Customer Reviews

Yankee Wife

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

 

 

I just finished this book and wished it was another 300 pages long. The different plots and twist were great. I'm from the area it was set in so I really enjoyed the location! Brigham & Lydia need a sequel showing the changes continuing in their town, their family, their friends. I have just ordered Taming Charlotte to appease my appetite for further reading of this family, and because Linda Lael Miller is also a favorite author of mine.

"Yankee Wife" is the first book in the "Quade" series followed by "Taming Charlotte" and "Princess Annie", I think they are wonderful.

This is the first and only book that I have read by Linda Lael Miller. It seems like she brings fantasies to life. All of the romance scenes are detailed and intriging. I could not put the book down. It contains two romances in this book.
Lydia McQuire works and plays piano in bars for a living. She is brave and is not afraid to be the man that she does not have. She will get down and dirty if it must be done.
Brigham Quade is a strong brawney lumberjack. He and his brother Devon own their own territory in Washington state. Their practice is of lumber cutting. Brig has two daughters Charlote and Millicent (Millie). Brigham's first wife died in child birth with his third child.
Devon Quade is also a strong brawney lumberjack. He shares the territory with his brother. He is the more easy and humored of the two brothers. He is also more of a "pretty boy" than his brother Brig is.
Polly Quade is Devon's new wife. He found her in the city. She has a bad past. She had this agreement with her lover that she would marry Devon and take his fortune then proceed back to him with the money. When she does head to Washington she relizes that she loves Devon and she has to break the rules with her lover because she loves Devon.
Millie and Charlote Quade and Brigs daughters from his first wife. Millie is a young girl that will usually do what she is told unless it is one of those days where she just wants to romp in the mud. She does not use her manners well. Charlote is an older girl who is discovering herself. She just wants to be something in the world, to hold a special place in it. She wants one miracle to come true, or one wish, like in the novels that she reads. She often gets into trouble with her father because of her rebeliousness and adventurousity. Both of the girls love their father and look up to him. They both wnat him to marry Miss Lydia. They also look up to Devon because he is like thier older brother, he gives them things when the strict Brigham says no to thier wishes in disappointment.
Lydia answers the add "in need of a wife and mother" that Devon has posted. Devon and Herself discuss the plan and she agrees to go to Washington as his wife. As Lydia boats the steam boat she finds that Devon has a wife, Polly Quade, and she is jealous. When they get to Washington and she meets the busy and controlling Brigham she is upset. He tells her that she can leave or that she can stay here to watch after his two children, Charolet and Millie. She decides to stay. Devon finds out about the lie and plan of Polly and he sends her away. When Lydia is being courted by many of Brig's workers he gets jealous and makes some moves on her. She is very atracted to him, and he tries to not feel the feelings that he holds for her. Devon gets hurt badly in an accident by a falling tember and is laid to what seems might be his death bed. Polly comes back to Quades point with a secret. She takes care of Devon with the help of Lydia until he is better. Polly tells Devon that he is pregnant. He leaves Quade's Harbor. Brigham makes a promise to Polly that he will take responsibility for his brother's actions and he is to marry her. At the wedding Devon shows up to wed Polly and Brig happily takes Lydia. Lydia becomes agrivated in the weeks following the marriage because Brig will not leave her alone. He wants her all the time and she does not want to live with him or be intamate until he admits his love to her. Devon finished the shop and left again. But he comes back just in time to protect her from her x-lover who has came to reclaim is missing prize. Lydia is caught in a fire at the school house one night caused by lightning. Brig and Devon. When the two do finanly save her she is lying on the ground in exhaustion and shock she tells Brig that she is to have his baby soon. Anyway Polly and Lydia both have children that look like Brig and Devon so that they can play with each other. Yay the end. haha. Very very good book, a little out dated but very good. I bought it at a yard sale!!!! worth every penny and more!

The concept behind this story appealed to me: a former civil war nurse stranded in California sees an ad for marriage to a stranger and thinks "why not?" However, I was a bit disappointed in the actual story. There was quite a number of subplots, which I usually don't mind. However, the story was too short to try and focus on any one subplot very much. Thus, it ended up simply skimming the sub-plots; they were not developed. I believe this book may have been better if it had focused more on the main plot of Lydia and Brigham instead of delving so much into the doctor's life, Polly and Devon, and even Charlotte (which I know was just setting up a sequel, but what did it have to do with this story?) All in all, it was a light read; I finished it in about 2 1/2 hours between classes (I am a communter student). Interesting, but not enough to make me want to keep the book or ever read it again.
This was my first Miller book, so I didn't know what to expect from her. What I've found here, I was not impressed with. I prefer books that focus more on the main characters and, if there are subplots, books that develop those subplots more fully.
However, I must say, if you are a Miller fan, you are bound to like this story, since my dislikes focus on the style of the author. My tastes generally run towards Julie Garwood, Jude Devereaux, or Judith McNaught.

I enjoyed this book but not enough to keep. I got a little bored with the characters separation. I didn't have trouble finishing it, but it certainly did not keep me up late reading.

This was the second Linda Lael Miller book that I have ordered. Lilly and the Major disgusted me so I was hoping for better things from this book.
It started well, I really liked Lydia and felt for the situation she had found herself in. Devon was also solid and caring.

I also enjoyed Brigham, could really understand the guy being so fiercly protective of his family. But once again Miller ruins a perfectly good story with illtimed sex scenes and a woman who loses her train of thought as soon as her significant fellow starts lifting her skirt.

I found the story of Polly and Devon more interesting than that of Brigham, and I hope to somewhere find the story of Charlotte and her sea captain, although having said that I'll probably find the same combination of near rape that seems to be creeping in to most of Miller's work.

The beginning started out really good. It went down hill from there. It was a choppy storyline, with parts of other stories and characters that suddenly appear mid-novel. It just wasn't a love story. Now I'm a fan of a lot of romance writers, cheasy plots and all, but the story needs to flow. This one was one of the most disappointing novels I've ever read. I hope it was just this one, as this Linda Miller has been recommended to me by other friends that enjoy romance novels.

I read this book the first time in December 2004 and loved it!! I just finished reading this book again last week and wished it were longer!! Brigham and Lydia are great characters as are their family and friends. Even though Linda Lael Miller has not written a sequel to this book, you can read alittle bit more about this family in her book Taming Charlotte. If you love historical romance books that are not bogged down with ridiculous sex scenes and silly plots than READ THIS BOOK, it is a GEM!!!

I've just re-read Yankee Wife. The two main characters Lydia & Brigham are a lot of fun to watch as they stomp all over each other's personal space. I'm going to see if Taming Charlotte is as entertaining.

I remembered how much I had enjoyed it the first time I read it years ago. LLM has given her characters realism and an emotional depth that makes every encounter worthwhile. Even the children Millie and Charlotte are delightful individuals. I will finish this tonight but I will be keeping it......LLM has a wonderful writing style and I've enjoyed several of her books.