Friday, May 1, 2009

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper-Kathleen Y'Barbo

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper
Kathleen Y'Barbo
WaterBrook, Jun 2 2009, $9.99
ISBN: 9780307444745

Her affluent father arranged almost at her birth for his socialite daughter Eugenia "Gennie" Cooper to marry banker Chandler Dodd. However, though she hides them from her family and fiancé, Gennie has doubts about marriage now. She would like to go on an adventure just like her heroine Mae Winslow in the Dime Novels she loves to read; one perilous adventure before settling down.

In 1880 an opportunity arises for Gennie to go to the Wild West when she allegedly is taking the train to Boston; she leaps at the opportunity by replacing temporally a servant Fiona who was to take care of silver baron Daniel Beck and his daughter Charlotte. After meeting the pair, she falls in love with both. However back home in New York waiting for her is Chandler while here in the Rocky Mountains there is danger from angry miners, his late wife’s odious family the Becks, and a probable rejection by Daniel who conceals his nasty past from the easterner he loves.

This is an enjoyable western romance starring an urbanite who proves worthy of her heroine when she goes west. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action though the plot has terrific humorous, poignant and romantic moments. Fans will relish Gennie’s excellent adventure as she struggles with choices exponentially made difficult by the obstinate man she loves and her even more stubborn father whom she also loves.

Harriet Klausner

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