Cait London

History tells us that all sorts of individuals, mostly immigrants, settled the west. My own family pretty much came to this country and settled right in Iowa on both my mother's and my father's sides. And although we were of what I like to call Heinz 57 Celtic (i.e. throw a dart at a map of the British Isles and there's a good chance some ancestor of mine came from there), I did grow up near a German settlement.

Which is why Be Mine captured my imagination and heart as I read. Our hero could show more be a stereotypical western hero--half-Native American, good with a gun or in a fight, thinking he's not worthy of love--and yet, his business acumen and the fact that he wanted to build an empire of commerce, not cattle, set him apart. Add to that one fiesty non-conformist heroine whose German heritage shines through in everything from speech to customs, and this is not your run of the mill romance.

It's not erotic. There are no graphic words or scenes here, yet the sensuality steams off the page between these two. They fight as hard against their attraction as much as they want it, and even once they are together the obstacles don't stop. A secondary cast of characters shows how truly individualized the west was, from a Texas Rancher to a spoiled sister, and a young rapscallion of a girl.

I read this as much in a single setting as I could. The story held me, and although I've always been a fan of Cait London's work, this story to me seemed especially delightful. A wonderful read. show less

This book is awful. I got to page 62, couldn't take it any more and sat down to write this review. I wanted so badly to like it--because the plot seemed unusual--that I probably gave it twice as much reading time as it deserved.

Here's the problem: First, the author constantly tells you things rather than showing them. Second, she tells you the same thing over and over and over.

For example, on page 3, the protagonist's mother, who conveniently speaks aloud to her dead husband in order to show more impart all the vital information in the book to the readers, says "Somehow they become more receptive near large natural bodies of water, as if it is a portal for them, opening them to other extrasensories. I've tested them...they are very vulnerable by water, connecting with it somehow, and that leaves them unprotected."

Then, on page 57, she says, "If there's one place any of my daughters shouldn't be, it's near a major lake."

Then, on page 62, the protagonist herself notes, "Lake Michigan was exactly where she shouldn't be, near big water, a potential psychic portal; she could be very vulnerable."

If this were the only example, it wouldn't be so bad. You could just skip the prologue (the content of which is repeated, in its entirety, within the 62 pages I read, some parts more than once) and you'd be okay. But unfortunately this repetition and lack of subtlety seem to be stylistic choices and they make the book annoying beyond belief. show less

Morganna Larrimore is a CEO on a wilderness bonding trip with her executives... only the weather's gone sour and all the executives have abandoned her. But Morganna is determined not to quit.

Jake Tallman is a rancher, and is off to rescue Morganna whether she wants it or not, as a favor to her father, who confides in Jake that her life has been threatened, and he wants Jake to keep her under wraps until the bad guy's caught.

It sounds like a decent premise, right? And it would be, except that show more Morganna's not tough and determined--she's just a stupid, stubborn bitch. It's not a matter of being too proud to accept help, or being plucky and resourceful--either of those kinds of characters I could have bonded with and rooted for.

For example, a heroic type of heroine, when she's caught in bad weather with no shelter would either work her butt off building herself a shelter or graciously accept sharing someone else's, as an equal. They wouldn't condescend to share shelter, insult their rescuer, and then proceed to get their borrowed clothes all soaked.

Mostly, Morganna seemed a bit like a surly alien. It's like everything she knew, she learned from a book. The book said wilderness trips foster community in the workplace, and she's baffled when the executives aren't thrilled. All her reactions are just a bit off like that. It got worse when she arrived at Jake's ranch, and found the ranch & household chores to be novelties, and seemed confused that she was expected to pick up after herself. She was like a... dumber version of Paris Hilton in "The Simple Life". That bad. She wasn't snobbish or spoiled, she was confused.

It really made me wonder how effective of a CEO she actually was--I suspected that her father was the real head of the company and Morganna just had the title for show, because a truly successful CEO would have to either be flexible, or be willing to trust their employees, neither of which was true of Morganna.

Truly, it would have made much more sense, and I'd certainly have liked the book better, if it turned out she'd been an alien, or raised by wolves or something.

Jake was the usual bland "romance hero"--a rancher, and the obligatory Native American "half-breed" so beloved of romance readers. He seems mildly frustrated by her antics, but doesn't do much about it, and is perfectly content to play along with her delusions of intelligence and competence. About 2/3 of the way through the book, we're informed that he's in love with her. How and why this ocurred is unexplained. Possibly because it's inexplicable. Maybe that mysterious Love Fog enveloped them and so now they're "in love."

Jake does have a hobby that's supposed to endear him to us--he carves little animals and records tapes for blind children. Which would be nice, but it's not followed up on. It's never explained, and even more oddly, nothing is made of the fact that Morganna had heard his tapes before she met him.

Gah. This book is from 1993. I'm glad I didn't read it then--it would have confirmed the opinion I had of romance at that time. Now, at least, I know better, and am not as prone to generalizations. show less

A damsels in distress...steamy love scenes… murder & mayhem… a twist of the paranormal….what more could you ask for? The book also has more than a few unpredictable surprises. I can’t imagine why the book received such low ratings but I guess we can’t all like the same things and our expectations are sometimes vastly different. I will admit that the plot is slow starting, but about halfway through the book it picks up speed and from there on the story line never slows down until show more the final altercation. The key characters…. especially the lead couple… also take their time fleshing out that nicely provides the reader to gain insight deep into the minds of Spence and Marlo. Well worth 3 stars. show less