Book Review: Lonestar Secrets

By Colleen Coble
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Rating:

This book is about a woman named Shannon who decides to go back to her hometown where she can raise her young daughter Kylie in a good environment with lots of fresh air. However, by moving back, Shannon must also face the many demons she left behind. She gets a job as a veterinarian and moves into her uncle’s old and dilapidated house.

Soon after arriving, Shannon finds her high school enemy, Jack, has a daughter named Faith who looks just like her own daughter Kylie. After a little detective work, Shannon and Jack uncover the truth: both girls are Shannon’s daughters and they were separated at birth. In order to provide the girls with a good home and spare them from custody battles, Shannon and Jack get married. Over time, Shannon is able to regain her trust in Jack, and they fall in love.

This book had some twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. When I first started reading, I thought that I already had the plot figured out, and I knew exactly what would happen. I was pleasantly surprised.

However, there were a few word choices that struck me as odd.

“Coke?”
“I’ll take that,” he said, knowing she meant any soft drink she happened to have in the fridge. He accepted the cold Mountain Dew she got out of the rusting refrigerator for him. (pg 90)

This was news to me. I’ve never heard of anyone using the word coke synonymously with the word soda. I was telling my mother-in-law about how oddly this struck me, and she thought perhaps it was a dialect issue. You know how couch and divan mean the same thing, but people in the Western United States usually say couch, and people in the South call it a divan. What about the people who call it a sofa? But, I digress. After a little Google search, I found out that apparently, I still have much to learn about the Southern United States. Check out The Pop vs. Soda Page, which really needs to be renamed The Pop vs. Soda vs. Coke page. You can actually see what parts of the U.S. use the word Pop, Soda, or Coke to mean a carbonated drink. Who knew?

So, then I came across this:

“The taste of the drink purged the bile on her tongue.” (pg 72)

“She ran back to her vehicle and rummaged in the back for a weapon against the spiders, even though the thought of going through them made bile rise to the back of her throat. (pg 77)

Is this another dialect issue? I’m wondering if “bile” means saliva or a bad taste in the mouth in another part of the country. It seems so odd to me. I have never heard it used this way. When I think of the word bile, I think of the fluid that is in your gallbladder, not saliva. If someone knows the answer to this, I would love to hear your thoughts. I’m thinking that there may be more for me to learn. I wonder if there is a Bile vs. Saliva Page somewhere…

Anyway, back to the book. It kept my interest, the dialogue is pretty good, and the characters are very likable. There were some instances when things turned out too convenient, and didn’t seem believable—such as when Shannon, the veterinarian, shows up at Jack’s ranch only to find his horse having a foal. Overall, this book would be a good light read if you are a Christian western romance fan.