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Category: Christian Historical (Page 1 of 2)

Book Review: Falling for the Cowgirl

September 6, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

Faling For the Cowgirl

– Jody Hedlund –

Colorado Cowboys #4

Bethany House Publishers

Published 10 October 2022

♥♥♥♥♥

Falling For The Cowgirl is the fourth book in the Colorado Cowboys series and the long awaited story of Ivy McQuaid.

Sister to the four McQuaid brothers, Ivy more than knows how to stand her ground and hold her own on a horse and cattle ranch. But it’s her dream to have her own spread. She’s been entering cowboy competitions, disguised as a man, to raise the funds she needs to buy the land. But when Jericho Bliss rides back into town, everything is thrown into chaos. Of course, he immediately sees through Ivy’s disguise and threatens to tell her brothers if she doesn’t stop with the dangerous competitions. And then there are the feelings she’s long carried for Jericho. And he’s never done anything but treat her like a sister. What Jericho can’t tell Ivy is that he is now a Pinkerton Agent, hunting down a dangerous killer, and following his feelings for Ivy could get her hurt. It’s something he’s vowed never to do, but it is hard to ignore the deep friendship between them and the blazing attraction they share.

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Book Review: Inventions of the Heart

June 17, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

Inventions of the Heart

– Mary Connealy –

The Lumber Baron’s Daughter’s #2

Bethany House Publishers

Published 1 July 2022

♥♥♥♥

Inventions of the Heart is the second book in the Lumber Baron’s Daughters series and it continues on right where book one finished, so I’d recommend this historical novel to those who have already started to read this series.
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Book Review: Where The Road Bends

May 27, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

Where The Road Bends

– Rachel Fordham  –

Revell

Published 1 June 2022

♥♥♥♥♥

Where the Road Bends is a heartwarming story about second chances and overcoming the worst of situations life can throw at you.

Where The Road Bends didn’t unfold in the way I expected and the story was all the richer for it. While the characters are faced with horrible circumstances and trials, it makes them finding the good in life all the sweeter.

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Book Review: In Honor’s Defense

May 23, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

In Honor’s Defense

– Karen Witemeyer –

Hanger’s Horsemen #3

Bethany House Publishers

Published 7 June 2022

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Aside from my Australian dictionary not much liking this book’s title, there was a lot I liked about In Honor’s Defense. It is apparently the third and, sadly, final, book of the Hanger’s Horsemen series. What a series it has been. Full of adventure, danger and romance.

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Book Review: When The Meadow Blooms

May 17, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

When The Meadow Blooms

– Ann H Gabhart –

Revell

Published 3 May 2022

♥♥♥♥

Ann Gabhart has crafted a heartwarming story of overcoming loss and grief and finding a place to truly live and love in When The Meadow Blooms.

Calla and her younger sister have been living in the Home for Girls for two years while their mother recovers from Tuberculosis in an sanitarium. For two years they have endured abuse, waiting for the day they can go home. Scared they will be separated, Calla is lead to reach out to her uncle, rumoured to live in isolation on the family farm, Meadowland. When Dirk receives a letter from his niece asking for rescue, he throws caution away and hurries to retrieve the two girls and their mother. Taking them back to Meadowland requires a change in his habits, it might even mean opening his heart to the women, big and small, who have entered his world. But secrets from the past bring up grief and hurt he’s never let go. If he can’t heal, will he risk losing his new family?

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Book Review: A Time to Bloom

May 9, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

A Time To Bloom

– Lauraine Snelling –

Leah’s Garden #2

Bethany House Publishers

Published 7 June 2022

♥♥♥♥

A Time To Bloom is the delightful second book in the Leah’s Garden series. It picks up where book one left off, with the story of the Nielsen sisters. Forsythia and Dr Adam are now married and living in town while Lark, Del and Lilac continue to work to build their homestead and dreams of a garden, farm and boardinghouse. Del is also teaching school for the town.

By gosh, these are busy women. I don’t know how they do it. Thankfully, they have gathered around them a wonderful community. Forsythia, Adam, his nephew Jesse, their three children, and now Del’s school children and their families. The sisters’ brother Anders also comes to visit, bringing his friend RJ. There are also new challenges for the sisters and their growing family to face. Plagues of grasshoppers, families damaged by violence, and a schoolhouse destroyed by a twister. With the amount of work to do, especially with the harvest and wanting to start on their boardinghouse, the Nielsen sisters need all the help they can get, but they also know that if they want to achieve their dreams it’s up to them to make it a reality.

