Carla Kelly
Historical Romance
Published in 2017
H/h - Sgt. Major Ramsay Stiles/Carrie McKay
Setting: Yellowstone National Park, 1903.
Read in May, 2018
My rating: 
[spoiler alert]
I bought Courting Carrie in Wonderland
last year, not sure why I didn’t read it right away. Carla Kelly’s
books are auto-buy for me, and when I saw the cover, I wanted to read
this one. Yet somehow I never got around to. So to amend that, I picked
it up last week without reading any reviews, as I do for many of Ms.
Kelly’s books. Have to wonder again, why I didn’t read it last year
cause the story was simply amazing, heart-touchingly so!
TBH, I had no idea what ‘Wonderland’ in Courting Carrie in Wonderland
stood for. I thought it was one of those titles with a touch of fancy,
maybe the H and h went somewhere they liked calling wonderland? Seems
like I was almost correct in that regard. This book is set in the
Yellowstone National Park, a place I’ve never heard of (I don’t live in
the US), which was known to be the Wonderland. Even while reading I
didn’t check out anything in google. I just read on, seemingly trying to
figure out the place through our H and h, Ramsay and Carrie’s eyes and
Ms. Kelly’s narratives. I’ll be honest that I struggled to picture the
Park and it’s specific attractions that were mentioned as they’re known:
such as the Old Faithful, the Chittenden Bridge (previously the Melan
Arch Bridge), the viaduct that linked the edge of the mountains creating
a perilous road and many other descriptions of the scenery, the flora
and the fauna. Even then I could tell it was a marvelous place. After I
finished I couldn’t wait to find out how those noted areas looked like,
and was blown away by the beauty of the Park. I could imagine why Ramsay
and Carrie (or anyone for that matter) would love the place and want to
stay there. Like, I had this urge to visit Yellowstone ASAP, though
that dream may never materialize for me. :(
Newly minted Sgt.
Major Ramsay Stiles arrived at Yellowstone with a new job and a shiny
new medal to boast. He’s a veteran of the Philippine-American war,
survived a cave full of insurgents with his head intact. He was able to
save most of his men from that nightmare too, except for his own
lieutenant, an error that will haunt Ramsay for a long time alongside
the PTSD he still suffered from his own ordeals. For his bravery, Ramsay
had won a medal of honor. But because the down-to-earth man he was, he
wasn’t sure he deserved it. In fact, Ramsay would’ve been happy to
remain as the Sergeant that his men liked to call ‘Sarge’ and be with
his cavalry like before. He wasn’t comfortable with his elevated status
and the recognition for his medal, because it turned out President
Roosevelt recognized Ramsay months after he had pinned the medal on his
uniform.
I’d like to mention here that several characters in this
book turned out to be real life people. I’ve already mentioned
President Roosevelt, whose name I already knew but there are plenty
more. They make their appearances on and off throughout and play their
role and, to me, it felt like Ramsay was a part of that too! He was
assigned under Major Pitcher (a real life Park superintended) who asked
Ramsay to tour the Park, hear the woes of all the amusement park and
hotel owners within it, and report back to him. Ramsay wasn’t really
happy about his new job, but he’d do whatever it was asked of him by his
superiors.
In the beginning, I hadn’t realized that Yellowstone
Park wasn’t a new place for Ramsay. He’d been there before and lived for
years. He was recuperating from his wounds from the Philippines, both
physical and emotional. As lovely as it was, Yellowstone could be a
lonely place for a lonely man like him but Ramsay survived it all. He
was ready to work again, and he thanked it all to the wolves of the
Yellowstone. Why? I’ll try to elaborate in my review as I go....
As
he was being assigned to supervise Yellowstone Park from every corner,
Ramsay knew that the biggest woes of every camping sites and hoteliers,
would be the animals that come for a visit. Black bears and coyotes were
common, so were the wolves. Some hoteliers made a business out of
feeding black bears the kitchen scraps because the tourists liked
watching it, even feeding them when it was possible; something Ramsay
didn’t approve of. He knew bears shouldn’t be eating that crap, and this
habit of ‘ready food’ will take a negative turn when the food is gone.
