The River Queen by Gilbert Morris

Julienne Cuvier has only known prosperity. When her father dies the family finds that he has left them only debts. The only thing that Julienne can think to do is to get a river boat that her father purchased years ago in working order.

Dallas Bronte is a washed up river boat captain that has drowned his problems in the bottle. After saving Julienne's life he is the one that she turns to to help her get The Natchez Queen up and running. What the two of them don't count on is the sparks that fly between them.

Dallas and Julienne set out to make money by hauling loads of cotton and other cargo up and down the Mississippi River. Their dreams soon turn to being able to make the Natchez Queen a passenger boat. Unfortunately they are unable to borrow money to make the needed restorations. This is when Julienne makes a rash decision that affects not just her, but her crew, her family and Dallas.

The good news first: I loved the characters and I loved the setting of the story. The bad news is that this just does not seem like a book that was written by Gilbert Morris. Realizing that I have an ARC copy of the novel, I know this is not the final print. But it seemed to me throughout the whole book that this was the original manuscript with no editing having been done whatsoever. This novel is supposed to go out for sale on November 15, 2011. Between now and then there has GOT to be some serious editing done. The sentences were disjointed, not cohesive, seemed to be out of order. Words were left out, there were many typo's. Mr. Morris seemed to forget who his characters were as he changed Dallas' name to Dante once. He switched Julienne's name to Julie at the beginning of the book, but didn't continue with the nickname. I have read several of Gilbert Morris' books and have never noticed the sloppiness in writing that was in this novel. Here is to hoping that Mr. Morris has an EXCELLENT editor! I would have given the book 4 hearts if I hadn't of been so frustrated with the writing.