Saturday, February 27, 2010

Review - Only in My Arms



Title: Only in My Arms
Author: Jo Goodman
Publishing Date: 1996
Genre: Western
Rating: A
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased this book used.

Only in My Arms is the fifth book in the Dennehy Sisters series. Mary Dennehy is at a point in her life when she realizes that being a nun is not the right path for her. She struggles with the decision but she decides to leave the convent and live a normal life. She wants to teach out west. Her sister is already there and so she journeys to Arizona. The West is not safe because Apache Indians are constantly raiding the area. One such raid has led to a man who was sentenced to hang. In his desperation he kidnaps Mary when he escapes.

I happen to really like Jo Goodman. Not only does she weave a good tale but, her characters are vivid and her writing lilting and lovely. I think Only in My Arms might be my favorite by her thus far. The two main characters Mary and Ryder are just wonderful, wonderful people. Both are so incredibly strong-willed with truly good hearts. It would be impossible not to fall in love with them. Both are so stubborn they butt heads a lot over the course of the book. Yet, it is really fascinating to read and see what the outcome of these disagreements is and who the victor will be. You might even be surprised.

This book is chock full of wonderful passages. If you follow my blog you may have already gotten a glimpse at one of them, through my "Guess the Book" post. I had a half of dozen great scenes to choose from and it was not easy to decide among them. I have not read all the books in this series and I do not feel that it is necessary to have read them to enjoy this book. But I do wager that after reading this book, you will want to go out and read the others.

This book can be purchased in print from Amazon.

5 comments:

Kristie (J) said...

I started this one quite some time ago but didn't finish it and never quite got back to it. Hoping I can find it again, I really need to go back and give it a read again - finishing it this time!! I think I have about two or three from this series - it is difficult to tell as all the heroines have the same name *g*.
It's coming back to me now *g*. I think what kind of got to me with this one and why I might have stopped reading it, was the hypocrisy of the mother. She REALLY irritated me in this book. Big time. I think I might have got so angry with her for giving her daughter a hard time that I just stopped reading until I settled down and then rather than going back to it I started another book and this one got lost in the shuffle.

Jill D. said...

Yes Kristie! The Mom totally drove me bat shit crazy at first. I know exactly what you are referring to in the book. Don't worry, the Mom is not a huge part of the book. Definitely keep reading. Good luck finding it, LOL!

Kris said...

have never read Jo Goodman. Would this be a good one to start with or should I start somewhere else?

Leslie said...

This is one of my favorite series of Goodman's. And Only in My Arms is my favorite of the 5. Wonderful review. :)

Jill D. said...

Kris, I think that you would be fine to start with Only in My Arms. You really don't have to have read the rest of the books in the series to enjoy this one. I didn't and I loved it.