Jo Goodman (1) (1953–)

I've really been enjoying this series - until now. Skye is my least favorite of the Dennehy sisters with her goal of becoming an adventurer. It just seems absurd to me; she's a rich girl who can travel wherever she wants. The premise here where Skye takes a job as a housekeeper to spy for her father just got worse as the book went on and added ghosts, murder, and treasure hunts. Walker, Skye's romantic partner, seemed to be more in lust than in love. And the whole book takes place in the show more Hudson Valley, not the West. I found it very disappointing. show less

Jane Middlebourne leaves a bad situation in New York City in 1891 to head west to Wyoming as a mail order bride. She is not exactly what rancher Morgan Longstreet expects as she does not resemble the picture he was sent (a mischief-maker exchanged the photo). After a day spent considering how to proceed, they marry and head to the ranch. Both come to the marriage with secrets that are revealed as the need arises, fortunately communicating when confronted instead of a long drawn out 'big show more misunderstanding' plot. I liked both of the main characters and the secondary characters. There was humor and a major bad guy confrontation as well as romance. Very nice job. show less

My first read from this author. It was fine and I read it straight through but it lacked a little something to pull it up more stars. Mostly I think it needed a deeper characterization of the heroine. There was very little in her POV at all. She had had such an unusual upbringing that it definitely felt lacking. We knew practically nothing about how she felt being raised as a boy and now learning to be a female. That element was just skipped over.

The opening scenes of the book really set show more things up to be very angsty but the tone of the book doesn't follow through with that feel. The heroine seems too accepting of the stuff that happens to her and recovers from all sorts of incidents easily which makes her characterization kind of all on the surface.

Also, the story was not so much about the relationship between the hero and heroine as it was a story about a doctor. It was interesting and well researched but detracted from the romance.


All in all a pretty good book but not necessarily a keeper. I would be willing to try others by this author. show less

I am a super-fan of Ms. Goodman. I've read a significant portion of what books she's had published and own quite a few of them too. She is one of the authors whose books I turn to when I want a comfort read, even when the subject of her books are not necessarily comforting (and I've read them 3 or four times already). I really enjoy her straight-forward and slightly formal writing style and think that she's incredible at showing and not telling. The MC's of her books rarely have thoughts show more like "I wanted to be around him/her and I didn't know why" but when the "I love you"'s come, I am never surprised or feel like they are forced. Also, she manages to parcel out the backstory without dragging it on too long.

I really like the Bitter Springs series so far, in no small part because of Finn and Rabbit. The two of them are so funny and charming and they help keep the tone of the books from getting too down. In this book particularly, when Morgan and Jane's pasts are revealed. There is some foreshadowing about Morgan's past specifically, but I still found myself crying when his whole story was revealed. I did really love how well he and Jane fit together and how they helped heal each other. I did think there was some inconsistency with how Jane's family was portrayed and how badly they affected her and I wish that one particular trope had been thrown out the window, but overall I was pretty happy with this book. If the series ends here, I'll be sad but satisfied. show less