Hot December

I am very sorry that Deana James (Mona Sizer) is no longer writing fiction as far as I can tell. Hot December, one of her earlier novels, is one of my favorites. The heroine in this book could teach the majority of romance heroines a thing or two about strength, determination and guts. If you are looking for a strong, competent heroine who is not afraid to stand up to the men who surround her-- whose sinister "protection" theatens the farm in Texas cotton growing country she, her mother and sister inherited from her murdered father-- grab this book. Yeah, it's a real soap opera but an entertaining one. The book opens with her father's mysterious death that catapults the heroine, back from her job crunching numbers in Houston for her father's funeral, into the role of farmer of the family acres. Her determination to run the farm, instead of relying on her father's old friends to do it for her, leads to ominous threats. Her father's farm manager who is supposed to be farming the acres elopes with her younger, more feminine, dimmer sister on an extended honeymoon to Mexico just at the time when the land had to be prepared for planting. None of the other available farmers in the area are willing to help her because of the dark cabal that stands against her. She ends up turning to another outsider in the area, an immigrant from Eastern Europe whose own father had been cheated and betrayed by the same forces that face the heroine. She makes a desperate bargain with him to save her farm. But if you are expecting the same old desperate bargain then you will be disappointed. The heroine in this book is determined to work beside him and learn all she needs to know to be a sucessful cotton farmer. There's the taste of dirt blowing in the wind, pesticides, and ice cold beer. There's sudden violence, racism and stupid decisions made by smart women. In the end a truly Machiavellian plot is revealed but the demand is for hard work and dedication to the land.

The characters were easy to follow, the courageous Emily Ann, the ruthless Laddie, the whinning Betty Jean, and many others. It was hard to put down. Sometimes you'd feel you were in Texas back in the old West.....but in this part of the country "little ladies" were to be seen, not heard, even today. Bravo Deana James....I hope I find more of your books written in this same spirit!