Helpful Score: 2
Don't let the cheesy cover and generic title fool you. (Although, given the time when it was published, the cover is actually quite tasteful.) This is not your average bodice-ripper, this is a great story. It is a standout in the romance genre. There's action, adventure, history, romance, and a little mystery. Like Forest Gump in the 18th century, our characters experience the civil war and the resulting migration to the west. There are plenty of soldiers, cowboys, Indians, and horses. "When Splendor Falls" has all the ingredients of a great American story. No one writes this type of romance anymore, certainly not as well as Ms. McBain. It's historically accurate and the characters are believable for the period in which they live.
The story is about Neil Braedon, who is a great non-hero destined for Miss Leigh Travers of Travers Hill. Before he can claim Leigh, he must serve in the Civil War, on the opposite side of Leigh Traver's brothers and his own cousins while Leigh struggles to hold her family's plantation and surviving members together. Neil and Leigh meet before and during the last stages of the Civil War and through Neil; Leigh embarks on a journey to a ranch in New Mexico and once there finds the freedom she was denied as a young woman in the old South. The story is skillfully plotted and the characters and historical events evolve naturally. The background description of the southern plantations and Mexican influence on western ranches make the story rich and colorful.
The story is about Neil Braedon, who is a great non-hero destined for Miss Leigh Travers of Travers Hill. Before he can claim Leigh, he must serve in the Civil War, on the opposite side of Leigh Traver's brothers and his own cousins while Leigh struggles to hold her family's plantation and surviving members together. Neil and Leigh meet before and during the last stages of the Civil War and through Neil; Leigh embarks on a journey to a ranch in New Mexico and once there finds the freedom she was denied as a young woman in the old South. The story is skillfully plotted and the characters and historical events evolve naturally. The background description of the southern plantations and Mexican influence on western ranches make the story rich and colorful.