TBH, I was quite surprised that people came so close to the bears at
all! The horror stories I’ve read about bear attacks........ *shudders*
Yet, it seemed like a booming business despite Ramsay’s utter dislike of
it.
The other thing Ramsay hated was the instruction given to
the forts based in the Park (Ramsay was based in Yellowstone Fort) to
kill any coyotes and wolves to make the park a ‘safer place’, the plan
being to clear the park off of them. This was one of those commands that
Ramsay knew will come back to bite everybody’s a$$ one day in future.
But it was a command from the upper echelon and the men had to abide by
it. But unlike any of them, Ramsay had a history with
the wolves. When the loneliness and PTSD became too much to handle,
especially in the winter-time, Ramsay had watched the packs. It not only
kept him sane, but also gave him an idea of how a wolf pack worked
which fascinated him to no end. Ramsay had kept notes of his
observation, mainly for himself. He didn’t think those would ever be
helpful for anyone. But because he knew the wolves, he knew what the
Army was planning to do was so, so wrong.
In Ramsay’s 34 years on
earth, he’d largely been lonely. There were no details from his
childhood but I remember that he lost his parents young. The army has
been his family for as long as he can remember. But these days, he felt
the loneliness biting down in his bones. He felt restless, even when he
liked to crack a joke or two about the whole thing at his own expense.
So when he suddenly met a lovely strawberry blonde by an outhouse of
Wylie Camp, while assuring her that there was no bear outside, he
wouldn’t have thought this odd encounter will lead to somewhere. When
Carrie McKay came out of the... uh, toilet :P, Ramsay tried his best not
to smile at the oddity of meeting a beauty in a place like this.
Because Ramsay indeed had noticed Carrie and was
pretty much a goner from day 1. ;) He found his own strawberry blonde
hair ridiculous but boy, he loved the same shade on Carrie!
Carrie’s
story mirrors Ramsay’s as far as her place in the world went. She had
also been alone since her mother passed away. She’s now 23, but barely
scraping by. Carrie was studying in Montana Ag, had plans to become, I
don’t know, a cook? Housekeeper? She was taking various courses on
cooking, sewing etc. but it was obvious she adored baking, especially
pies. So when she heard of Ramsay’s longing for a piece of cherry pie
which he missed during his stay in the Philippines, Carrie couldn’t help
feeling a deep compassion for him. She learned of his work and the
medal he’d earned. She thought he was some high and mighty officer who’d
never look at her twice. :P Of course, she was wrong. Funnily enough,
Ramsay kinda thought the same about her; from a well-off family but
working a part-time at Yellowstone to earn some pin money and, maybe, a
bit of experience. There were plenty of boys and girls who did that at
summer vacation. A beauty like her would never give him a second
thought. If only they knew how alike they were than different.
Long
story short, Ramsay had to find ways, make excuses to visit Carrie even
if it took him days to tour around the park on horseback. And Carrie
would bake cherry pies and save a slice for him everyday hoping Ramsay
would visit. I found it way too adorable for words. :D Nevertheless, for
me, things were moving slow. I was having a bit of a hard time
connecting with the story, and while I found the characters interesting,
I could see neither Carrie nor Ramsay doing anything about their
obvious attraction and longing for one another unless there’s a big
shove and even a bigger push. They were both too gentle, too nice and
both had their own negative experiences in life to take any impulsive
step. But that’s not to say that their relationship was at a
stand-still. Nope. It was budding. They begin to become more comfortable
in each-other’s company, talk about the park, various other things and
their own lives. And pies, just how much Ramsay loved Carrie’s baked
pies. :D
When they were at it, Ramsay gets summoned by Major
Pitcher. A command from the president himself has arrived. Someone is
coming to the Yellowstone Park for a visit; someone prestigious enough
that the President won’t trust anyone but Ramsay with her well-being.
Ramsay
hated being an escort to some rich, spoiled AND lazy old woman because
he’d seen how badly a majority of them treated their servants or people
who they thought were below their notice. However, this was one command
Ramsay couldn’t deny so he went to receive former Opera singer, a
socialite and now an elderly widow, Mrs. Louise Lamarque....... and
found himself in the middle of a drama. Quite literally. Though not from
the lady in question, but her maid. The maid won’t step out of the
train in fear that the Indians were gonna scalp and kill her while
making a good racket about it too. -_- Within a few mins., Ramsay had
had enough. He had to find a solution and pronto so he advises Mrs.
