Author: Debbie MacomberFirst published: 1999Length: 356 e-pagesSetting: Contemporary. North Dakota Small Town (Buffalo Valley)Sex: Closed door but frequent.Hero: FarmerHeroine: Went to college where she studied French with a minor in education. She has floated between jobs since then but needs a change and a time away from a relationship going nowhere. Takes a contract as a High School teacher in a one-room school.Where was the grovel?Okay, this is a book about belonging and about finding your passion. Characters are looking for roots, define themselves and each other by their birthplace, and they desperately need to find their place. Part of finding their place in the world is finding their passion, the thing that makes them happy. Be that teaching, art, farming, marriage, work outside the home, or whatever...And that part of the story is fulfilling, for fluffy women's lit.What annoys me is Lyndsay and Gage's (non-)relationship.Apparently, the fact they are In Love and that Gage Lusts after Lyndsay,allows him to demean her and walk all over her. There is little trust and respect. No support.But she'll forgive him.Because sex means I'm sorry. And is a fabulous substitute for actually discussing how they can meld their disparate lives and expectations.*snort*All the work, all the compromise, all the forgiveness comes from Lyndsay.And that really, really irritates me.Especially while we are watching Joannie and Brandon's marriage fall apart for exactly the same reasons!So, overall, a good book. If you can accept that it's the woman's job to maintain the marriage, and that the man cannot be expected to understand her female emotions but only accept her foibles.Yeah, so ignore the main relationship in the plot and read the rest of it....Hmmm.There may be a problem here.Maybe if you read the book but don't actually think about what's going on?That might work.2 stars. It's okay as long as I don't think too hard.Dakota Series:Book 1 Dakota Born - Lyndsay Snyder and Gage SinclairBook 2 Dakota Home - Maddy Washburn and Jeb McKennaBook 3 Always Dakota - Margaret Clemens and Matt EilersBook 4 Buffalo Valley - Vaughn Kyle and Carrie HendricksonReferences:Author's website: http://www.debbiemacomber.com/books/d...(ISBN 978-1-4268-0381-9)*re-read Feb-2015*-CR-
This is a book my mom received from Talking Books. Again, she started it, got me hooked & then went on to finish it without me. I heard snippets of it as I came & went about errands & house work.Even though I count Ms Macomber one of my favorite authors, I almost had to force myself to finish this book. There were so many characters to keep track of, I wrote a list of them so I could go back & check to see who the character was when their story came up. There are 2 more books in this trilogy. I'm seriously considering making a card for each story line.I did not like the men, they were ... mmm, not sure what animal I want to call them, swine or pack animals come to mind. Then again, it wasn't all the men, just Monte, Gage, Brandon, Heath & Jeb. Oh, & the owner of the theater, whoever he was.And the refrain throughout the book echoed the title of the book ... Dakota born. Lindsay says to Gage, "If I'd been born here, I would've known better ..." Is everyone born in the Dakotas as blindingly bigoted as these men??? Lindsay tells Maddy that she could live there 50 years & still not think like they do. To my way of thinking, that's not a bad thing.
What do You think about Dakota Born (1999)?
Seeming as that I live in the same town and have visited with her on many occasions, it's only fair that I love some of her books. LOL (especially a certain series). Her books are like cheesecake... tasty, but not for a steady diet. I have to admit, there's always one man in her books that I want to smack, and one woman (they are usually a love interest) whom I want to shake. However, I can't help but love the books. She does have the talent of making the people come alive. They interest you. And, sometimes every man needs to have sense smacked into him, and every woman has an idiot moment. It just isn't as clear to the person who's living it. :)
—Selena Clements
There are too many new characters introduced too soon in this novel. I do love multiple story lines but I think to begin a book, the reader can’t digest more than five new faces. I want to get to know them, get to know the story, before adding the other eight new characters. This would be fine in one sitting but I’m a chapter per train ride / lunch hour sort of reader. I kept having to go back and say “who is that now? Who is married to whom?” This is also a problem with similar names (Jacob and Joshua) there are so many names in the world, writers should pick ones that don’t look similar or sound similar so as not to confuse the readers.Some of the sayings/slang, plot (“you’re going to have to ask me out because I already asked you out and you said no”) type of lines are the same book to book and series to series (Heart of Texas).All of this is nit-picking because I did love the story once I got five chapters in. I just had a hard time getting started.Not having ever been to North Dakota, I can’t say if the book rang true but I certainly did enjoy reading it. I think it could be any small town with harsh winters but for the references to the near-by “big cities” made it count for North Dakota. A sweet story about a girl who moves to North Dakota to escape a dead-end relationship back in Savannah. She’s an outsider but her grandparents and father were born and raised there. I think I would’ve liked/believed her taking the school teacher job more if she was a school teacher back in Savannah. Waking up in a new city with no friends would be hard but trying your hand at a new profession as well, overwhelming. Love the romance, love the mystery of the grandmother’s past, and I really enjoyed all the sub-plots.
—Michelle Molinari
This is Dakota #1. Lindsay needs a change. She has been in a relationship with Monte for two years. He refuses to marry her and she knows she needs to be done with him. Her best friend Maddy has been ordered to take a vacation so Lindsay and Maddy decided to go to Buffalo Valley, SD. Lindsay's family was from there. Buffalo Valley is falling apart. The farmers are going out of business. They desperately need a teacher, so Lindsay decides to take the job for a year partly to get away from Monte. She loves Buffalo Valley and starts changing things. She falls in love with Gage Sinclair but his stubbornness keeps them apart. Will Lindsay stay or go when the year is up?I liked this book. I will be getting the second in the series, Dakota Home.
—JoAnne
