Sage Fire Reviews

Martha

A widow's saga

Starting over is never easy, especially when your husband has committed suicide and ruthless creditors are hunting you for his gambling debts.  Martha Conradson is no stranger to this feeling, having learned of the fear this kind of situation can inflict. as she grows her Arrowhead resteraunt in Sprinton near Omaha Nebraska, on a one day at a time basis. Life goes on and each day that she gets through is a victory for her.

Synopsis: 

What ever fears and questions Martha had, she shared with her new friend Hilda, ... Hilda seemed to have a reasonable outlook on life.  Sheriff Bill Coble and his wife both encourage Martha to live in the present, sure they have everything in hand.  Extra help in her defense is arriving by way the handsome Judge George Willton

Everyone in town knows Martha is a recent widow, including Martha herself.  The problem seems to be that someone forgot to tell the old bill collectors, and they want her her dead husband's debt paid with interest. 

Things go from BAD to WORSE when it becomes apparent that the head of the pernacious bill collectors who refuse to believe Clarence is dead is Clarence himself, using a different name.  Martha is in a pickle and only her own wits and the unwavering support Judge Wilton  gives to Martha, might change the outcome of a bad situation gone south.

Impression: 

This is a tough, innocuous, nail biter which every lover of romantic westerns must have. Martha is a novel the reader can not put down and will want to read again and again and again. 

The portrayals in this novel are excellent and well thought out, there is only nominal telling over showing the reader, and emotional connections run rampant throughtout.  Alice Blue has done an excellent job of tieing her reader to the characters inside her story.

My objection to "Martha" is the multi-tagged ending.  To me this novel ended three times, each time tieing up just one more character and then switching themes.  I found this to be disconcerting to my personal enjoyment of the novel.  Admittedly, this is a personal taste issue, and detracts only to those of us who are more imbued to writing than the average reader.  I think the average reader will not find any fault with this style.

If you want a good romantic western for this month, you simply can not go wrong with Martha.

RATING:  9 Campfires

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Targeted readership:

All audiences. 

0 Flames for sexual content.

Author's credentials:

Alice Blue

Just because there is snow on the roof doesn't mean there isn't fire in the fingers. I started seriously writing in 1992 when I joined Romance Writers of America and Wisconsin RWA. Since then I have written several historical (western) romances and one contemporary novel. In 1999 I gave up hunting moose, turkeys and deer with the family to devote more time to writing. I am married to Robert. We live on Lake Koshkonong, Edgerton, WI (one of my books starts out there). I have four children and five stepchildren and their families. visit author's site here

Reviewer & reviewer credentials:

MD Johnson is a mountain northwest regional -- freelance author, living in Payette, Idaho. His writing interests include poetry, romance, westerns, science fiction, travel, and history. His work has appeared in a diverse range of publications including True Romance and Ballyhoo Stories. He is currently republishing the 1935 western classic historical novel, “The Bitterroot Trail” as the anthologist.

If you have a book or an ARC, you would like Mr. Johnson to review, please address your questions to him at queries@pencraft.biz.