First, There is a River by Kathy Steffen

I've been on a roll lately trying new authors and books I may not have used to have given a shot. This book is one of those experiments. Truly, I end up picking a lot of books because of great sales on them as Nook books. 

Now, I feel that a good book should elicit emotion from me. I should be able to see the story clearly in my head, have a good understanding of the characters, and feel emotion for the actions in the story. This book certainly elicited a lot of emotion from me. In fact, one emotion in particular. You know what that emotion is?

Infuriation .

I'll start right off with saying that if you get highly offended over anything, such as violence, turn around right now. This is not the book for you. 

Emma, our heroine, has been beaten and battered physically and emotionally for years by her husband Jared. I will never personally understand why any woman would allow that. Our Emma makes excuses and allows it to continue up until Jared sells their two children to work on a farm. Jared needs his privates removed with a dull knife, in my opinion. 

Emma, after a failed attempt to kill her husband and a failed attempt to kill herself finds herself along the Mississippi on her uncle's paddle boat. The floating hotel is in need of a cook and when her uncle absolutely refuses to allow Emma to go back to her good for nothing husband employs her in the boat's kitchen. 

This is me, infuriated again. We start with a woman allowing herself to be beaten and then getting plunked down in a kitchen. Lovely way to lead a life. 

Emma is befriended by much of the crew and two men, the captain/co-owner of the boat and the lead mechanic fall over themselves in love with her. Infuriated again, the solution to your problems is not to find a new man. It's to be a stronger woman. 

Anyway, this theme continues and Jared follows the boat on it's way down the Mississippi by way of horse along the shore. He ends up killing several people while chasing the boat and gets his rocks, which should have been removed with a dull knife ages ago, off on it. 

The ending of the book is something I actually did enjoy so I won't spoil it here. I will also add that even though I spent the majority of this book absolutely livid it really is quite good. It's just not a theme I feel particularly compelled to read. If a man hits you, you had damn well better do something about it, not sit around and take it like a meek little mouse only to leave him and land yourself fairly promptly with another man. See? Infuriated. 

The last few chapters of the book really did save it for me, so I will give it three crawfish out of five.