West Winds of Wyoming by Caroline Fyffe
It all begins with Charlie Rose coming into town with his daughter, Maddie. Maddie is blind. Maddie's blindness is not a problem for her daddy. He loves her very much. He lost his wife, Annie, in a wagon accident. He comes to town because of a man who is chasing him. A man who wants to kill Charlie because he shot his son. Charlie can never relax. For Maddie's safety, he gives her over to Brenna. Brenna is a good woman and a woman who will open her heart to little Maddie.
Nell has also lost a mate. Her husband, Ben, is dead. She lives with her brother, Seth. She immediately falls for Charlie. She's hungry for attention and love from a caring man. She's a strong woman and a loving woman. Charlie doesn't reveal his life to Nell. She doesn't know the new little girl, Maddie, is his daughter. This part of the novel bothered me. I thought Nell would become angry about Charlie keeping so much of his life from her. After all, he's got a daughter walking around whom he never mentions and the daughter is staying with Nell's rival. The woman whom she think Charlie is going to love. However, Nell sweetly accepts the omissions and doesn't get one bit angry. Doesn't seem like the typical woman to me.
There are certain parts of the novel I really loved. I liked Mr. Hutton, the school teacher. He became sick with the Measles. I also liked Seth, Nell's brother. There isn't much told about him. I just feel like his life could be picked up in another book. I would like to know what happens to him. Seth has a very bad cough. It worries his fiancee, and it worries Nell. The novel never tells what caused the cough. I just know he did agree to go to a doctor. I wanted to know did the cough get worse? Was it contagious? Did it lead to Logan Meadows needing to quarrantine the town and the school? I also wanted to know more about the girl he loved. His story seems only there to whet the reader's appetite. I also wanted to know more about Maddie. I don't think her blindness is really addressed until the end of the novel. I wondered how were the blind handled in the Nineteenth century? How did the children treat her? Was it difficult to find Braille books?
With Maddie too much of the story seemed glossed over with sugar. I felt as if the author, Caroline Fyffe, was afraid to touch such a delicate issue. Her writing is so good. I know she could have handled Maddie's story. I've been to Caroline Fyffe's site to look at all her other wonderful titles. I enjoyed men having guns on their hips once again like the Old West. I enjoyed reading about the horses. Nell has a soft heart for the horses and sees them with the traits any human might display. Each character is well developed except for the ones I mentioned above. Thanks to Amazon for giving me this book to review.http://carolinefyffe.com/
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