Dream Country

I've never written one of these reviews before but felt I had to for this book so that other readers might give it a chance. I loved this book, and belive it to be the best book she has written so far. I was skeptical about reading this at first due to reviews that I had read. The setting of this book differs from most of Rice's books being that most of the story does not take place in New England. This book deals with love lost and found again and with how every one deals differently with the loss of loved ones. I could not put this one down and ended up reading it cover to cover in one day.

I was e-shopping and found Luanne Rices' "Blue Moon", it was my first, and since then I've read everyone of her books I could get my hands on. Dream Country was just as I expected from Ms. Rice. I laughed, cried, and dreamed. Reading her books is an escape from reality, but makes your realize life is real at times and fictional as well. I love to take time for me. And doing it with a Luanne Rice book is theraputic(? sp) As long as she keeps writing them, I'll keep reading them.

Luanne Rice is a very talented author, and in this book, her talent shines even stronger than in her other super novels. Daisy and James are a couple who have had their lives shattered when their three year old son, Jake, goes missing. The way in which this has affected their lives is written with intelligence, great emotion, and absolute beauty. Years later, Daisy must return to where it all happened, a place that James has never left because he could not leave his missing son. This time, their sixteen year old daughter is missing, and the heartbreak and terror they feel compares to none. Estranged for years, Daisy and James must nevertheless make a strong effort to appear united, and work through this newest tragedy. With strong undertones of mystic Indian folklore and spirituality, this book will have you turning pages and rooting for characters left and right.

Most people agree that no one can ever truly go home, but events will show that if Daisy want to return she not only can, she can stay.Daisy traveled west many years ago in search of colors that would mesh with the jewelry she creates. When she reached the Wyoming ranch of taciturn James Tucker, she fell in love and they married. Daisy gave birth to fraternal twins, Sage and Jake and everyone knew the foursome would live happily ever after. However, three-year-old Jake disappears while on a round up with his dad. The marriage disintegrated and Daisy accompanied by Sage returned to her home state of Connecticut.For the next thirteen years James fails even to see his daughter once as he keeps his vow to his son to never forsake him dead or alive. Sage feels the pull of her birth state and when she becomes pregnant, journeys to her father's ranch where her parents greet her. The adventures of the Tucker crew have just begun.Luanne Rice always tells a strong story about what happens in life when bad things happen to good people. This novel is character driven with heroes and villains that feel as if they come from the real world. Ms. Rice has a talent for hiding her heroes and villains from her audience. The poignant plot requires a handy tissue box as Ms. Rice leaves the reader needing tissues.Harriet Klausner

You know that "ahhhhh" feeling you sometimes have after reading a very good and totally satisfying book? Well, I had that with DREAM COUNTRY. Daisy and James Tucker lived an idyllic life on the Wyoming ranch that had been in James's family for several generations. They were happy right up until the time one of their three-year-old twins, Jake, disappears. The marriage soon falls apart and Daisy returns to her home back east with their daughter, Jake's twin, Sage.Fast forward 13 years later. Sage has longed for the West - and for her father. But James has stayed in Wyoming all these years, not willing to leave in case Jake returns, refusing to accept that he is gone forever. Daisy is supporting the two them making unique, highly sought after jewelry with, some say, magical or mystical results to those wearing this jewelry.One morning, after a particularly volative mother-daughter argument the night before, Daisy finds Sage missing -- and at about the same time, discovers one of the reasons she has left --she is pregnant. She soon finds out that Sage's boyfriend is missing also.Daisy is soon convinced to go to the Tucker ranch in Wyoming to wait for her daughter. And there the continuing attraction she and James have for one another can't be denied.I enjoyed this story very much. Rice's writing reminds me so much of Kristin Hannah's stories I had to keep looking at the cover just to make certain I wasn't actually reading a Kristin Hannah book. The addition of a paranormal elements only added to its appeal. I cried buckets at the end -- a real indicator of my enjoyment of the story. As a mother of teenage boy/girl twins, one named Jake, this story hit very close to home. If I have any complaint, it is that the author chose to call Jake and Sage "the twins" in quite a few instances. As a mother of twins, I know it is important that twins be seen as individuals and not lumped together -- no matter if they're identical or fraternal. In fact, it was one of the first things I learned when joing the Mothers of Twins Club, and something they were rather militant about. So although those instances took me out of the story several times, I was still overcome by the emotional intensity of the story. I highly recommend this book -- and I want some of Daisy's jewelry!