Linda Castle
Auteur de The Return of Chase Cordell
A propos de l'auteur
Notice de désambiguation :
(eng) Linda Crockett writes as Linda Castle, Linda Lee Castle, and Grace Innis.
Séries
Œuvres de Linda Castle
L'irlandese nero 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom légal
- Crockett, Linda L.
- Autres noms
- Crockett, Linda
Castle, Linda
Castle, Linda Lee
Innis, Grace - Date de naissance
- 1952-06-15
- Sexe
- female
- Lieux de résidence
- New Mexico, USA (birth)
- Courte biographie
- Linda L. Crockett, is a third-generation native New Mexican, but she likes to say that some of her ancestors were standing on the North American shore when the other ancestors landed. She can trace her heritage to Comanche on one branch and all the way to Scotland at the time of the Spanish Armada on another. Being a mix of hard boiled business person and soft-fuzzy romantic, it was inevitable that she would eventually turn her hand at writing a romance. Add to the fact that as a child she read Jack London and the dictionary and viola! -- A writer is born.
Linda began her first book in March 1992 and it was sold in 1993. She devours history and loves putting in obscure little-known facts into her novels. She likes the American west but is an unabashed Anglophile. Research trips to England, Scotland and Wales are the big pay-off for the long, hard hours of writing, Linda says. That careful attention to research evidently pleases readers because many write and share their thoughts on books and characters they have grown to love. With books in over eight different languages, she has fans from all over the globe. From her first Rita Nominated, Holt medallion finalist, Fearless Hearts, her novels never disappoints. She was a double finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Excellence in Mystery contest with 2 novels. Addie and the Larid was 4th, By King's Command was 3rd. Mattie and the Blacksmith was 3rd in the Laurel awards. Linda will be serving as the President of her RWA chapter in New Mexico, Land of Enchantment Romance Authors, or LERA as well as giving a day long seminar at the Romantic Times convention in Houston, Texas in November. Along with helping aspiring authors reach publication, Linda hosts contests for her readers on her website. - Notice de désambigüisation
- Linda Crockett writes as Linda Castle, Linda Lee Castle, and Grace Innis.
Membres
Critiques
Prix et récompenses
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 19
- Membres
- 254
- Popularité
- #90,187
- Évaluation
- 3.5
- Critiques
- 3
- ISBN
- 36
- Langues
- 1
The story opens with Chase, the title character, returning from war with an injured hip and the loss of his memory. The catch, though, is that he hasn’t told a single soul, not even the doctor who treated him, that he can no longer remember his past life. All he knows about himself is what he learned from the things others told him and the letters he’d received from his wife, so he’s returning home with no idea what to expect and trying to hide his infirmity. However, not long after his return, pieces of the puzzle start falling into place, making him realize he did something questionable in his past life before heading out to war, something that he fears might have even been illegal. A part of me simply didn’t understand why he kept his memory loss a secret. Chase’s reasoning supposedly is that, while he hit his head during the fall after being wounded, it left little more than a small bump. Because of this, he doesn’t think the cause is medical, but he does know (though I can’t recall how) that his grandfather lost his mind and he thinks that it might be hereditary. So he spends his first few months at home muddling though while wracking his brain for any small memory he can dredge up. He also owns the local newspaper, although we don’t know if it was a family business that was handed down or what, so he uses the papers to look for clues to his past. This made for an unusual sort of mystery, but at the same time, the clues weren’t adding up quite fast enough to suit me.
While all this is happening, Chase is also falling in love with his wife all over again. He may not remember her, but she stirs something within him that he can’t deny. He begins to suspect that he may not have been a great husband in the past and vows to do better. This part of the plot reminded me a little of the movie, Regarding Henry, so it didn’t surprise me when I read in the author’s note at the end, that this was one of her inspirations for the book. However, because of Chase’s deception, he spends a lot of time trying to avoid Linese even though she makes it clear that she would welcome him back into her bed. Again this is something I didn’t entirely understand. His reason is supposedly because he fears that he’ll do something in bed that will tip her off to his memory loss, but I wasn’t entirely buying it. After a couple of false starts, he does finally give in with pleasant results all the way around, and I liked that he also eventually came clean with her about why he’d been distant. Once they finally reconnected, I liked Chase pretty well. He turns into a caring, passionate, and attentive husband. When he finally realizes what he’d been doing before the war and all the puzzle pieces start falling into place, I admired his honorable nature and willingness to die for a worthy cause, but at the same time, I thought perhaps he should have tried a little harder to find another solution, especially considering he had a family by then.
Linese is a sweet heroine, which I typically like, but I felt like there was something missing in her characterization. For starters, when details begin to emerge regarding how Chase and Linese met, I can’t say that I fully understood what made her fall for him in the first place. I can get on board with a confident hero who has a touch of arrogance on occasion, but if I’d had a strange man just walk up to me and state (not ask, mind you) that he was going to marry me, I have serious doubts that he would have won me over. When we finally get the whole story of the meeting, I still wasn’t particularly impressed. Linese even told Chase he’d have to get past her aunt who was a tough customer, but we never did find out what he did to persuade the older woman.
Anyway, first meeting aside, I could see why she would fall for the new and improved Chase, so that part was OK. I think it’s just that because we know so little about Linese, she never became a memorable heroine for me. She was raised by two maiden aunts, although I don’t believe the reason for that was given. I assume it was probably due to the death of her parents, but she has very little backstory to speak of. One of the most interesting things about her, IMHO, is the fact that despite Chase expressing some chauvinistic views about a proper woman’s place before leaving, she had been working at the newspaper and even writing the editorials for the past two years. When we first see her, she’s finishing her last article before going to greet her husband. I thought perhaps some conflict might arise out of this situation, but nothing really came of it. After Chase returns, Linese simply resumes her place as his dutiful wife, and even after she finally confesses that she was the editorial writer for the paper all that time, it’s basically a non-issue. I also thought it rather bold that Linese befriended the ladies from the local bordello even though it was far from proper, but again, no conflict of any kind arises from it. It was cute, though, that she got one of the prostitutes to teach her about how to pleasure a man, so that she could seduce her husband. Overall Linese was certainly a kind, gentle, and likable heroine, but in the end, she was a little on the bland side.
Once things started moving on the mystery part of the plot, I was much more engaged. I liked the connections to the Underground Railroad and how the author managed to fairly balance the sentiments on both side of the war without engaging in demonization. The townspeople were a mixed lot of good guys and bad guys, some of which were obvious and others whom it was fun to figure out. Chase’s “crazy” grandfather was an interesting character who’s a lot more than he seems at first glance. Once Chase and Linese got past the things that are keeping them apart, I could feel the connection between them, which was a plus. Other than a lack of contractions in dialogue which made it rather stilted, I thought the writing itself was pretty strong. So overall, The Return of Chase Cordell was definitely a worthwhile read, particularly for anyone who likes romances centering around the Civil War era.… (plus d'informations)