Secure Distant Dreams (Ribbons Of Steel, #1) Fabricated By Judith Pella Paperback

it Ok, I wanted to give this book more but helb back, The reason for that is because it is not a stand alone book, I don't mind a series if it grabs me and I need to read the rest, This was not one of those stories, The year isand Carolina Adams finds herself enchanted by an unlikely suitor, . . the railroad.
Frustrated by society's expectations upon her gender, she longs to study more masculine subjects and is thrilled when her father grants her a tutor.

James Baldwin arrives to serve as Carolina's teacher, but of more importance, he is to court Carolina's beautiful older sister, Virginia,
Will expectationsand Virginia's southern charmelicit the hopedfor proposal Or will James and Carolina dare to acknowledge the mutual interests and feelings growing between them The author does an excellent job writing a historical romance which also introduces the reader to the history of how railroading began in America.
There are societal expectations, danger, tragedy, faith, and forgiveness entwined in the plot, The heroine in the story, Carolina, is very intelligent and much more interested in learning and adventure than in coming out to society, Her sister, Virginia, is just the opposite a true southern belle who wants to marry well and be a hostess for her husband, If you like stand alone books with the ending perfectly tied up, you will be disappointed in this one, The conclusion is not complete, and will be continued somewhat in the second book of the trilogy, Often this bothers me, but I enjoyed this one so much that I am eager to read the other two, This was a really fun book to read since I love the, Joseph Adams is a southern gentleman who owns Oakbridge Plantation, He and his wife, Margaret, are loving people who enjoy their southern way of life, They have several wonderful children and life seems to be grand, Enter Carolina Adams. Thisyear old southern belle is anything but the belle of the ball, She longs for higher learning in a world where ladies run the household, care for the children and are the picture of society, Her father wants to please Carolina and her mother want her to become the southern lady that she was raised to be, Their oldest daughter, Virginia, is the picture of what a southern belle should be, She is nearly past the age to be eligible to marry a proper southern gentleman and she is determined to find a husband, The twists and turns throughout the story kept me on the edge of my seat and it made it difficult to put the book down.
I enjoyed the historical facts and how the story shows how the struggles that each character went through,

I loved this book. The characters were interesting and well developed, The story was interesting. The biggest bummer is that my library doesn't have the third book in the series, I'm going to read book two and request that they add book three to their collection,

I thought this book was Christian, but the first three quarters of the book lacked any mention of God, I thought that was odd as it felt like I was reading a very clean secular novel, Toward the end, the characters started discussing God a bit but I never felt like it was an important part of their lives, Maybe they develop more of a relationship with God in the second book, meh . disappointing

Extremely slow moving plot
Overkill on railroad detail to the point I was snoozing,
Cop out ending
Annoying cast of characters

Good news:
Read for free with Kindle Unlimited,

Not interested in paying to read the rest of the series, nice try though I found this to be an interesting book focusing on the emerging railroads of the US with a light romance spin to it.
This is NOT a typical, bawdy romance novel, and would instead be completely appropriate for a religious, teenager who wants her heart to flutter a bit as she reads.
I haven't read the two sequels yet, so can't speak to those,

However, the story line was a bit slow for me, and even my own fascination with the railroad politics, etc was taxed by some of the time the author spent on setting the scene of the story.
Also, the relationship is taking so long to develop, I'm losing a bit of interest in the book as a result not enough 'moments' to keep me wanting to know what's next.
Most importantly, if you are not Christian, this book is riddled with bible verses, and you might very well be irritated by that, On the flip side, if you ARE Christian, you are going to love seeing a 'romance' novel that actually ties scripture into the actual storyline continually.


So, interesting read, fun way to learn about the railroad, but if you are someone is a bookdevourer like me, you probably want to get your fix on the emergence of the rail in America in a slightly more mature book that isn't quite so 'disney'd' up.
: GREAT FOR TEENS! I actually was really into this story but then it ended, or more like it didn't end, I read the description for the next two books in the series and it looks like bookis the ending for this book and the description of bookbasically tells you how it all ended.
It's like they took the book and chopped it in half right in the middle at the climax and gave the first part away for free and want you to pay for the ending.


