the Coleman family as Michaels' series seems to jump into high gear. Though none of the TEXAS novels could ever be called dull, in TEXAS FURY, it seems as though if the story isn't racing along (from locales in the Pacific Rim, to a forbidding snow-covered mountain in Europe and back to the home base of Texas), Michaels won't get her point across. Though she contradicted herself with the publication of TEXAS SUNRISE a few years later, FURY was to be the culmination of the Coleman saga, so I can excuse her for wanting to make sure she tied everything up in a neat package. And neat it is -- there seem to be happy endings aplenty within TEXAS FURY. Some may surprise you, some may seem to be a given but all in all -- even with the shock ending -- it ends on a very hopeful note. One comment, though: I rated this book five stars, but it receives such an accolade by the skin of its teeth. The family tree in the front of the book is helpful but there are some misspellings and the time is skewed as well -- just what year is this taking place? Though as I write this it's nearly 2000 now, when the TEXAS series was published (around 1994/1995), the dates of various events in the Colemans' lives seemed years ahead -- perhaps even around the turn of the century! A little confusing, to say the least, but it's a minor nitpick in an overall excellent family saga.

This book features Amelia, who is married to Cary, a man 20 years younger than she. Amelia is concerned that she will lose Cary to a younger woman, a theme which has already been explored in "Texas Heat" the book which precedes this one in the series. It also deals with the decisions of Cole and Riley as to what they plan to do with their lives. Cole seems to have had a personality change since the last book, and has changed from a selfish, self-centered young man into someone of substance. No explanation is given for this transformation. Also his relationship with his cousin Riley seems to go from the extemes of animosity to a brotherly closeness with blinding and unrealistic suddeness. There are a couple of very dramatic, life-and-death situations and the actual death of two family members. Of course there is romance thrown in, but in this book it seems contrived and not as interesting as in the previous books. Hopefully, the last book of the series will return to the formula which made the earlier books successful--interesting characters which the reader can care about interacting with others against a glittering background of wealth and power.

The story was excellent except that I do not believe Fern Michaels has ever been to Austin, Texas. It almost never (once in 10 to 15 years) snows there and absolutely never at Christmas or in blizzard conditions. It is not high plains, but rocky hill country. The area she was describing was more like the Amarillo, Texas area and even there, white Christmases are rare.

Fern Michaels does it again. I loved this book in the series. The Texas series is definitely a must read for all Fern Michaels fans. Once you start reading, you can't put the book down.

Fern, Fern, your first book in the series, Texas Rich, was captivating. Texas Heat a little less so. Texas Fury ended with a tornado, but the myriad events in this novel seemed to swirl for the duration! And then.....here's the REALLY IGNUNT part......Fern seems to have no concept of central Texas. For the location she is describing (just west of Austin), she has the terrain incorrect, the foliage incorrect, and most of all the WEATHER incorrect. At one point a character notes snow clouds in the sky, and the text reads: Snow. More snow. What region of the country did she think she was writing about? Minnesota? Snow is such a rarity, especially in this area of Texas. Ice storms do occur every few years. Not snow. Not six inches. Not more snow. And then we get to the INEXCUSABLY IGNUNT part......Fern refers to a TWO HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE between Texas (CST) and New York (EST). Huh? I'm sorry, Fern, this book was ignunt.

I read the first book, Texas Rich, a few years ago and found it all right -- typical soap opera saga in a book but decently written and very well researched. When I saw the second book, Texas Heat, about six or eight months after reading the first in a "Free Books" pile, I read that and found it to be much the same, except a bit more plodding and a lot wordier than it needed to be. By the time someone gave me the third, I was ready to die of boredom. The first book wasn't bad as far as romances go, but it should have ended there. I understand Fern Michaels mercifully cut us off at the fourth. I just wish she had the wisdom to cut us off at the first.

I enjoyed this book very much, as I did the rest of the Texas series by Fern Michaels.

This is a series, reminds me of the series Dallas. A Soap Opera, not a romance novel.

Great book, it's third in the Texas Coleman family series. If you like Fern Michaels' other books, you will enjoy this book too!