Forever and the Night

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: great book. really liked the story and characters. the main character is a strong woman with guts and determination. but she has faults too and that makes her more real. the book is easy to read and the story told well. if you like adventure and excitement this is the book for you. i like Young's other books. there is another one set in Alaska but i saw it's out of stock. but it was great too.

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: Kay Westmore is the head of the Alaska division of the Department of the Interior and one day is surprised to find her boss, the Secretary of the Interior, Grace Perry at her office. Usually Grace summons Kay to Washington but there is a crisis that Grace wants Kay to investigate. The goverment has, after much opposition of the native peoples and the environment groups leases to the oil companies and now there have been reports of infractions. Kay is happy to be going because she needs to get away from the pain caused by her lover of 3 years, Stef, leaving her for another woman. The conference and the surveys are set for January to begin in Barrow, where it is night for 2 months, so in addition to all her other problems, Kay will have to work in the dark during all their chemical surveys and site inspections. In Barrow, Kay meets a Bureau of Land Management lawyer, Lela Newlin, who is a full-blooded Inuit. Lela teaches her a lot about her people's culture and the two become close. The love story does not overwhelm the adventure and there are surprises which is always nice to see. At the end, Kay and Lela face their greatest challenge. How can they stay together with one in Barrow and the other in Fairbanks? As Shakespear said, "All's well that ends well."

Rating:
Summary: Ho hum
Review: The cover offers "Blazing passion and thrilling adventure," but delivers neither. Ms. Young's reportorial style is as exciting as a two-day old account of a ball game. She fails to develop the characters to the point where the reader cares what happens to either them or the story - which is itself rather improbable. The sex is sterile and devoid of anything approaching passion. I probably expected too much after reading "Curious Wine," "Claire of the Moon" and everything Kallmaker has written. My advice: read everything available before turning to "Forever and the Night."

Rating:
Summary: Alaskan dream romance
Review: This book was a thrilling ride all the way from Fairbanks to Barrow. I loved Kay Westmore. What a wonderfully developed character with guts, determination and charisma. She has a soft side too. Lela, Kay's love interest, is dignified and proud. The portrayal of her rich cultural heritage as a native Alaskan is fascinating. The descriptions of Alaska are beautiful and the story well scripted and exciting as the adventure unfolds. There ia a real connection between the main characters -- Kay, Lela, Steff, Russ and Grace. Grace, Kay's boss, is a real hoot and Russ, Kay's colleague, is a riot. He has some great lines. And that stuffy oil company PR guy is also comic-relief. Young has a dry sense of humor that you learn to appreciate. And Kay's growing love for Lela is wonderful and unfolds nicely. It doesn't happen overnight but happens in a more meaningful way I could really identify with. Read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Hot and Cold, What a Delight!
Review: This was a great book! The women are fully realized, complicated people and the setting is just wonderful. I don't think I've read anything based in Alaska before. The exploration of tribal customs and the relationship between the government and the indigenous people is compelling without being preachy. The love affair feels real, like I could know these women, or at least I'd like to. This is no "gosh, she's gorgeous" on page 2 that leads to happily ever after a mere 120 pages later.

After reading it a second time, I did find myself thinking that the dialogue, especially Lela's, was flatter than I remembered. I literally thought that Lela spoke in a near monotone for quite a while. The author could spend a little more time describing HOW words are spoken. In some of the love scenes, some excellent heat could have been stoked further by the addition of phrases like "she said, her voice husky..." or "With a distinct edge of command, she said ...." There were several instances where I stopped to re-read a line of dialogue because I didn't know if Lela spoke seductively or playfully or sarcastically. The context just wasn't enough. Kay only suffered in this area during the love scenes. At their most intimate moments I wanted to hear their voices and there just wasn't enough to go on.

I *was* enthralled by the depth of virtually every aspect of this book on a second reading.