A Bride for Donnigan (Women of the West (Paper))

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars is pushing it, but it's not worth 3.
Review: "A Bride For Donnigan" was one of the better books by Janette Oke, and started out very interesting. But, there are some hills of good and bad. First off, I found everything too perfect and sugar coated. What are the odds of Donnigan and Kathleen getting along? Much less, falling in love? It might happen, but it would take time. Which leads me into how Oke didn't express how much time goes by, nor the age of Donnigan. We don't know much of anything about Donnigan. Towards the end, the total point of this book was gone. I was hoping for more about their marriage, and the trials and tribulations of it. I did enjoy the characters, nonetheless, and did care about their outcome, but Donnigan seems too good to be true. I'm also glad that a book was finally written about this subject, even if it was just a storybook romance. It still doesn't beat "Roses For Mama," but is good all the same. I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars is pushing it, but it's not worth 3.
Review: "A Bride For Donnigan" was one of the better books by Janette Oke, and started out very interesting. But, there are some hills of good and bad. First off, I found everything too perfect and sugar coated. What are the odds of Donnigan and Kathleen getting along? Much less, falling in love? It might happen, but it would take time. Which leads me into how Oke didn't express how much time goes by, nor the age of Donnigan. We don't know much of anything about Donnigan. Towards the end, the total point of this book was gone. I was hoping for more about their marriage, and the trials and tribulations of it. I did enjoy the characters, nonetheless, and did care about their outcome, but Donnigan seems too good to be true. I'm also glad that a book was finally written about this subject, even if it was just a storybook romance. It still doesn't beat "Roses For Mama," but is good all the same. I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Why you should read A Bride for Donnigan
Review: A Bride for Donnigan was a heart touching book that really makes you thankful for what you have. It's kind of funny how Donnigan and Kathleen search for the truth when it is right under their noses.

Rating:
Summary: What drivel!
Review: Could anyone POSSIBLY take this book seriously? Honestly, the characters are annoying and whiny, not to mention upsettingly unrealistic! I laughed through sections I'm sure were meant to be emotional, sensitive scenes. They certainly didn't come across as touching scenes! I hope to heaven that anyone who finds this book puts it right back where they found it, without wasting an hour on it like I did. Although, at least with fluff like this you haven't wasted a LOT of time. It only takes but a few minutes to skim through this book. Even so, it probably took less time to write it. There was obviously no effort put forth. Is there really a Janette Oke, or is that the name of a junior high writers club that has a connection to a publishing house? I almost hope it's the latter, because if it isn't, Janette Oke DEFINITELY missed her calling- maybe she should take up gardening, or painting and leave writing to true Christian romance novelists, like Lori Wick or Lauraine Snelling. I recommend these writers to anyone who is looking for a good book with substance. You definitely won't find that here!!

Rating:
Summary: What drivel!
Review: Could anyone POSSIBLY take this book seriously? Honestly, the characters are annoying and whiny, not to mention upsettingly unrealistic! I laughed through sections I'm sure were meant to be emotional, sensitive scenes. They certainly didn't come across as touching scenes! I hope to heaven that anyone who finds this book puts it right back where they found it, without wasting an hour on it like I did. Although, at least with fluff like this you haven't wasted a LOT of time. It only takes but a few minutes to skim through this book. Even so, it probably took less time to write it. There was obviously no effort put forth. Is there really a Janette Oke, or is that the name of a junior high writers club that has a connection to a publishing house? I almost hope it's the latter, because if it isn't, Janette Oke DEFINITELY missed her calling- maybe she should take up gardening, or painting and leave writing to true Christian romance novelists, like Lori Wick or Lauraine Snelling. I recommend these writers to anyone who is looking for a good book with substance. You definitely won't find that here!!

Rating:
Summary: A Bride For Donnigan
Review: Donnigan is a lonely bachelor who's friends have decided to get rid of their loneliness and send for a wife, right out of a newspaper add. Donnigan struggles with what to do then finally decides to go for it. Kathleen has a terrible homelife in Ireland and when she hears about an opportunity to get away from a life of selling baked goods on the street, she decides at the last minute to take the ship to America and a promise of a husband and a nice place to live. The only set-back is she has a limp and will her new husband-to-be send her away once he see's it. This book was hard for me to put down once I started to read it. It is one of Janette Oke's best.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't get far with this one
Review: I didn't get very far reading this book. I didn't read about Kathleen's relationship with Donnigan because I was throughly disgusted with her character by Chapter 3. Kathleen is so timid it's revolting. She does the housework for her stepmother "Madame" for years, including bringing her breakfast on a tray. Never mind the fact that "Madame" has got two good legs and Kathleen limps. Never think about that, Katie, me darlin'! Never speak up for yourself! Just do like "Madame" says. Maybe she gets better as the book goes along, but I didn't really care. I'd have liked to see "Madame" get hers a little ways down the road. I guess if you've got that attitude, however, then Christian fiction is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't get far with this one
Review: I didn't get very far reading this book. I didn't read about Kathleen's relationship with Donnigan because I was throughly disgusted with her character by Chapter 3. Kathleen is so timid it's revolting. She does the housework for her stepmother "Madame" for years, including bringing her breakfast on a tray. Never mind the fact that "Madame" has got two good legs and Kathleen limps. Never think about that, Katie, me darlin'! Never speak up for yourself! Just do like "Madame" says. Maybe she gets better as the book goes along, but I didn't really care. I'd have liked to see "Madame" get hers a little ways down the road. I guess if you've got that attitude, however, then Christian fiction is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: What happened to character development and believable plots?
Review: I must say, when I first saw that my church library had picked up a new Janette Oke book, I couldn't wait to read it. However, by the end of the book, I was just glad that I had gotten it from the library and hadn't laid down good money for this dreadful piece of under developed, boring waste of paper!! Not up to the standards that I have come to expect from Janette Oke. All I can ask is...how can writers who "scribble off" (to use another reviewer's well put description) fluff like this actually sell books? I'd like to warn you against buying this book, and if you still want to read it, get it from the library!

Rating:
Summary: What happened to character development and believable plots?
Review: I must say, when I first saw that my church library had picked up a new Janette Oke book, I couldn't wait to read it. However, by the end of the book, I was just glad that I had gotten it from the library and hadn't laid down good money for this dreadful piece of under developed, boring waste of paper!! Not up to the standards that I have come to expect from Janette Oke. All I can ask is...how can writers who "scribble off" (to use another reviewer's well put description) fluff like this actually sell books? I'd like to warn you against buying this book, and if you still want to read it, get it from the library!