Lamarque to ditch the maid and hire someone new for the duration of her
stay at Yellowstone. The lady must listen to him or do her own chore
herself because Ramsay had a plan. Who better than the ever efficient
Carrie McKay to fill out the role?
I could only think
“brilliant” to that move Ramsay made on behalf of
Carrie. If that didn’t spell love then I don’t know what did. He was
smitten with Carrie and her well-being was always on his mind. He knew
the widow was filthy rich and this was the perfect opportunity for
Carrie to make some good money so her next semesters went smooth,
without any worries over the tuition fees. All she has to do is to
survive a few days with the Dragon who needed nothing to look down on
anyone she thought unworthy of her attention; even if they were half a
head taller than her much like Ramsay himself was.
Carrie took
the news quite well. After the initial misgivings, she was willing to do
it; quite up for the challenge since she needed the money. The amount
Ramsay had bargained from the widow in exchange of an efficient maid was
quite ridiculous to ignore. Needless to say, Louise Lamarque wasn’t
impressed. In fact, she was quite annoyed with Ramsay and thought him
insufferable. LOL Ramsay was being tough on her so she doesn’t start
misbehaving with Carrie. Now it was all up to Carrie to earn that
ridiculous sum.
Ironically, I thought Louise Lamarque was the
‘shove’ that Ramsay and Carrie needed. I can’t adequately express it
all, only that while they were working to keep the Dragon happy, things
starting transforming for them all. And I don’t only mean for Ramsay and
Carrie, who got to see each-other more often than usual which that
helped in their courtship immensely. Yep, by then Ramsay was quite sure
only Carrie will do for him—all he needed was the time and the tactics
to convince her that he’s the only one for her as well ;). This whole
journey also did wonderful things for Mrs. Lamarque. She gained two
dear, genuine friends she would’ve otherwise never even thought about
having. The story which was going slow until now, suddenly had meaning
tenfold and I was quite engrossed by the whole transformation. Alongside
the brilliant narratives of the Yellowstone Park, there was Mrs.
Lamarque’s one last wish to visit the Yellowstone Grand Canyon Falls
because of an unrequited love of many moons ago; something that remained
a closely guarded secret in her heart until she confided in Ramsay and
Carrie. You may wanna look up Thomas Moran’s paintings of Yellowstone,
the reason behind Mrs. Lamarque’s wish. :)
But fate won’t be so
kind to Carrie and Ramsay because he was going to be charged by the Army
for not following one commend in his whole career; all because he loved
wolves and wanted to save them. Ramsay didn’t think he had anything to
offer to Carrie any longer, but little did he know that she wasn’t going
to let go of the love her life so darn easily. She was going to do
whatever it was possible for her. But then they should’ve realized that
they had friends; not one, not two but many. A park full of people who
knew and admired him, admired Carrie too. Ramsay’s own men who felt the
same, the other army officers, not to mention the President himself and
their dearest friend, Mrs. Lamarque! You see, Ramsay wasn’t even
expecting any of them to help him cause that’s just how he was. No
entitlement of any kind. What a wonderful, down-to-earth man! He was
ready to do his own battle, alone.
So as you can see, I simply
loved the storytelling, loved the characters, especially both Carrie and
Ramsay. I wish the ending was a bit fleshed out because to me it felt
somewhat hasty. I thought it’ll be longer than it was, with Ramsay doing
his time or whatever punishment the Army doled out on him. But I guess
I’m happy he had friends who made sure that an honest and earnest man
like him didn’t lose his credibility for protesting something that was
wrong to begin with. Last but not the least, there’s a fantastic
Afterword where Ms. Kelly details some historical facts and notes so
relevant to the story in its own way that I loved it too!
All in
all, a great read. Recommended if you enjoy historical romances set in
the early 20th century, love the Yellowstone National Park, pies and
clean romances.
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