Ashes of dreams Book

I read and enjoyed Langan's Duchess of Fifth Avenue (Berkley Sensation), so when I saw this book on the discount table at my local department store, I snapped it up.

Langan has taken tried and true plot devices and still made a fresh story out of them. The story of a widow struggling to hold on to her failing ranch, and a man with a spotty past and wounded soul finding love never felt stale. I also really liked that the children were realistically portrayed. They weren't spoiled brats, nor were they perfect angels who never misbehaved. They felt like real characters. I also really enjoyed that the heroine had truly loved her late husband. So many romance writers either make the first husband a horrible person, or when the heroine falls in love again, she discovers that he was more like a good friend, and wasn't a very good lover, blah, blah, blah. Not the case here. This was a refreshing change from the norm.

So why only three stars? The heroine's father-in-law really set my teeth on edge. By the time I was less than 100 pages in, I wanted to leap into the book and throttle him! He was such a sour, bitter jerk! First off, he acted like the heroine would be committing an unforgiveable sin if she were to find love and marry again. Sorry, buddy, but that's not your decision, and nowhere is it written that a woman who's loved once must mourn forever. Then, he overrules her in front of her children, and she decides to back down, because it would really hurt him if she overruled him. Uhh...it was HER house! Not the father-in-law's. And it was an issue concerning HER child! I know this is a historical novel, but it still drove me nuts. If it were my house, I'd tell him that he has to treat me with basic respect, or he'll find himself without a home to live in, injured or not.

I could understand that the father-in-law felt guilty and useless, knowing that his injury had only added to the heroine's burden, but it just went too far. He was constantly putting everyone down, and never got called up on it. Being elderly or a family member does not give a person the right to be rude and childish.

Okay, rant over! This aspect of the book probably won't bother everyone as much as it bothered me, but it was enough that I couldn't fully enjoy the book. Everytime the father-in-law appeared, he ticked me off. While it added a lot of conflict to the novel, it prevented it from being enjoyable escapist entertainment. And that's really what a romance novel is for. However, I will probably try more books by this author, as she obviously has talent.