SONG OF THE ROAD

Author:Dorothy Garlock ISBN: 0446693057 6/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: Warner
Time Period: 1930's

It's just a string of rundown cabins on a stretch of New Mexico highway. But returning to Cross Roads widowed, broke, and pregnant, Mary Lee Clawson knows her dad's motor court is a godsend. With steely resolve, she sets out to rebuild the failing business and discovers she has to fight more than foreclosure. There's her mother disreputable Dolly-disinherited, angry, and whiskey-soaked-not to mention her friends. Still, Mary Lee wins champions: kind neighbors, a thirteen-year-old drifter who would die for her, and Jake Ramero, a man with a past whose disarming green eyes awaken emotions she has never felt before. Filled with new hope and braving new challenges, Mary Lee has to trust her heart to claim what is hers on Route 66.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Mary Lee Clawson had been desperate to leave Cross Roads, New Mexico. Growing up in a small town with a mother who was a drunk had been horrible. Determined to escape, she married Bobby Clawson and left with him to make a new life.

Bobby hadn't turned out to be the man she thought he was—getting himself killed over gambling and making her a widow. She's broke and pregnant with no options left to her. Now here she is returning to the home she had escaped from. Things have changed, yet they've stayed the same. Her father, the only thing Mary Lee regretted leaving behind, is dead and buried. Her mother is still a nasty drunk who has let her father's business, Route 66 Court—a group of cabins for travelers—become so run-down that it's only a matter of time before the bank sells it.

Discovering that her father has left it to her, Mary Lee is determined to bring life back to the place and build a future for herself and her unborn child. Obstacles appear at every turn, from the bank, to her mother and her no-good friends, to those who would see her unborn child stay that way since he will become heir to one of the most influential ranch owners in Cross Roads.

Jake Ramero has lived in Cross Roads all his life. When he is framed for cattle rustling he loses two years of his life serving a prison sentence. Determined to remove the label of 'jailbird' from his name, he has returned to Cross Roads and is living in one of the cabins of Route 66 Court. While Jake is a hardened man from the hand life has dealt him, he's still good and honest and can't help but empathize with Mary Lee's struggle. Incredibly attracted to her, he finds himself helping her out and protecting her, even though his brain is telling him to run the other way.

This was a book I enjoyed. Once again, Dorothy Garlock has done a wonderful job taking us to the not-so-distant past of the 1930's and brings home how much our country and the times have changed in such a short time span. At the same time it reminds us that some things stay the same. There are good and honest people, bad and greedy people, and things aren't always what they seem.

I especially enjoyed how easy it was to picture the times and place. I have a feeling that those who lived during the '30's would really love this book. I couldn't help but think of certain people in my family while reading, in particular my Uncle Steve who was born and raised in OK during this time. I could almost hear him speaking when reading the dialogue.

If you are a fan of Americana Romance, you won't want to miss SONG OF THE ROAD, the third book in the trilogy by Dorothy Garlock.

Sue Cloud