About the Book
Can Olivia survive the crime and Gold Rush fever of 1849…and the countless marriage proposals?
A series for fans of all things related to history, romance, adventure, faith, and family trees.
The Daughters of the Mayflower series continues when Olivia Brighton finds herself widowed and working her brother’s restaurant in San Francisco during the height of the rush for gold. Even though she receives at least twenty marriage proposals a day, she will never marry a gold miner. Her brother’s friend Joseph Sawyer has gotten caught up in local politics and the plight of Chinese in forced labor. The more Joseph gets pulled into investigating crime in the city, the less Olivia sees of the compassionate man. And just when she thinks she could love again, a fire threatens to steal all hope.
Excerpt
The object of his thoughts returned minutes later carrying all four plates at the same time. For a second, he almost jumped up to help her but realized she didn’t need his assistance. In less than half a minute, she served all the men, poured their coffee, and left.
The thought made him chuckle to himself. She was impressive.
It wasn’t long before she returned with four smaller plates filled with large pieces of pie. “Sorry, gentlemen, but we are short-staffed today, so I brought your pie now.” She plopped a pie plate beside three of the men’s dinner plates in quick succession. When she made it to the last one—the man who’d been bold enough to try to reach out and stop her—he put a hand on her other arm. She stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes.
“Now, missy, the way I see it, you and me should get hitched.”
She yanked her arm away. “Well, I don’t see it that way. The answer is no.” She set the plate of pie on the table next to the man’s dinner, but as she turned, he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Come on now. I got gold. And you’re just too pretty for me to let get away.”
Joseph came out of his chair.
Without warning, the young woman picked the pie plate back up and smashed it into the proposer’s face. “Let’s get a few things straight, sir. You will be paying for your piece of pie today along with your whole dinner and I’m quite certain a generous tip. You and your friends will be welcome back in this restaurant only if you agree to never touch me again and to mind your manners. And one more thing. I will never, ever marry a gold miner.”
She turned on her heel and walked back to the kitchen. Joseph took his seat as the men at the other table laughed at their friend wiping pie from his face. Surprisingly, they all continued to eat, and nothing else was said about their waitress. Probably because no one wanted to be denied entrance to Livingston’s Restaurant.
No matter how hard he tried, Joseph couldn’t get the dark-haired waitress out of his mind. As he finished the rest of his dinner and coffee, he caught sight of her several times throughout the restaurant, but she never came back to his area again. He’d just have to ask his friend about who she was and hope he could one day meet her.
Review
San Francisco in 1849 was no place for a young woman to travel to by herself, but that’s exactly what Olivia Brighton does when she loses her husband soon after the death of her parents. My interest was immediately piqued by both the heroine’s situation and the specific setting, but I ultimately found it difficult to remain engaged in the story for a few reasons.
First of all, the characters were one dimensional. The three main characters (Olivia, her brother Daniel, and his friend Joseph) were the sole beacons of civility and all that is Christian in the decidedly unsavoury city of San Francisco. The main source of tension driving the plot was their suspicion that “something” was going on and they needed to find out what. And here was where the other one-dimensional characters came in: the bad guys. One is known to the reader throughout the story, the other is carefully veiled. Both show every outward sign of goodness and charity while rubbing their hands over their nefarious plans in private. And I agree, their plans were definitely nefarious, but it was all clichéd, predictable, and rather anti-climactic.
The narrative style was very much weighted toward telling rather than showing, and this was particularly noticeable in relation to the romance, which spent a lot of time dwelling on the characters thoughts and feelings about each other—the kind of sentimental writing I tend to avoid. The tension here was flimsy at best, based on Olivia’s vow that she would never, ever marry a gold miner—no prizes for guessing what Joseph is!—and a situation at the end of the novel that creates some last-minute doubt for Olivia.
Overall, the premise had a lot of promise, but I’m obviously not a match for this author’s style.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
About the Author
Kimberley Woodhouse is the best-selling and award-winning author of more than a dozen books. She is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she’s shared at more than 2,000 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family’s story have garnered national media attention for many years including ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, Discovery Health channel’s Mystery ER, The Hour of Power, The Harvest Show, and over 1,000 other TV appearances and radio interviews. She lives and writes in Colorado with her husband of twenty-five years and their two amazing kids.
Connect with Kimberley: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Thank you! I felt the same. I hate “perfect than thou art” characters.
They just don’t feel real, do they?
No. They do not!
I have enjoyed this author’s books but I couldn’t connect with these characters, either. And the big reveal of the “carefully veiled” (and overly touted) bad guy came as a disappointment, and even caused confusion for me.
Yeah, it was odd the way they did that.