Since the description for the third book told me how it all ends, I have at least a little closure on the story but I will probably not ever be picking up a book by these authors.
Even though I have liked some of Tracie Peterson's other books, I just haven't liked them enough to risk another cliff hanger ending like this one.
Great historical novel, with an amazing amount of detail relating to railroads of the day, That amazing detail got a little old around/of the way through, but if I had researched railroads that much to write a book, then by gum I would bore the reader, too! There were also some unnecessarytotheplot encounters with historical figures and political discussions, but again, it was ok with me.
I'd rather skip over too much historical detail than feel like an author knows nothing about the period,

Besides the rich historical and technical detail, I also liked how the authors did not shy away from the opinions of the day, or make those who had what we consider now to be bad things as bad people.


Surprisingly to me, I have come to the conclusion I like these types of novels that unfold over several months or years of a character's life.
It gives depth of character you can't quite get in a short time frame, If you showed me the same in a movie I would die of boredom where are the explosions or aliens or something exciting but it works in books.


And, finally, although this is a Christian fiction book, the religious stuff is not over the top or cheesy or contrived,

Already bought bookand am looking forward to reading it! I got this book as a free Kindle, and I should know to be careful around those when it turns out to be the first in a series.
The story was okay, but too longwinded with no real resolution, Far too many pages were about people's thoughts or rather the two main characthers' thoughts, It gets rather tedious to read the same thoughts and doubts and dreams again and again, The main problem with showing both main characthers' thoughts is that the reader know all about the other person's feelings so there are no anticipation, no speculation, no guessing.
I used to love reading books where you had to guess and read between the lines for signs of when the hero or heroine discovered his/her feelings.
Such books you can read again and again trying to discover new hidden signs, But modern books seem to be all about telling it all from page one making them readandthrowout types of books, Unfortunately, this belongs to that category and I doubt I'll use money on the rest of the series, It was well written and a good story, but it had a cliffhanger type ending, I don't mean there is suspense, but all the loose ends are left untied waiting for the next book, Thankfully the whole series is out so there is no waiting, These types of books/series are the worst when just released because you can end up waiting a year or more to find out what happens.
This particular book is interesting and well written, but left me feeling kinda depressed, I am thankful that i have access to the next book and hopefully things will start to look up, first off, myyear old self would be proud, i can't remember the last time i read a whole book in one day, sheeesh!!

second off, my first time dabbling in historical fiction!! and i quite like it, it has been very intriguing to see just how far women have come, in carolina's culture, a woman getting a formal education was unheard of and that strikes me as totally bizarre,

i thought carolina and james' story would end here but no, oh welll to book.

the last two books i read contained strong fatherdaughter relationships but this one definitely tops them all, Distant dreams

Distant dreams

I wish I could give it more than five, This was an extremely interesting novel, I can't remember when I read a story that brought tears to my eyes, It was a story of a loving family, who experienced joy and sorrow, love and laughter, tragedy and dreams and failure, Also a lot of lessons to learn from these experiences, though not intentionally, I would have been very disappointed of the ending if this was "end of story", but there are two more books to this series and you bet your buttons I'm going to read them!! I learned a few interesting things about trains too.
This is a must read! I liked the courage of Carolina Adams a young high society woman wanting to learn all she can of the railroads.
I felt like the setting and circumstances of the Adams family were very close to what life for a young woman in thes would have been like.
Arranged marriages, women would go insane if they "knew" too much of things, I liked the dream for freedom, I had to read the second book right away to get the conculsion of the love match that you want to happen in the first book.
I really liked how it all fell into place at the end,.stars, historical setting's. Started to understand the history of banking with President Andrew Jackson, Basically, he opposed the bank because it was run by and mostly for the rich people in the Northeast and did little to benefit the working people in the Western states.
The second interesting part of the book was about the railroad and western expansion, The ending leaves everything open for the sequel, I prefer more closure. So the history was fascinating, the characters disappointing, Quickly lost interest in this one, Details can add to the story but sometimes too many details can bring it down, It just seems to go on amp on,

There's a black monster coming! The iron beast smelled as it belched black smoke, Sparks made the ground catch fire! Carolina Adams was, and her mother, Margaret, didn't like her father, Joseph, calling her a child, The parents conversation was drowned out by the noise, amp Carolina moved closer to the machine, Philip Thomas, President of the BampO Railroad announced that the trip from Baltimore to Washington had been successful, having taken a little more thanhours.
Carolina asked questions about everything, although sometimes her questions weren't considered appropriate for a young lady, Thomas announced that machines like the locomotive would be the key to unlocking dreams, Carolina was asked to be one of the first to ride the engine! The place where she was to ride was usually filled with coal.
Others were chosen to ride, then the engine moved down the track aboutfeet, When she got off she noticed stains on her white kid gloves, . . I'm not all that religious of an individual, but I really love this book, Firstly because Carolina wants to defy all the traditions of the mid's, She's got one thing on her mind, and she decides to go for it,
Another thing that I loved about this book is that you get the prospectives of several of the characters that are mentioned in the story.

