This book was one I had a lot of fun reading because it made me feel like I was in Yellowstone and y’all… goodness! I want to go there so badly!

Find the book on: Amazon and Goodreads

ABOUT THE BOOK

A man who can’t read will never amount to anything–or so Nate Webber believes. But he takes a chance to help his family by signing up for the new Civilian Conservation Corps, skirting the truth about certain “requirements.” Nate exchanges the harsh Brooklyn streets for the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, curious if the Eden-like wonderland can transform him as well.

Elsie Brookes was proud to grow up as a ranger’s daughter, but she longs for a future of her own. After four years serving as a maid in the park’s hotels, she still hasn’t saved enough money for her college tuition. A second job, teaching a crowd of rowdy men in the CCC camp, might be the answer, but when Elsie discovers Nate’s secret, it puts his job as camp foreman in jeopardy. Tutoring leads to friendship and romance, until a string of suspicious fires casts a dark shadow over their relationship. Can they find answers before all of their dreams go up in smoke?

WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK

I read a book by the author a few years ago and although I didn’t really like it, I wanted to give the author another chance. Plus, one of my dream destinations is Yellowstone, so to read a book that takes place there sounded like just my thing.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK

All throughout the book I was so into it. The culture surrounding working at Yellowstone was spot-on (or at least I imagine it was). it pulled me into the world there and felt so real. Even though I had several other books I was reading I kept coming back to this one because immersing myself in the book was great. The fact that we got to see the world of Yellowstone both from the perspective of someone who had grown up there and someone who had grown up in a totally different environment was pretty fantastic.

I also liked the characters which was a huge plus for me. I didn’t agree with a lot of what they did and some of their actions and reasonings made me want to facepalm, but I still liked them. They were real, flawed, hung up on their problems, and reacted to everything they went through in what felt like a realistic way. They were also caring, kind, hard-working, and easy to relate to.

The plot was also really interesting to me – apparently, I have a “thing” for the trope of an adult not being able to read and trying to hide it. I hadn’t realized until this book how much that type of thing interests me. That part of the story was so well written and had me coming back to read more as much as any other plot point.

There was definitely romance and at times it did kind of take over the story, yet for the most part I liked the balance it kept and didn’t find it to detract from the story at all. (Which is big because if I remember correctly I really disliked the balance of romance/plot with the other book I read from the same author.)

So, with all these great things to say about the book, why did I only rate it three stars? Good question. I was so close to rating it four stars and that was surprising and delightful to me. Then I got to the end. Y’all. I felt so let down. Not by the “twist” because I had figured that out, but by how it was delivered. There was so much build-up then plop. We were dropped to the ending in such an anticlimactic way.

CONCLUSION

Despite the ending, I still felt like the book was very worth reading because of the emphasis on Yellowstone. Also, it makes me want to read more books by the same author, so yay. (And the cover was cool enough it makes me want to buy a physical copy of the book.)

As for content, there’s a lot about fires, arson, and a childhood tragedy regarding a house fire. Plus, there’s a fair amount of kissing, etc… but never in detail.

RATING

I’m giving Ever Faithful 3 out of 5 stars – Thanks, NetGalley, for giving me an ebook copy so I could review it!