The Frasers- Clay by Ana Leigh

The Frasers: Clay book one in The Frasers series by Ana Leigh April 2004 ~ Pocket Star ISBN 0-743-46994-1 When Yankee beauty Rebecca Elliot discovers that single women aren't allowed on the wagon train bound for California, she takes desperate measures. Spying handsome Clay Fraser, she puts her flirty plan into action and wakes, the next morning, with a wedding band on her finger.

Clay Fraser, a former Confederate soldier, is horrified to discover that he somehow got married last night—and worse, to a Yankee. Worst of all, his new wife refuses to share his bed! Sparks fly and attraction burns as the wagon train heads west, but it will take a love as expansive as the Western sky to show Rebecca and Clay how to claim the passionate new life that is their destiny. ***from the author's website*** My predicament: I was in a mood where all I wanted to read was a book set in during the Civil War. I was also in one of those moods where I didn't want to wait for a book to be shipped to me or drive into Kennesaw or Rome for the closest book store. Yes, the bug had hit me...I want it and I want it now!!! So I went to Shelfari.com and asked for help. I wasn't having any luck doing my own searches, all the books I was finding were out of print or not available on Kindle (the fix for gotta have it now). Any how, the lovely ladies there came to my rescue and gave me suggestion after suggestion. By this time I had gone to the garage and found the last remaining box of books that my mother dumped on me, ok so she didn't dump them on me I willingly took them off her hands. I mean half of them were mine and the other half my cousins and we had used her as a storage facility. Ok running of course again!! What I found in the last box... And One Wore Gray by Heather Graham. This is the second book in her trilogy set during the Civil War. I can't remember if I read it or not. I went back to Shelfari and inquired after the two ladies suggesting this series if I really needed to read the series in order. It was unanimous, I had to read in order. But I was bound and determined to read a Civil War romance, so I grabbed the book and put it in my purse. I had to take my son to the doctor after an extremely long night of some really disgusting stuff that I won't really mention and battling a fever of 102. I get to the doctor sign my son in and sit down. I try to start reading while holding this 73lb crying boy in my lap while rubbing his head and rocking. I give up and put the book back in my purse. They call us back... I attempt to read some more while waiting. Well my son was not feeling well at all. He had all the nurses worried about him, and I'm thinking geez, its just the stomach flu. NO I am not unsympathetic to my child, I was really worried, but I had never seen these nurses flock to a sick kid like this before. Which in turn made me worry even more. Doctor comes in.... blah blah blah... Im sending you to Scottish Rite. Anybody familiar with Atlanta--- She is sending my baby by ambulance to the children's hospital. Heart plummets. My husband was worried "Swine Flu", no the doctor thinks Appendicitis. So I got my first ambulance ride along with my son's first ambulance ride last week. My husband, bless his heart, works about 30 mins south of us and we passed him on the road. He slides in behind the ambulance and is standing at the door when they let us out. Long and short of it.. I tried all day (my son was sleeping peacefully finally) to read that darn book without any success. My son is fine... it was indeed the stomach flu. He is back to playing football and knocking little boys around on the field like they are flies. But right now I think that the book is going to be buried in my TBR pile...is there such a thing as a bad luck book? I head back over to Shelfari and look for the other suggestions and found Ana Leigh and she had one available on Kindle. So I am going to get my fix!!! Now on to my thoughts on the book! The book takes place shortly after the end of the Civil War. Rebecca is in desperate need of a husband so she can make the journey West with the last wagon train out of Independence. She is a Yankee through and through, lost her husband at the very beginning of the war when he was shot on the battlefield. In searching the crowd of men, she is disgusted with them. She can either choose a filthy Yankee or a dirty Rebel (who at least takes a bath). She eyes Clay and his brother Garth and finagles dinner with them. Clay and Garth are headed West to find their sister who ran off with a Yankee that had been quartered at the family plantation. They have very little money left to their name, so they decide to sign on with the wagon train. This is playing right into Rebecca's devious little mind. She chose to trick Clay into marrying her. From here we witness the trials of being part of a wagon train, the turbulent air around Rebecca and Clay, and we watch them eventually fall in love. This marriage is suppose to be a business agreement but will they make it to California and be able to sever all ties. Over all it was an enjoyable read that kind of fit the bill. I was really looking for more of abook set during the War and not at the end. I was a little thrown off by some of the scenes, for example When did Clay run across the cabin? I really felt like I should have known there was a cabin there. It was almost like it was an afterthought, Oh its storming I have to have somewhere for the H/H to sit it out and finally come to terms with what is going on between them. There were only a few instances like this, but it didnt take from the story. Rating:3