For the Love of Murphy

I’m not a huge fan of American historical romance, but every now and again I get a hankering to read one. Luckily, For the Love of Murphy came close to satisfying the craving.

Katie Thomas left scandal and Chicago behind to join her doctor brother in Victor City, Colorado. Once she arrives, she awakens to find that she’s involved in a murderous stagecoach robbery and is Sheriff Wade Murphy’s primary suspect for the crime of which she has absolutely no memory. Not only does she have to deal with the memory loss and things from her past haunting her, but also must decipher her very strange relationship with Murphy.

Determined to leave his career in law far behind, Sheriff Murphy is pulled back in when his replacement is murdered during the stagecoach robbery. Bitterly disappointed at having to put his life on hold again, he wants to solve the crime, while at the same time protect his good friend, Dr. Thomas’, reputation. After all, it wouldn’t look good for the young doctor to have a murderous sister. Unfortunately for Murphy, Katie would be absolutely perfect for him if it weren’t for the cloud of suspicion hanging over her head.

Love writes a compelling story, one I wanted to continue reading despite the fact it’s not perfect. The characters, though at times frustrating, rang true and were consistent throughout. In addition, there is an element of suspense that kept me guessing at the motivations behind Katie’s character. Murphy, on the other hand, is a straight shooter. You know what you’re getting with him, though at times he seems a little too good to be true.

My biggest hang-up had to be the dialogue as it didn’t read as someone would actually speak. My initial thought was that it seemed as if there was a distracting lack of contractions, but when I went back to check there were some. Also, the evil villain is simply cartoonish as he continued to pop back up just like Wil E. Coyote.

On the whole, though, I enjoyed CJ Love’s For the Love of Murphy and found it refreshingly different. However when you combine the page count with the hardcover price, it might be something to check out at your local library.

-- Heather Brooks

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