Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ballad folk hero comes to life., March 20, 2001
Jessie Jerome has always loved Jack O'Dair, but all Jack is to her is the hero of a folk song, and an incomplete one at that. Jessie searches for anyone who might know the end to the song, until she comes upon an ancient miner who knows most of the verses. Lizard Songthroat takes Jessie to a mountain cabin, which is fine, and leaves her there alone, which isn't. When morning comes, Jessie finds herself transported to the past and into the arms of the real Jack O'Dair. As she learns to love the man, she witnesses each heroic act which makes the verses of the song come true. But the last known verse, about the deadly avalanche, was never finished. Will finishing that verse be the end of her love and of Jack O'Dair? Linda O. Johnston has created a fine folk myth, in The Ballad of Jack O'Dair. Imaginative and clever, this book is a true page-turner
|
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lively TimeTravel, April 26, 2007
Folk Singer Jessie Jerome travels to Alaska to find the author of a song she has heard all her life but the ending of the song is missing. Jessie has become obsessed with the song and with manager problems believes it will be the thing to salvage her career. She walks into a bar and greets "Lizard Songthroat" an aging musician who is rumored to know the words to the song. Lizard insists going to his cabin which was once owned by the subject of the song, Marshall Jack O'Dair, because he said it would help his memory. He abandons Jessie there and when she wakes up she finds herself 100 years in the past in the presence of none other than Jack O'Dair himself. Jack believes Jessie may have a few mental issues but takes her to town and gets her set up in a boarding house. Before long, Jessie is singing in the local saloon and Jack is there every night to listen. Jack and Jessie have an undeniable attraction and soon are involved. When several shop owners start reporting thefts, Jessie "helps" Jack in his investigations by suggesting modern day detective tools she's learned on TV CSI shows. Jack knows Jessie is hiding things, she knows too much about crime solving to be just a singer passing through. Jessie fears for Jack, because part of the song she learned is about his heroic efforts during an avalance on Palm Sunday, 1898, just days away. She must learn who wrote the song to find out the outcome and how to save Jack.
Jack and Jessie are delightful and the story interesting enough, but it just lacks the spark that makes a book worth five stars. Still very good read.
|
|
|
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good time travel, but romance was too rushed and way too hormonal, December 27, 2006
From the back cover:
Completion...
Jessie Jerome was looking for something. The folk singer had long ago heard the start of a song, and it lingered in her memory like a lover's kiss. The ballad's lyrics had touched her; as had its hero. And somehow, Jessie knew the story was true. But she didn't know how the seemingly tragic song ended--and something urged her to discover the truth.
She thought she knew where her quest would take her: to the icy Klondike where Jack O'Dair had kept the peace. But she'd had no idea how right she was. Suddenly in the past, in Jack's powerful arms, Jessie wondered more than ever how the handsome lawman's tale would close. It was up to her to save Jack's life; hers were the words that could complete his song--and his was the heart that could complete her soul.
And my review:
This is the second of Linda O. Johnston's books that I've tried, the first being A GLIMPSE OF FOREVER. I got frustrated with that book because the character leapt into bed so prematurely.
Unfortunately, I had much the same complaint here. While the time-travel aspect of this book was well done (the heroine didn't accept her circumstances too quickly, making it believable) I felt that the romance wasn't. There seemed to be nothing between the hero and heroine but out-of-control lust. And the lust was so immediate that it was a big turn-off. Sexual attraction between the main characters is important in the romance, but it can't be the only thing drawing them together. And that's what was happening here. There was a lot of "I hate you, I don't trust you, but I can't keep my hands off you". That kind of thing drives me nuts.
I doubt I'll be trying this author again. I like my romances to have a little more "meat" to the relationship than just out-of-control hormones.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
