Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

And now my friends it's time to start in on reading our September Additional Group read Trouble in Store by Carol Cox.

Here is the Goodreads summary:

Fired from her most recent governess position, Melanie Ross must embrace her last resort: the Arizona mercantile she inherited from her cousin. But Caleb Nelson is positive he inherited the mercantile, and he's not about to let some obstinate woman with newfangled ideas mess up all he's worked for. He's determined to get Melanie married off as soon as possible, and luckily there are plenty of single men in town quite interested in taking her off his hands.
The problem is, Caleb soon realizes he doesn't want her to marry up with any of them. He's drawn to Melanie more every day, and he has to admit some of her ideas for the store unexpectedly offer positive results.

But someone doesn't want the store to succeed, and what used to be just threatening words has escalated into deliberate destruction and lurkers in the night. When a body shows up on the mercantile steps--and the man obviously didn't die from natural causes--things really get dangerous. Can Melanie and Caleb's business--and romance--survive the trouble that's about to come their way?

Please remember when you are posting to be mindful of spoiler comments for those that might not have finished reading the book yet. **SPOILER** is a good way to notify folks or hide them using the (some html is ok) spoiler hider. :)

I am a little behind in the reading of this so will try to catch up soon. But I will start with the regular question?... Have you read any other books by Carol Cox?

I cannot follow this one since the library does not have it, but I did read Love in Disguise and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Beth -;)
in Calgary

I haven't! I do have Love in Disguise on my Kindle, but haven't gotten to it yet.

I'm with you, Cheryl, I'm a bit behind in my reading too. I plan on starting this one as soon as I get done with my current read.

I read Love in Disguise and enjoyed it. I just started reading Trouble in Store and think I will enjoy that one too.

this ones been on my wish list for a while. maybe I'll go ahead and get it.

I've read Love in Disguise and Trouble in Store and really enjoyed both of them! LID was definitely my favourite, but TIS was still an excellent blend of mystery and romance. I'll need to look back over my review to remember my full thoughts on it, but I'm sure we'll have plenty to discuss :)

This is my first Carol Cox and I loved it!

Based on this book and Love in Disguise, Carol Cox likes to start her novels off with her heroines in desperate straits! What do you think of the opening of the novel and Melanie's woes?

Hmmm…I was definitely empathetic to her plight. In those times, there was very little for a lady to do other than those types of jobs. It must have been terrifying to be given the boot & then told by your employer that they would make sure you wouldn’t work in that profession again. Those that were very well-off and wealthy had such control over people in the working class where their word could make or break you.

I really liked the opening because it drew me right in to the book wondering what was Melanie going to do. Beth is right; such limited opportunities for ladies during that time period - governess, schoolteacher, mail-order bride, or lady of the night. I admired Melanie's pluck and courage in picking up and heading off in to the unknown.

I agree with Loraine and Beth. The opening really drew my into the story quickly. I definitely felt for Melanie and her circumstances. As Beth said, there were not many options for unmarried women in those days.

Unfortunately, I probably won't have time to re-read this book as much as I would love to. So, here is my review from the first time I read it, when you're ready to read it!

http://shannahmcclamrock.blogspot.com...

I just finished the book and it was very enjoyable, although at times I was annoyed by Melanie's prejudice, her rudeness and her denseness. Did anyone of you have the same problem?

Anneke, Melanie has been frustrating to me as well at times. I actually found myself liking Caleb better :)

SPOILERISH THOUGHT....
One thing that bugged me was the fact that they didn't think the threatening notes were important enough to tell the marshal. That detail of the story just sort of disappeared until they made the connection to the store.

Anneke wrote: "I just finished the book and it was very enjoyable, although at times I was annoyed by Melanie's prejudice, her rudeness and her denseness. Did anyone of you have the same problem?"

Yes - she just didn't "get it" sometimes and was very pushy. Didn't seem to even occur to her to discuss some things with Caleb before she went ahead and did them. She had some great ideas but as only half-owner of the store she acted like she was full owner and acted like Caleb's thoughts didn't even count.

I just finished this book today! I've been reading it in pieces but got to the 3/4 mark and decided to just finish it.

I'm the opposite--I really liked Melanie's spunk and thought Caleb was rather unsympathetic at the beginning. I didn't like how rude he was to Melanie at their first meeting. Melanie always had a very positive attitude which I liked a lot. Caleb grew on me, but it took several chapters before that happened. I thought the mystery element was good, too. I especially liked the setting, which seemed perfect for the villain's reason to be there.

I have to agree with you Camy- I thought it took quite a ways into the book to warm up to Caleb- really about nearly 200 pages in to the book which felt a little late to be warming him up.

Anyone else feel the same way?

Personally I found a lot to empathize with Caleb. Both of the owners of the store had died, one of which he was very close to, he is raising a son alone, then suddenly a stranger pops up & says she owns part of the store.

Obviously there was plenty to empathize with Melanie for, but for me, Caleb had more of a presence and more personality then Melanie did. She was "spunky," but it was nothing out of the ordinary. In general, I often felt there was more telling than showing in the story.

Just my thoughts :)

It's not often I relate more to the male lead...how strange! ;)

I guess to clarify, I found both sides exasperating at times. They could have had a good conversation about everything instead of the constant back and forth fighting. But then I know there would have been less to the story...maybe it's just not my favorite type of conflict in a story.

We've talked in the past about writers and their ability to write "good children characters". What did you all think of Levi as a character? Did he steal your heart, too rambunctious or just the right amount? ;) What do you think?

I thought Levi was adorable. As a retired elementary teacher, he reminded me of the students I loved the most. (I know - I wasn't supposed to have favorites LOL!) I also could see my 16 month old grandson being a lot like Levi when he gets older.

I loved Levi. He had plenty of little boy spunk.

Levi was adorable! I thought he was written very well. The scene where he put the soldier's on Mrs. Pike's bustle was hilarious :) Very cute.

Yes that was so funny, I mean it was a " shelf", right? I loved when he accidentally called Melanie "Mama" too when he was getting in trouble with the Marshall, that was a poignant moment!

Beth wrote: "Levi was adorable! I thought he was written very well. The scene where he put the soldier's on Mrs. Pike's bustle was hilarious :) Very cute."

Loved that and could just picture it in my mind!

I loved that scene as well, so funny.

Beth wrote: "It's not often I relate more to the male lead...how strange! ;)

I guess to clarify, I found both sides exasperating at times. They could have had a good conversation about everything instead of th..."

I agree, they did have massive communication issues! I really thought they ought to just talk to each other rather than sniping all the time, but then again, my husband and I do exactly the same thing so who am I to complain! LOL

Cheryl wrote: "We've talked in the past about writers and their ability to write "good children characters". What did you all think of Levi as a character? Did he steal your heart, too rambunctious or just the ri..."

Yes! The "shelf" was hilarious! I guess because I don't have children, I didn't really adore Levi as a character. I kept wanting him to sit quietly in a corner and read a book. LOLOLOLOL