Cottonwood Place

by Sandy Wickersham-McWhorter

Where do you go when there's no place left to go? If you've been everywhere and done everything and aren't satisfied, come discover the mysteries of Cottonwood Place Bed and Breakfast Inn and the captivating American Southwest. Cottonwood Place Brochure Megan MacCloud knows before meeting him that Ian Hunter is the neediest of the many troubled guests her inn has helped. Estranged from God, neither she nor Ian believe that He can bring them the harmony and love they crave. Ian says he couldn't resist driving across the country to her after her face on a brochure "hypnotized" him. Because of past abuse, her attraction to him is dashed when she learns he drinks. She resists loving Ian, but her family and almost-human pets frustratingly bond with him immediately, proving he's good. Megan, her Grandma, and pets resolve to help Ian stop drinking and be a doctor again. He helps solve major problems with guests and saves several lives as Megan and her mysterious, Navajo-and-White family show him religious and lifestyle philosophies that are foreign to him, yet truly American. When Megan's kidnapped by a guest for unknown reasons, Grandma says that to find Megan and have the life with her that he dreamed of, Ian must first "find himself." What does that mean? Can God use Megan's family, their Navajo ceremonies, and the police to find Megan and help her and Ian "walk in beauty" before she's lost forever?

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2007

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandy Wickersham-McWhorter is a new author for me. Cottonwood Place was an intriguing book on the description provided on NetGalley.com's site, so I requested to read it for review. At first, I found the narrative to be a bit shallow for the depth of issues in the book, but as I got into it, I found that the author had provided significant weight to the problems of the characters.

Ian Hunter is a doctor who fought a malpractice suit and won it, but still had his insurance premiums rise to prohibitive amounts. He could not get past the death of the hemophiliac child, and began drinking to cope with the stress. His landlord's assistant/niece gave him a brochure for an Inn in Boulder City, Nevada, and the place compelled him to go.

Megan MacCloud is part Navajo and part Scottish and the manager of Cottonwood Place. She runs it with her Grandmother Lona, her cat and dog--Cassie and Orion. She has the capacity to see troubles in people and works to help them resolve them. Megan was once a practicing nurse who was abused by her late husband and knows how PTSD can influence a person's actions.

Dreams and their interpretations hold a prominent place in this novel. The Navajo tenet of being in harmony with the universe and the Great Spirit also play an important part.

I had a hard time working my way through the dreams and the interpretations, the events that came out of the dreams, and the way the problems in this book are solved. In the end, both Megan and Ian find their purpose and find new ways of life that sustain the Navajo.

This is a three-ish star book for me, others will give it a higher rating. It's a matter of taste and frame of mind while I was reading it.

Pelican Book Group and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinion expressed are solely my own.

[Mary Pauline M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out strong and up until more than halfway thru, was really enjoying this story. However, I can't say just why or when, but something happened to where it just wasn't what it once was. After having invested time in the book, felt led to finish it to completion. By the end, was just relieved to have finished it.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. An interesting novel. Women's fiction romance novel.