REVIEW: Don’t Fence Me In by Marianne Arkins
Dear Ms Arkins,
I adore finding romances set in unusual times or places which is why I jumped on “Don’t Fence Me In” when I saw it listed at Fictionwise. I’ve read some great short stories that managed to completely convince me of the couple’s HEA. And then I’ve read some that just didn’t quite do it for me. And this is why, despite the fact that I think you managed to give the book a good period feel and I like your writing style, that I feel I have to grade it a C+.
I did feel the attraction between Jeremy and Lizzie. I did feel Lizzie’s sense of loss over the death of her older brother. I did feel Jeremy’s guilt about thinking he let his best friend down and that Seb died when he, Jeremy, should have been on that patrol. But I just didn’t feel that these two had fallen in love enough to sustain my belief in their HEA. Maybe if they had corresponded for more time or if the story had ended with them just getting together and starting to date it would have worked better for me. I see that you have several other titles available from Fictionwise so maybe I’ll try one of them.
~Jayne
Available from Fictionwise
Jayne, what is the unusual setting of this story?
I love the variety of books you review. You’re always telling me about genres out of the ordinary. Is Vintage Rose a line of books from a particular period, or all their historicals?
The setting is 1953 towards the end of the Korean War.
Vintage Rose books look like they’re American Historicals set in the 20th century (mainly first half of) published by Wild Rose Press.
Thanks! And I second Jan’s comment about the diversity of the books you review.
The guidelines for Vintage Rose say they’re Classic Romance from Days Gone By – Depression era stories, WWI and WWII stories, fifties, sixties, seventies, etc.
I like the fact that The Wild Rose Press publishes short stories as stand-alones and accepts such a wide variety of sub-genres of romance.