I'm also thinking that the authors did a great deal of research with this book, especially having to do with the railroad, This is one of my favorite historical romance trilogies, and I think anyone into this genre should read this entire trilogy,
really interesting story ruined by selfabsorbed "me me me" characters


The book is actually really good in many aspects, however, I experienced an overwhelming urge to punch the female protagonist and the "hero" requires a kick up the backside, hence this is getting a.




The Plot
The heroine is a "poor little rich girl" who wants to study and pursue a career in the Railroad.
However, due to her gender severe restrictions are imposed relating to her ambition, The plot starts off great pioneer intelligent heroine and the author really has researched her subject matter with regards to the railroad some audience may find a surfeit of historical detail.


In the interim we are introduced to the heroine's family and other supporting characters, all of whom are pretty well fleshed out.
However, there were far too many subplots introduced too early in the book, which did overwhelm the actual story,

Overall, I think the author relied far too heavily on plot cliches without really thinking about her characters,
. The pioneering heroine who defies all to pursue her ambitions ought to have been handled with some tact and sophistication, The immature renderings of the heroine were understandable as she'sand no one enjoys reading about goody selfsacrificing types, however, this heroine was far too self absorbed with deplorable conduct.

. The sibling rivalry put the heroine rather than the opposing sibling in a bad light, Again, another plot cliche that was handled poorly,
. The btch fiance of the hero who happens to be the heroine's older sister is a plot cliche that can be well worked out, but here I felt sorry for the "other woman"!
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The tall dark handsome cliche is not enough to make a hero, Give him a personality we can like! This guy flits about women, careers and is also self absorbed, The author uses a cliched "foil" against the hero by introducing a Blond suitor for the heroine, however, this self made hardworking man who says it like it is seems far better than the weak, selfish little hero.




The Characters:
Heroine: This is where the book really fails, I appreciate the restrictions society has placed on women, however, the heroine is so self absorbed while people including poor slaves are dying and living awful lives while all she can do is "poor me" herself and rage against her parents.


Even towards the end when there is a huge tragedy she's still inflicting us with her "poor me" self absorbed monologue, It was tiring!


Another issue I took exception to was her callous disregard to her sister's feelings, Ok I get it her older beautiful sister only wants to marry the "hero" for the "wrong reasons" avoid being a spinster, However, that is no justification for trying to steal her man! That's your sister! And if the "hero" was meant to be with you than he'd make that choice without interference from you! Hence, not only is she self absorbed she's also selfish devious scheming horrible and spiteful.



Hero: what a weak, spineless and selfish character, This dude needs a backbone, Another self absorbed "me me me" type, His friend dies in a horrible accident, he breaks his leg and might possibly lose the function of it and all he's concerned about is becoming a cripple! A man has lost his life and he thinks the dude who died is better off.


He's so ungrateful to his parents enacting the whole "poor me" routine that would rival the heroine's "poor me" monologue,

Also, this guy encourages ayear old gently bred girl to fall for him he is openly courting her, however, feels trapped into marrying her while checking out her younger sister the heroine.
This despicable behaviour is of course not his fault according to him it's all due to his parents and his fiance's fault he's in this mess.


He could have easily rectified the situation by NOT COURTING her when it became obvious he was eyeing up the younger sibling.
But no the dude just lets others drag him along till he realises he "oh no I must account for my actions!", So while he plays one sister off against the other he then proceeds to continue his self absorbed lifestyle where everything is about "me me me"



Politics
There were many political issues dealt within this book which some people may find uncomfortable with or boring.
The slavery references were a touch uncomfortable, however, I did enjoy reading about the banking details, how Texas was part of Mexico and it was Mexico's opposition to slavery that created the rift which had the American govt steal Texas from Mexico despite treaties.
And the railroad politics were also fascinating,

I think most people will be impressed by the author's research, however, the may not agree with all the topics,



Religion
I didn't feel this book was a Christian book, Other than the heroine's father seeking God, the other characters were selfish and materialistic,

The slvveowning was also a problem I don't understand why the "need" for slaves was so great just cut back on your lush cushy lifestyle.
I also didn't feel they were good examples of Christians with all the spitefulness and self absorbed sentiments raging throughout the book, Although I'm not a Christian hence I'm not an authority,

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