"When things come too easy, we're suspect. Do they have to get complicated before we believe they're for real? We're raised to believe that the course of true love never runs smoothly. There always has to be obstacles in Act Two before you can live happily ever after in Act Three. But what happens when the obstacles aren't there? Does that mean there's something missing? Do we need drama to make a relationship work?"

"Seize the Dawn" by Shannon Drake

Genre: Historical Romance

Ease with which to read/enjoyable author style 3.0

Suitable ending 2.5

Personal favoritism 2.0

Poetic language 1.5

Memorable 1.5

Original, creative plot 1.5

Original, well-developed characters 1.5

Probability of recommendation 1.5

Ability to "move" emotionally 2.0

Literary value and/or educational value 1.0

Total: 18

Final Rating: 1 1/2 stars

4-sentence summary:

"Seize the Dawn" tells the story of the 12th century Highlanders from Scotland who bitterly fight with their English enemies. Eleanor is on her way to marry her elderly count when Brendan the brave Scot saves her from pirates and plans to escort her; she decides, out of her hatred for Scots, to jump the ship. The rest of the plot revolves around the love/hate relationship between Brendan and Eleanor, even as she is accused of being a murderess and he risks life and limb to keep her safe.

Critique:

This book is laughable, and not even in the usual romance novel sort of way. I'm pretty certain there was no editor of this novel, as I found upwards of 50 grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors within. The plot is terribly contrived, and there is one major character who, even though this is a historical fiction novel, is completely absurd: William Wallace. That's right, the main character from "Braveheart" plays a major role in this novel. This novel is about breaking stereotypes of certain localities (the Scottish can read? How absurd!) in ridiculous ways and the characters actions are very rarely justified: "You're my captor? Okay, let's have sex!" Now, I enjoy romance novels for their cheap thrills and easy love stories, but this one is too much of a stretch. Perhaps it was the constant mention of tartans and kilts, but I couldn't keep a straight face. The author even throws a pompous chronology at the end of the novel (starting, outrageously enough, at 6000BC), as though she is an expert on the history of the world as well as an expert at how best to describe sex with steamy vocabulary. In this case, I recommend neither vocation for this author, and I would hesitate to give her another shot.

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

Genre: Fiction

Ease with which to read/enjoyable author style 4.0

Suitable ending 3.5

Personal favoritism 3.75

Poetic language 3.0

Memorable 4.0

Original, creative plot 4.5

Original, well-developed characters 4.0

Probability of recommendation 4.0

Ability to "move" emotionally 3.0

Literary value and/or educational value 2.5

Total: 36.25

Final Rating: 3 1/2 stars

4-sentence summary:

Golden Richards is a man with four wives and 28 children, but he feels lost and helpless amongst them after the death of one of his daughters. This story is told from the perspective of three individuals: Golden, in his quest to find happiness; Trish, his 4th wife who has escaped her own sadness of a previous life but is drawn by the allure of the "normal" life; and Rusty, the 11-year-old 5th son, who feels abandoned by his father and ostracized by his siblings. As Golden contemplates having an affair with a married woman, his family begins to unravel into a complicated mess.

Critique:

This 604-page-long book has a slow beginning but soon comes to a satisfying and comfortable flow. I've always been fascinated by polygamist culture: I've read "Escape", the polygamist wife Carolyn Jessop's escape from her nightmarish polygamist household... I've watched "Big Love", the Showtime drama about a man who breaks free of the traditional polygamist lifestyle to raise his family (complete with 3 wives) in his own way. But "The Lonely Polygamist" doesn't take a dramatic look at polygamy the way these other stories do. Instead, it looks at all the potential disasters that can come about in a polygamist household, and tells the story with a slap-stick humor. It is, as Publisher's Weekly noted in it's review of the novel, very similar to "The Corrections" (Jonathan Franzen) in that it takes a family and dissects it with both humor and tender care. This novel is, simply put, a fascinating read. There are enough plot twists and unusual (but thoroughly and realistically detailed) characters in this novel to keep the story fresh and exciting throughout the length of it. Brady Udall's witty and sharp writing style is enough to make me add his first novel, "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" to my "Must Read" list.