Donna Schlachter. A King for Kinsella. PLS Bookworks, 2023.
A King for Kinsella is a formulaic historical romance of the type that is popular with many readers. The title is a spoiler—the reader knows what will ultimately happen because we can assume that Kinsella gets her king. The path to get to that conclusion entertains us.
Kinsella Jackson was recently widowed. She lives with her four children aged five to fourteen in the Colorado plains in 1878. She loved her late husband, but now has to care for her homestead including crops and cattle with the help of her four children.
Her two older children saw an advertisement in a magazine to place a free classified ad. They acted on that, advertising for a hand to help with the farm. Of course, the ad was placed in their mother’s name.
Unbeknownst to any of the Jacksons, the classified ad was published in an Australian magazine and spotted by Kingston Marchmont. Englishman Marchmont was convicted of crime he says he did not commit and sent to Australia. He sees the advertisement as an opportunity to start over and be free. He writes a letter to Mrs. Jackson to tell her he will be coming. She reads his signature as “King Stan Marchmont” and thinks that he is some kind of king coming to visit. She admits that she never heard of the King of Marchmont, but she has not heard of many places in the world.
That is the basic plot, but Schlachter tells a surprisingly gripping tale. Nearly every chapter has a new conflict or challenge that keeps the reader in suspense and turning the page. There is the shopkeeper who wants to marry Kinsella, but she suspects he is just intereted in the farm. There are floods. There are cattle rustlers. There is an illness. There are unanswered questions.
Kingston’s long journey to Colorado also has its challenges. From Australia to New York, from New York to Kansas City, and even on the local stage to Colorado, there are some men that seem suspicious. They do not appear to be tailing him, but it is seems awfully conincidental that they would all be taking the same route two-thirds of the way around the world.
In other words, in spite of the literal foregone conclusion, Schlachter is a good storyteller. The suspense keeps coming and challenges have to be overcome. (And I have not even mentioned the big ones…) Readers who like and appreciate such stories will not be disappointed.