Eye of the Beholder (Nebraska Historical Romances Book 4)

I feel like this author churns out several books a year and they just aren't very good. Dialogue is too detailed, conversations are awkward, storyline is meh...I hate to do a negative review, but after reading other good romance novels, this one just falls flat. This is the 2nd book I've read from Ms. Nordin and I think I am finished giving her a chance.

With all the glowing reviews, I was a bit disappointed in the book. It had all the right stuff for a good romance novel, but Mary was too good to be true despite her big nose. My heavens, was there nothing that woman couldn't do? Always had an apple pie baking while she ran out to take care of the animals or do the farming. Quite a gal.

"Eye of the Beholder" was a wonderful book. I couldn't put it down! This wasn't the first book I read by Ruth Ann Nordin. I knew she was a great author, but she did a marvelous job with this book. It went through the highs and lows of marriage. Love doesn't come easy and throughout the book it shows you that you have to work hard at it. Ruth Ann showed that its what's on the inside that counts the most. We need to look past the outward appearance, look deep inside and not judge a book by its cover.

Poorly researched and written. Where is the tension between the characters? Weird, contrived scenes to try to create a story.
!) Nebraska farmers did not ride around on stallions.
2) Sugar cookies, banana bread, apple pie - none of these require yeast, yet the women made a special trip to the store for it. And bananas were readily available in 1874 Nebraska?
3) Animals were rarely kept in barns, except in the harshest of winter.
4) A just-foaled mare would not be ridden for pleasure, especially by a beginner.
Etc, etc.
This is a ridiculous book with ridiculous characters and situations.

I really wanted to like this book; the premise is a good one, and the characters are likable, but it felt too contrived. The story is bogged down with needless detail of the characters' every move, and there is no real character development. And the big crisis at the end? Completely unbelievable and implausible.

This book had so much promise. I really enjoyed the first few chapters. I gave up reading about half way through when the sex scenes became too explicit. I tried to reading around them but they went on for pages. Just silly. Guard your hearts and minds people. Don't read this stuff!

Very sweet story. Dropped stars because of graphic lovemaking. First book I've read of hers. Too bad ,I think she writes very well, but I probably won't read another. I don't mind reading about discovering love in the bedroom, but Too much detail sours it for me.

This book started out with a very interesting premise: a mail-order bride is rejected by the man who sent for her but chosen by another man who is present to witness her cruel rejection. Even though the writing is a little pedestrian, I cared about these two characters. The way the other characters talk about Mary is anything but subtle. She is described as "plain" but by many of the comments, she must more closely resemble a troll. Still, I was ok with the book. However, the sex was waaaaaaay too graphic. I had to quit reading half way through, and I will delete this book from my kindle.

Lovely storyline, liked the hero - a man who sees beyond the outer shell (of an ugly bride) and is not influenced by society. Nice love story- simple and clean. Needs editing but will definitely read this author's work

This book was so boring and cliche I almost stopped reading it halfway through. The author repeated herself over and over... How many ways can you say shes pretty on the inside. If I could give it zero stars I would have.

The core of the story is good because it encourages people to look beyond the physical features of a person to find and appreciate their true character, their inner beauty. But, just when you think you are reading a sweet, uplifting story, you are hit by implicit sexual descriptions which ruin the goodness of the book. I'm highly disappointed with authors that think that they have to pollute their stories with sex to get people to read them. What has happened to tender, wholesome stories?

This is a really sweet story that promotes the adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is not a clean romance as there are a few sex scenes, but I didn't think they were overly graphic. Mary is described as a plain young woman of 19 years of age. She can't find a husband in her hometown in Maine because of her lack of beauty, so she decides to answer an ad for a mail order bride. The ad requests a woman who is hard working, dependable, and who can bear children. Mary fits the description to a T, so she answers the ad (she is one of 12 children, so having children should not be a problem.) Once she arrives in Omaha, her perspective husband, Neil, takes one look at her and rejects her. He tells her that he couldn't "get drunk enough" to get her with child!

Dave, the hero, who is hovering nearby, overhears the conversation. He is very impressed with Mary's grace and dignity despite the difficult circumstances she finds herself in, and so he strikes up a conversation with her. Next thing he proposes and they are getting married. I loved Dave. He is a very sweet, loving, generous soul and he immediately appreciates Mary for her good qualities. As for Mary, she is extremely sweet, generous to a fault, hardworking, and loving. You can't help but love Mary. If she had any faults, it was her inability to stand up for herself, thereby allowing others to take advantage of her sweet nature. However, in Dave she had a more than able champion. Dave took care of Mary and stood up for her when she couldn't do it for herself. Funny thing with Mary is that even though she found it almost impossible to defend herself, she had no problem standing up for others.

