A Coal Miner's Wife, by Romance Author, Marin Thomas

Harlequin American #1224
ISBN-10: 0373752288
ISBN-13: 978-0373752287
August 2008
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A Coal Miner's Wife

Following the accidental death of her husband, Annie McKee is determined her boys will not grow up to work in coal mines. It's been a struggle for the young widow to make ends meet, but she wants her sons to have a better life--far removed from Heather's Hollow, Kentucky. To give them that chance Annie needs a good job. And she needs the help of Patrick Kirkpatrick.

Her husband's best friend offers to help Annie study for her general education degree, and things get complicated when she and Patrick realize they have feelings for each other. But how can Annie fall for a man who is determined to stay in the one place she must leave behind?


Dear Ms. Thomas:

I predict quite a few people will be interested in this book. It’s a straight contemporary with none of the stock characters or situations that appear to predominate in that genre.

Annie McKee seems so real and down to earth. She’s a decent woman who made some major mistakes in her life but with a mother like hers, it’s not hard to imagine. Some readers might not understand her stubbornness and refusal to touch the money she got from the mines in compensation for her husband’s death but to her, it’s a way out for her boys. A chance for a better future for them and she’s not going to touch one penny of that money now that she’s used it to set up college funds for them. Maybe they won’t want to leave the Hollow. Maybe they’ll want to come back like their Uncle Patrick did after he got his college degree but whatever their choices are, Annie will know they had a choice.

Pat Kirkpatrick knows he has to step carefully around Annie. He’s lived among stubborn women his whole life and knows the women of the Hollow would rather die than accept charity. He’s also unsure about how Annie’s going to feel if he reveals his long-standing love for her. Since he and her husband were best friends, he feels almost as if he’s betraying Sean. But he’s always known Annie’s the woman for him and he loves her sons as if they were his own. I like that he can understand her burning need to make it on her own. The way they work out their future at the end of the book - with no ultimatums, sudden changes of heart or forced happiness - was a delight to read.

I think you did a marvelous job of describing the scenery and creating the background for these people. Annie drives a Gremlin - how much more awful a car could you have chosen to give her? Pat gets flustered when Annie starts treating him like a confidant. Guns and hunting he can handle but a woman’s tears send him into a panic. I’ve also known people like Annie’s mother who enjoy their own misery as well as take pleasure in that of others.

To paraphrase what Tommy Lee Jones’ character says in the movie Coal Miner’s Daughter, “There’s nothing for me here except being an old man before I’m forty.” Life in this area of the country is hard and always has been. And yet the land is so beautiful and the people closely bound to each other, it’s easy to see how some long to leave and others couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. You’ve captured both extremes and given us a gentle love story that I hope will be widely read.
      --- Jayne www.dearauthor.com/

4 1/2 Stars

When Annie McKee’s husband dies in a coal mining accident, Annie is determined to find a way out of Heather’s Hollow for her and her boys. Though it is a struggle to provide for her children as a single mother, she wants her boys to have a chance at a better life, and she can’t give them that unless she finds a career for herself.

I always love a book where there is a need for a deep sacrifice from one or both of the main characters. In this book, either Annie has to give up her dream of a better life or Patrick must give up the home he loves in order for the relationship to succeed. The emotions between these two are rich and believable. The angst they go through as they grow closer, the worry they both have about each other and about Annie's children only makes the story more heart-rending. Annie is a strong woman with a soft heart, and Patrick is the kind of man any smart woman would want in her life. Ms. Thomas has built a solid conflict and a story with much emotion.

I was certain I knew how this book was going to end -- I was positive I knew which sacrifice would be made, and who would make it. I was dead wrong, and I'm glad I was. It made the ending even more satisfying for me.

Though this book easily stands alone, you'll enjoy it more if you read the entire series so you can keep up with old friends. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (and all the books in the series) and happily encourage you to grab yourself a copy. You won't be sorry.
      --- Poppy www.longandshortreviews.com/

Patrick Kirkpatrick, her late husband’s best friend, offers the use of his computer to help Annie study for her GED. Soon Patrick and Annie find themselves falling for each other, but how can they make a life together when Patrick is content in the hollow and Annie is not?

Marin Thomas always manages to write down to earth stories that come from the heart. I loved the fact that the people of Heather’s Hollow are not well off, and that they cling to their traditional way of doing things. I also loved the fact that Annie was a high school dropout—smart, but not well educated. Often times in romance the main characters come from privileged backgrounds or have high profile careers. It’s a nice change of pace to know that “ordinary” people deserve fairytale love stories too.

A COAL MINER’S WIFE is a thoroughly delightful conclusion to Ms. Thomas’ HEARTS OF APPALACHIA series. Ms. Thomas has opened readers’ eyes to a unique culture and filled one small Clan community with fascinating, diverse characters. As I shelve A COAL MINER’S WIFE with my other beloved Marin Thomas books, it is with the sentiment that a small part of my heart will always call the fictional Heather’s Hollow “home”.
      --- Cindy www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com







   


ISBN-10: 0373752288
ISBN-13: 978-0373752287
By: Marin Thomas
Imprint and Series: Harlequin American
Copyright ©: 2008
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher.
The edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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