Letter Perfect (California Historical Series #1)

by Cathy Marie Hake

Paperback, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Publication

Bethany House Publishers (2006), Edition: Reprinted, 384 pages

Description

Fiction. Christian Fiction. Historical Fiction. When she discovers the father that abandoned her is dead, Ruthie Caldwell is determined to claim her inheritance. Will her quest continue even after her own life is threatened?

User reviews

LibraryThing member MegCook
Letter Perfect a book based in the year 1859 when America was just beginning. Ruth Caldwell is the main character of this book. She is a young woman who doesn’t fit the mold of a proper lady in society. Her mother, who is sick, sends her to finishing schools where she is repeatedly expelled.
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After her mother passes away because of an illness, Ruth is sent to the McCain residence where she befriends Josh and his sister Laney. The dispute over the land causes a rift between Josh and his father, Mr. McCain, because Ruth is now the owner of 50% of the land and Mr. McCain doesn’t want to loose it. In the end Ruth and Josh get married and Mr. McCain dies.
Through out this novel Ruth Caldwell was always easy to relate to for me. Her determination to always do what is right but some how not being able to was not only entertaining to read, but it was something I could understand. She was always getting into situations that were due to her free spirit. For instance, she went to the barn because she loves animals, and while she was there she got a little too close to the young horse and the mother got angry and started to buck. On hearing the commotion Josh came over and fixed it but nevertheless Ruth was embarrassed that she had caused a problem when all she meant to do was visit the animals and give them a treat. Parts of the story were very sad, especially the unfortunate development of the character of Mr. McCain. I didn’t like that in the beginning of the book he is made to seem like a gentleman but as you read further into the story you find that he is far from your first assumption. As a whole however I enjoyed this book very much. It is the type of book I enjoy reading because of the life style they had back then. It is interesting for me to read a book from the point of view of a character that is free spirited and can speak her mind because she won’t let social standards keep her from saying what she has to say.
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LibraryThing member Misfit
First off, I confess I did not know this was a Christian book until after I purchased it at the big warehouse store. And I'm glad I bought it there instead of full price, this was a total waste of a day to get through this.

It's disappointing, as the story line could have had great possibilities
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and I loved the way Ruth was originally portrayed as a bit of a klutz. However, the characters were flat and uninteresting, either black or white with no gray areas between. There are pages and pages of useless conversations and characters that did not develop the story at all (especially Galen's family, I skipped many a chapter on them) and the big surprise of who the villain was (yawn!) was not much of a surprise at all. I mean, who else could it have been?

While I understand this is a Christian book, it seeped through virtually ever word of the book and much too preachy and overbearing for my tastes, and virtually no chemistry between Ruth and Josh. This was one of those books that I prayed for the end to come so I could toss it in the charity pile instead of on my bookshelf to be read again and again.
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LibraryThing member Sharon612
This was a fair book, but I have read better.
LibraryThing member judyg54
A delightful story set in the 1850's, that had an ending I wasn't expecting. I thought I had the book figured out right away, but this one took me places I wasn't expecting, which I usually enjoy. I found myself smiling through most of it and laughing out loud at times. The interaction between Ruth
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and Josh was so precious and Ruth was a joy to "be around", even if she was a little 'accident prone'. Looking forward to reading the other book in the series, "Bittersweet", next.

Ruth Caldwell has good intentions, but seems to always get herself into trouble. She finds her mother dying when she is expelled from yet another ladies finishing school. Her mother makes her promise to leave Missouri and travel to her father in California (whom she has never met) and live with him when she dies. So Ruth finds herself at the Broken P Ranch in Folsom, California where her father has also recently died. The family he was partners with on the Ranch take her in as one of their own, until the courts decide if she has part ownership of the ranch.

Josh McCain Jr. for the most part runs the ranch with his Dad and sister Laney. He is such a good person and gentleman and although Ruth gets herself in trouble sometimes, he is slowly learning to love her. But Ruth doesn't think very highly of herself and it takes some convincing that she is 'letter perfect' to Josh. There is a lot more going on in this story and it kept me up late at night just enjoying these two and figuring out what was really going on at the ranch.

A couple of my favorite quotes from the book:
When talking about hardships a family was going through - "None of us knows the dear Lord's plan or timing. 'Tis our place to take His lead and obey. The path is oft rocky, but the view is always best when we get where He's taking us."

When a dear person is failing in health: "When God grants us the love of a mate, a child, or a friend, 'tis a blessing. We have no right to tell Him how long to allow us the enjoyment of that blessing, so if He takes that loved one back to His bosom, we're to thank Him for the time He granted us."
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

8.5 inches

ISBN

0764201654 / 9780764201653

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