WHIRLWIND

Author: Cindy Holby ISBN: 084395308X 9/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: Wyoming 1867

As the last remaining bachelor among all his friends, Zane Brody could always be counted on for incessant high jinks, indiscriminate womanizing, and irresistible charm. So when he set out for New York to retrieve a valuable thoroughbred mare to Laramie, he had no doubt he could handle any female he encountered, whether equine or human. What he didn't reckon on was an infernal goat called Lucifer and an independent-minded schoolteacher named Mary Dunleavy. The goat butted him off the train and ate his hat, while the woman batted her eyelashes and appropriated his heart. As Mary took off across the plains, Zane found his head spinning, his certainties overturned, and his love life in a…Whirlwind.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

WHIRLWIND is the newest release and also the last book in Cindy Holby's Duncan family saga. This time Holby writes Zane Brody's story in an adventure that will take him from boy to man.

Zane, a ladies man if there ever was one and also a certifiable bachelor, is in for the adventure of a lifetime. He promises to deliver a valuable horse from New York to Wyoming. It just so happens that he will also be meeting up with the new schoolteacher, Mary Dunleavy, who is also making the same trip.

Mary Dunleavy is a young widowed woman traveling with her brother Marcus, a doctor, to be the new schoolteacher in Laramie, Wyoming. She is stubborn and headstrong, but is emotionally dependant upon her brother. Mary is also going to go through a growing experience while making this journey.

In my opinion, there was no chemistry between Mary and Zane. I didn't like Mary—she whined, she said "Oh, My" way too many times, and she was the one who got them into the heap of trouble with the Indians in the first place. On the flip side, I really liked Zane. He's intelligent, honorable, a bit of a rake, and has the patience of a saint to deal with Mary.

WHIRLWIND just didn't do anything for me. I tried to become connected to the characters, but I just couldn't. The story ended up being drawn out and lost my interest more than once. The Indians could have kept Mary, for all I cared.

If I were you, I would read WHIRLWIND just to say you finished reading the series. However, if you haven't read any books in the Duncan family saga, than I would suggest you pass on this book.

Julie Kornhausl