I'm not sure whether I didn't like this or whether I've just gotten used to the genre and am finding it too predictable, but I do get impatient when selfish meddlers and miscommunication keep a couple apart for a huge chunk of the story.
Stafford Orme goes to visit his father's new house in the countryside (incidentally, the descriptions of the landscape are rather delicious!), and he meets Ida, a neighbor girl who is managing her father's farm. He has never been attracted to anyone before, but of course he falls in love with her at first sight, which means it must be The Real Thing.

Other people... happen. Things get messed up and people get miserable, but of course hero and heroine will always rise above, act nobly, and be rewarded. I have no problems with a good old-fashioned melodrama, but in this case it felt too much like the author was ticking off boxes on his checklist. ( )