Whippoorwill (Mira)

I usually love Sharon Sala's books. However, in the prologue she tells us this is not one of her usual books. And it is not.
This is a different type of book for her. It has very well drawn characters but I just did not come to care for them as much as I usually do.
Of course it is set in the west at a time of struggle and fighting as well as many decievers.
A saloon girl, a fraudulant preacher, a gambler and a drunk, each has his or her life changed in a split second. When the unscrupulous preacher dies in the lady's bed.
There is humor and irony aplenty in this book. Somehow where there is a will there is a way.
At the end each is redeemed by their experiences. The ending is somewhat ambiguious and did not really satisfy me.
Everyone should be able to stretch their wings and Ms Sala certainly changed from our usual expectations.

I'm a fairly new fan of Sharon Sala, AKA Dinah McCall. Sala usually writes in the suspense genre and McCall in the drama/romance genres. Whippoorwill is a diversion from her norm and is actually a historical romance. I think Sala needs to stick with suspense, as this had above average results but falls short of excellence.

A new preacher is coming to Lizard Flats in wilds of the Kansas Territory and it seems as if the entire town is anxiously planning for his arrival. It's been years since a preacher has passed through, so there is a backlog of baptisms and weddings ready to take place. What the people of Lizard Flats don't realize is that the preacher is fleeing a scandal and only trying to save himself. Seems the preacher has a penchant for females and can con even the most unwilling young virgin into bed with promises of marriage that he has no intention of keeping.

Letty Murphy is the only prostitute in the White Dove Saloon in Lizard Flats. She's miserable with her life, but still waiting for Mr. Right to walk in and take her away to something better. Eulis Potter is the town drunk and gravedigger, who earns his whisky by cleaning the saloon each night.

The preacher spends his first night in town in Letty's bed, only to die there. (Anyone believe in Karma?) Letty panics, calls Eulis to help her and thus begins the real meat of the story. Eulis buries the preacher and then poses as him. Seems Eulis cleans up so well no one can identify him.

The story was comical at times with Eulis blundering in social situations and at his sermons, with Letty trying to coach him. At other times it was sad to see Letty wistfully dreaming of her knight in shining armor coming to rescue her from the life she leads. She listens for the first whippoorwill of the evening to make her wish each night, hoping for something better. Overall it was a fun story but something was missing that kept it from being great. I'm not sure what that something was, but it didn't have that oomph that we usually get with Sala's books.

Character development was the best part of WHIPPOORWILL. This is packed full of colorful characters, from Letty and Eulis, to a gambler who catches Letty's eye, to the stocky banker whose physical attributes are lacking, to the town widow who is gorgeous, to a boy with no name, and a multitude of others. Each was unique, enjoyable and very well developed.

WHIPPOORWILL is a nice deviation for Sala. If you're looking for excellent, then this falls a bit short. If you're looking for an above average read, then this is the book for you.

When I read the introduction to this book, I didn't think I would like it. I have just started reading Sharon Sala and really like her work. I made myself read this book. I read it in one afternoon. I laughed so hard in places I had tears running down my cheeks. It will be hard to find a book I will enjoy as much as this one. I purchased it in large print for my mother so she could enjoy it also. EXCELLENT READING!!!!!!!!

Set in the early American West, this book was enjoyable on so many levels. Was it a romance? Sort of, but it was also so much more. I laughed out loud at certain parts and was close to tears at others. Thanks to KG for recommending this one.

I've read a lot of her stories and have enjoyed them well enough to chance this one. Lots of clever make you "laugh out loud" lines. Lots of characters facing their own dilemmas all ending up in or passing through Lizard Flats. I truly enjoyed this book and hope you will too.

Whippoorwill is a rollicking good read. Both the publisher and the author warn in the foreword this is a departure from the usual Sala romance novel. As Sharon Sala says in her preface, this is "not a romance, or a historical, or a western, yet it has a little bit of all of the above. ... a funny, sometimes bawdy romp through the old West ..."

I found myself comparing Whippoorwill to Larry McMurtry's best selling Lonesome Dove, with Sala's own delightful personal touches of writing talent added. The heroine is a lonely "soiled dove" who gives the novel its name by repeating a ritual from her childhood of watching the sun go down from her Lizard Flats hotel room balcony and listening for the call of a whippoorwill. Poor thing is the only prostitute in this one-horse town, but there are many colorful, well-developed characters to entertain a reader.

Sala brings all the pieces together in the final pages and you can go right to sleep without a worry in your head.