Cherry Ames Dude Ranch Nurse and Rest Home Nurse

In Cherry Ames #14, Cherry Ames, Dude Ranch Nurse, Cherry takes a position at a dude ranch in Arizona.  Soon after her arrival, Cherry discovers that the tutor, Harold Bean, despises her and does everything he can to make her job difficult.  Several of Cherry's patients also strongly dislike Cherry for some unknown reason.  The situation worsens when the pranks begin, pranks that threaten to grow deadly when the perpetrator tampers with the medications.

This book is quite reminiscent of the Trixie Belden book, The Mystery in Arizona, since Julie Campbell Tatham wrote both books.  Cherry Ames, Dude Ranch Nurse was written first, so Tatham reused ideas in The Mystery in Arizona.  A major part of the plot in Cherry Ames, Dude Ranch Nurse is Cherry's difficult patients.  I was amused, since Trixie, Honey, and Di have to clean the rooms of difficult guests in The Mystery in Arizona.  In both books, the difficult people eat up time, causing the protagonists to have to hurry through other tasks. 

Both books have the same feel and flavor.  The rooms are like cubicles.  Both Cherry and Trixie aren't able to have much fun due to the various complications.  They both get homesick. 

I have noticed that Cherry gets out of each climactic scrape very easily in every book.  In this book, Cherry is confronted by the villain, who has a gun.  They are alone with no one around for miles.  Oh, no!  However, I was not in any sort of suspense.  I caught on a number of books ago that Cherry is not allowed to be in great danger for more than a brief moment, and she is always rescued by one or more men.  In this book, Cherry is only with the villain for around five pages, long enough for him to recite what he did and why, then she is rescued.

Cherry and Patty have a lengthy conversion that I found boring.  Cherry spends four pages describing her nursing training in great detail.  Cherry lists all of her friends, describing them thoroughly.  Patty then tells Cherry everything she knows about nursing.  Patty spends close to two pages reciting her knowledge.  How boring!  I skimmed this conversation.  The reminiscing from the early Cherry Ames books is a quality that I dislike about all of those books, and I didn't need to read the same story again for the umpteenth time. 

Aside from that one conversation, nothing about this book is boring.  The book is thoroughly engaging, and I greatly enjoyed it.

In Cherry Ames #15, Cherry Ames, Rest Home Nurse, Cherry returns to Hilton.  She and two of her friends take positions at a new rest home.  Soon after Cherry's arrival, Mr. Stanley is admitted as a patient at the home.  Mr. Stanley is extremely disagreeable, and Cherry instantly dislikes him.  Mr. Stanley's nephew shows up wanting to see him, and Mr. Stanley becomes quite upset, refusing to see the nephew.  Cherry soon realizes that the nephew is threatening Mr. Stanley, and Cherry decides to figure out why.

The past few books written by Julie Tatham have gradually had more Trixie Belden expressions slip into the text, such as "gleeps."  This book also has the expression "super-glamorous perfect."

I greatly enjoyed this book.