Cowboy turns up that he and Amy surely will have considerably more screen-time together. It's a rare author that is confident enough in her skill that she doesn't feel the need to draw attention to it - so if you don't notice, you lose nothing, but if you do, you are that much more profoundly impressed.ĥ.) A very well-crafted mystery! Jaded and cynical as I am, it is so nice to get through a whole book without rolling my eyes and thinking 'gee, I wonder where THIS is going.' And to be fair, there is a little of that - you know as soon as Young Mr. But never once does she mention that they are all named after flowers.

It would be cleverness enough to name the women of the Goodnight family as she has: Amaryllis, Delphinium, Hyacinth, and so on. Clement is clearly a fan of deliberate under-writing. But it's sprinkled with arcane references: you don't need to have ever heard of the Mysteries of Udolpho or the Luftwaffe to enjoy the story (they are passing mentions only), but I am so glad to see a book that drops them in so craftily and to such good effect that it might actually inspire someone to go and look these things up, and deepen their enjoyment of the story just that much more. By that I don't mean it's a hard read - not at all.

Pepper too.Ĥ.) Truly sophisticated writing. Usually 'small-town Texas' is shorthand for 'good old-fashioned god-fearing yokels' (who are inevitably torn asunder by Tremors worms or Chain-Saw Massacres or what-have-you) or else 'intolerant Bible-beating hillbillies.' But while Barnett is fictional, it reads real: people speak in sensible ordinary English and behave in relatable, realistic ways. They are well-drawn, unique without being hamfistedly 'quirky', and introduced efficiently (easy to remember and tell them apart, and without sucking up pages in description or back-story.) I'm not one for romance, but it's easy to see what there is to like in the cowboy next door.ģ.) It is powerfully short on stereotypes. Amy is one of the best.Ģ.) Excellent supporting cast. It's so refreshing to spend 400 pages with a likable person who recognizes her own flaws without drowning in them.

She has plenty of appealing traits (grounded, sensible, caring, brave in a pinch, smart in the mouth) and her negatives - shooting off said mouth, occasionally doing stupid things for stupid or emotional reasons - are framed by a good deal of self-awareness. 1.) A good heroine! Amy is 17 or so, and she acts it.

Texas gothic by rosemary clement moore