Danni Roan, $2.99, ISBN 978-1393499497
Historical Romance, 2020
Danni Roan’s Peri has, sadly, nothing to do with Nando’s, but rather, Periwinkle Perkins.
Her sister Primrose had absconded to Needful to be a mail-order bride, leaving her behind to take care of their loony mother. They live with Peri’s aunt, but Peri decides that with winter coming, Aunt Betty can’t afford to care for her and her mother.
Fortunately, Peri has a sensible plan. She will take the mule and scour the hills for the money that she knows her dead criminal daddy had stashed somewhere, and with the money, she can bring herself and her drooling senile mother over to Needful and reunite with Prim!
So, you ask, what happens should she can’t find the money?
Oh don’t worry, this is a romance story, so naturally the hero will gallantly step in to help in exchange for virtuous virgin snu-snu. Oh sorry, this is a Christian romance, so make that a chance to hold her hand instead.
Well, well, imagine my pleasant surprise when she actually does find the money instead of ending up nearly mauled by a cocaine bear or something.
After that pleasant detour, the story follows a familiar pattern similar to that in the previous Brides of Needful Texas stories: Peri arrives at the town, and everyone, including the hero Bartholomew “Bear” Cassidy, all but rolls out the red carpet for her.
Even that one time that she may be in any trouble, getting caught in the rain, she meets Bear when she needs to seek shelter at his place. He doesn’t even do the surly mountain man act that one would expect from a bloke like him; instead, he’s all about making sure that she is warm and safe.
I’m starting to believe that setting even one story, much less an entire series, in this place is a mistake, because what’s the fun in reading a story in which everything is coming up roses? I suspect that if Peri trips and falls out of a window, she’d magically land on a thick, comfy mattress right next to a bag containing thousands of dollars and a ribbon with a sign that says “To Peri, because you are awesome!”.
Well, as for emotional conflicts, I suppose there is Peri needing a husband, but guess what, Bear is single and doesn’t mind having a wife…
Oh, how about Peri wanting to know more about Bear first? Considering that he is a perfect gentleman and an open book, that’s not much of a dramatic arc either.
In the end, Peri is a readable story, with all the ingredients for a cozy, heartwarming read. The author’s inability to generate any plausible conflict for her characters, however, also means that there is nary any emotional investment needed to reach the happy ending. The heroine has it so easy that she all but glides along the gilded path to her happily ever after while having roses thrown at her all the way, so it’s too easy to tune out of the story and look for something else to read—something that can actually hit the feels now and then.
