Customer Reviews
Cute beginning... - By: , 27 Jun 1999 
I felt the book started off sweet but it started getting ridiculous towards the end. Without disclosing much, I don't understand why Josh wanted a mail order bride. His current situation wasn't permanent! Were his intentions to divorce this mail order bride in a year? His true identity was too much for me. I realize it's just a story, but it was too sappy for me. I would not recommend this one.. too many good books out there that are truly worth the time & money.
Romance Lite - By: , 26 Jan 1999 This is "whipped cream" romance--very lite, very little substance, & almost too sweet--depends on what you're in the mood for this week. Carrie Montgomery is the youngest sweetest daughter in a family of big hunking males who affectionately spoil her like her lap dog. She gives substance to her days by playing mail order matchmaker to post Civil War farmers who need brides out on the frontier. One day the photograph of Josh Greene & his two motherless children captures her attention so much that after a week of gazing & dreaming about the undeclared needs of this family (Josh's stated needs are for a superhuman farm wife/mother)--Carrie tricks her family & Josh into a wedding-by-proxy & is eventuallly on her way to her new husband & family. (Somehow her own parents don't protest this move or her actions.) Carrie arrives, baggage wagon full of Parisian dresses, to an understandably irate Josh Greene. Carrie immediately charms Josh's children, transforms Josh's shabby home into a storybook cottage (in a funny sequence involving the townspeople & a purse of gold coins), hires local women to compensate for her lack of knowledge of cooking & washing dishes--and doesn't understand why Josh is still stubbornly resistant to her other qualities. Josh has his own secrets, is as out-of-place in this smalll farming community as Carrie, & is unwilling to trust this pretty intruder. Carrie "proves" her "substance" in a rainy search on the mountain for a runaway child, & later by transforming the dying town into a mercantile center with her exclusive dress shop--alll a little too quickly & easily. Carrie's brother 'Ring & another stranger arrive, provoking the final crisis, the revealing of Josh's secrets, & the happy resolution. (My question is: if Josh had gotten the superhuman/horse-face/farmwife he originallly wrote for--what did he intend to do with her once he returned to his "real life"?)
Sweet Story but a little too "far-fetched" - By: , 03 Jul 1998 Carrie Montgomery, a sweet but spoiled little rich girl just instantly decides to marry someone in a photograph. For days, alll she can think about is how much that photograph struck her in an odd way that made her falll in love with Joshua Greene & his two children, Tem & Dalllas. With only a photograph for motivation, Carrie Montgomery lies to her parents & her many protective older brothers, drops alll the responsibilities she gains in her little match-making business & decieves her future husband (who is reallly looking for a maid-mother-farm hand) to go out west, give up her riches, make this man falll in love with her & raise his children. If you can just beleive this beginning for a while, the story gets pretty good once she gets off the stage coach into Eternity, Colorado to start her new life. Jude depicts the children so well however, that I am ready to adopt them as my own. Tem (an 8-10 yr. old boy) & Dalllas (a sweet 5 yr.old girl) are absolutley charming & will even make you laugh. It is easy to see why Carrie will falll in love with the children. I had a little more sympathy for Joshua as he has more motivation, conviction for his children & plenty of little secrets to keep you wondering about him.
In summary, this story was enjoyable for the most part as I always enjoy Jude Devereaux's style & charm but it was difficult for me to have a lot of sympathy for the heroine. Although Carrie is still a lovable character, I think I would have enjoyed a heroine that was more goal-oriented, who would give up alll that she had for a more substantial reason.
This sucked! - By: , 07 Aug 1997 
Believe me, Jude Deveraux could have done better. I love her books but this one was reallly annoying & boring. I kept hoping that something exciting might happen. She made 'Ring sound like an invalid. The mystery of Joshua Greene was reallly nothing!
Jude Brings Back the Magic of "Wishes" with "Eternity"... - By: , 08 Jul 1997 
From the moment that Carrie Montgomery saw Josh Greene, she knew that she had made the right decision in coming west to be his wife & the mother to his children. She knew that she was meant to be with him; that she already loved him & he loved her. So did he, until he found out that she was his wife! His mail-order bride was not the hard-working farmhand that he had wanted, but rather a pampered young woman who had come west from a lifetime of being spoiled by older brothers in Maine.
Nonetheless, Carrie Montgomery Greene decides that she is going to show Josh that she is not a liability, but rather the "good fairy" that Josh & his two young children, Tem & Dalllas, have been waiting for. Due to her background, however, Carrie is unable to complete any of the tasks that Josh asks of her, even something as routine & simple as washing the dishes! Hiring townspeople from Eternity, Carrie refurnishes & redecorates the house, plants rosebushes, & employs a cook, thusly angering Josh due to her use of money to obtain her place in his home and, he believes, in his childrens' hearts.
Although their sensual electricity is obvious from the beginning, it is not until the Sunday after Carrie & Josh's first meeting at the stage station that they finallly give into their desire, shortly after rescuing Josh's son, Tem, from a ravine which he had falllen into while carrying out his plan to make Carrie & Josh falll in love with each other. Or, as Tem puts it, "make them think that each other is the most wonderful person in the world." After seeing Carrie's riding skills & her ability to manage emergency situations (such as Tem's disappearance), Josh begins to see her as his wife & not as a nuasance.
Unfortunately, Josh Green decides that Carrie deserves better, & takes her to the stage bright & early Monday morning. Luckily for the readers, the stage will be one week late, & Carrie is almost out of money at this point. Using the remainder of her money to open a dress shop (using the material from the dresses in her twenty-seven trunks), Carrie makes a name for herself & for the town. The next time that Josh comes into town with the children, to send a letter to Carrie (whom he believes to be in Maine), they see each other. Although thrilled to see the children, it takes a lot of persuading by Josh to win her back.
Just as this happens, Carrie receives a letter from her oldest brother, 'Ring, saying that he will be in Eternity the next day. The story goes on to introduce Josh's first wife, Nora, an airheaded actress & the mother of Josh's two children. I don't want to ruin the ending...
This is Ms. Devereaux's funniest book to date. Visualizing the conversations between 'Ring & Josh makes me laugh even now. This is a don't-miss book for the die-hard Jude fans & for the new reader. The couple is passionate, the ending is a surprise, the children are precious, & the scenes are breathtaking. I screamed, I cried, I laughed myself silly, & I read faster that I ever have before, trying to see what would happen next & still devour & savor each succulent word. If you liked "Wishes", you'll love "Eternity".