This book reads like a "day in the life of" or maybe, since it covers a period of about a year, I should say it reads like "a year in the life of." The story basically follows Mary during her new life in Nebraska for about the first year. The story does skip around a bit as it moves from event to event, some significant, others I wondered why it needed to be included. We get to see Mary and Dave adjust to their new marriage and watch as their feelings for each other grow and develop into love. Mary is extremely insecure and is grateful to Dave for having rescued her from spinsterhood. Dave is young and very handsome and she can't imagine why he decided to marry her. As for Dave, he thinks he is the luckiest man to have snatched Mary up before some other man was able to do so. Mary just cannot understand his thinking!

The story is extremely sweet, but it's not very exciting. I did really enjoy it, but I think it could have been a good deal shorter. There were a few times that it seemed to drag. I usually finish a book in a day, two at the most. This one took me almost three, because sometimes it just got so slow that I would put it down for a while. I must say that Neil got his so good in the end that I actually felt sorry for him (and I'm never sympathetic with the bad guy!) He got the pretty wife that he wanted, but someone should have told Neil to be careful what you wish for!

I would give this book 3 1/2 stars if the store allowed. If you're in the mood for a sweet romance without the excitement of a mystery, intrigue, or misunderstandings between the main characters, you might want to give this book a try. Overall good read.

Book 4: Eye of the Beholder
Bravo! Where to start on describing this book...
Mary Peters lives in Maine. Her sisters are all beautiful and Mary is considered plain. She decides to answer an ad in Nebraska for a mail-order bride. The man is a farmer and she believes she can adapt to the hard work even though she is city born.
Dave happens to follow Neil Craftman to the train station when he hears that Neil is going there to receive his mail-order bride. Dave feels it only right to warn any woman about Neil's womanizing ways. As he watches Neil meet the woman at the train, Dave is angered at the cruel way Neil refuses her, telling her he refuses to accept an ugly bride. Dave steps up and decides he could use a wife and here sat one. So he asked her to marry him and they went right over and got hitched.
When Neil brings a new bride home later, everyone drools over her beauty, but it only on the outside. She is not near as beautiful as Mary is on the inside. The more Dave gets to know his wife, the more he finds her to be beautiful all the way around.

Mary knew when she said yes to Dave Larson it would be no love match but she could not go home again. This book is a clear picture between outer and inner beauty. As Neil later finds out... he lost a real treasure when he did not accept Mary.

Fourteen years old Mary Peters remembers the day when her sister, Grace told her "Love is the most wonderful feeling in the world, Your time will come." it was on Grace's wedding day. The year was 1869. It is now 1874 and Mary is still single and fears she will never marry. Who would ever find plain Mary pretty?

Since Mary knows no guy will ever court her, she decides to answer an ad in the newspaper for a mail order bride. Mary travels to Omaha, Nebraska to marry her husband, Neil Craftsman. Once Neil gets a look at Mary he rejects her. Dave Larson witnesses the whole ordeal and comes to respect Mary for being a strong woman. He offers to marry Mary and she agrees. Will Mary live up to Dave's expectations or will Mary be heading on the first train home?

I found Mary to be full of grace and great strength. Even though adversity she always tried to find the positive in everything as well as everyone. Dave was a handsome, well-built guy. He also had a heart of gold. We all have our own definition of beauty but you don't know what true beauty is till you experience it through the eyes of the beholder. That is the lesson you will learn when you read Ruth Nordin's latest novel Eye of the Beholder. For anyone who is a fan of historical romances then you are in for a nice treat. I read Eye of the Beholder in one sitting, it was that good. The ending was an unexpected surprise. This book is worth your time to read; besides if you don't pick up a copy how else are you going to find out what the surprise ending was all about!

I read this book in one sitting. Mary was considered plain by those who knew her. However, the author did a great job developing the characters and showing how our first impressions of people can change as we get to know them over time. Even so much as to alter our perception of how attractive the person is. In Mary's case, her inner beauty and strength of character were obvious to her future husband Dave the first time he saw her. He saw who she was not what she looked like. In contrast was Neil's fiance, considered a "perfect" wife by many as she was so beautiful but over time people as people saw the serious flaws in her personality she could no longer trade on her looks to get by. Mary's sister's were all beautiful and her husband quite good looking so this wasn't a tale of beauty vs plain as much as looking beyond the surface. How after getting to know someone and seeing them with our hearts can change how we perceive them with our eyes. I will read the book again as I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book is a treasure. The kindle price is dirt cheap as the book is truly priceless.

I have been reading romance novels for quite some time-so much that I have read all of the books published by my standard authors (Jodi Thomas, Julia Quinn etc). I decided to give this author a try after a recommendation on a romance discussion board. I really enjoyed the book. I would classify the story as a mail order bride story and it was charming. The writing is solid and keeps the story moving.

Nice novel to read.I downloaded free from the author website. Mary Peters despairs that she will never marry. At nineteen, she has no prospects of finding a husband, so she takes matters into her own hands and becomes a mail-order bride. When she arrives to Omaha, Nebraska to meet the man she's due to marry, he takes one look at her homely appearance and rejects her.Dave happens to be nearby and thinks she will make a good wife. Though she is stunned that someone as handsome and as kind as Dave would ask her to marry him, she accepts. She knows that this marriage will not bear the fruits of love. Love, after all, is for beautiful women.