Each of these books features all the sisters, but while Lark and Forsythia took more of the focus in book one, Del takes the spotlight in this second book. She is starting the school year without a school house. Worse the towns people, even her sisters, don’t seem to realise how important it is to her. New in town, RJ battles both memories and pain from the war. The injury that cost him his eye continues to bring him debilitating pain, causing him to offend Del right from the start. As Del continues to strive hard for her students and their families, she finds an unexpected ally in RJ and her own work helps to bring him peace and a place in of belonging in this little town he finds himself in. Their romance is slow to develop and we only really get anything more than friendship right at the very end of the book, but I enjoyed the friendship they build, as well as all the details of the lives of these busy sisters and their community.

I’m looking forward to continuing the story of these incredible sisters and the people they bring together around them.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Adult fiction.

Genre: Christian historical

Themes: Romance, teaching, homesteading, farming, sisters, family.

Advisory: References to domestic violence.

Published: 7 June 2022 by Bethany House Publishers

Format: Paperback, ebook. 352 pages.

ISBN: 9780764235726

Find it on Goodreads

Book Review: To Tame a Cowboy

April 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

To Tame a Cowboy

– Jody Hedlund –

Colorado Cowboys #3

Bethany House Publishers

Published 3 May 2022

♥♥♥♥♥

I’ve enjoyed four historical romance novels this week and To Tame A Cowboy is by far my favourite. The romance is off the charts!! My goodness, it is as sexy and swoony as a Christian novel would dare. A story of new hope and lives rekindled. Horses, freedom and romance (have I mentioned the romance yet?)

Savannah’s future is set – marry a man who will bring fortunes to her father and allow her grieving parents the lives they want. On the eve of her wedding, Savannah decides she needs more time to face her future and she flees. She finds work at the Healing Springs ranch as their veterinarian. She spends most of her time with Brody as he works to tame the wild mustangs that roam the area. The two are drawn to each other, but Savannah is conflicted about her future and Brody is haunted by his memories of his time in the war. With a fiancé awaiting her return, Savannah must decide between her duty to her family and her growing feelings for Brody.

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Book Review: The Element of Love

April 13, 2022 / / 0 Comments

 

The Element of Love

– Mary Connealy –

The Lumber Baron’s Daughters #1

Bethany House Publishers

Published 1 March 2022

♥♥♥♥

Need a historical romance featuring heroines with a difference? The Element of Love begins a new series from author Mary Connealy.

The Lumber Baron’s Daughters series features the three Stiles sisters. They have been raised to take over their father’s company and each have been highly educated. They are headstrong and fiercely intelligent, each with a different passion – from chemicals and explosions to engineering and building. But since their father’s death and their mother’s remarriage, their idyllic lives has been shattered. Their stepfather is abusive, their company falling apart under their stepfather’s mismanagement and they have each been promised to horrid men in business deals. Their only plan is escape.

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Book Review: Heart of a Cowboy

October 6, 2021 / / 0 Comments

The Heart of a Cowboy

– Jody Hedlund –

Colorado Cowboys #2

Bethany House Publishers

Published 5 October 2021

♥♥♥♥♥

 

I read the first book in this series at the start of a holiday break and once again I found myself at the end of a big and exhausting term and I picked up the second book in the series. Perfect timing indeed, because once again, slipping into a Jody Hedlund historical romance was exactly the way I needed to start my school holidays.

The second book in the Colorado Cowboys series can be read as a standalone novel, so if you haven’t read the first book don’t hesitate to read this one.

I love when historical romances give me the taste of the past with all the comfort of today’s views and opinions. The Heart of a Cowboy does just that. Linnea is a botanist and an excellent scientist. She is travelling with her grandfather and a group of scientists on a botanical expedition to Colorado. Despite her excellent scientific discoveries and abilities, she had to twist her grandfather’s arm to allow her to accompany the expedition and he worries greatly about her safety – and not just because she’s a woman. Linnea can become so distracted by her work she wanders off and finds herself in all sorts of danger. Like when she falls off the wagon during a river crossing and needs to be rescued by Flynn McQuaid. Continue reading

Book Review: The Heart’s Charge

June 9, 2021 / / 0 Comments

The Heart’s Charge – Karen Witemeyer – Hanger’s Horsemen #2 – Bethany House Publishers – Published 1 June 2021

♥♥♥♥

 

Synopsis

Members of Hanger’s Horsemen, Mark Wallace and Jonah Brooks arrive in Llano County, Texas, to deliver a steed, never expecting they’d deliver a baby as well. Left with an infant to care for, they head to a nearby foundling home, where Mark encounters the woman he’d nearly married a decade ago.

After failing at love, Katherine Palmer dedicated her life to caring for children, teaming up with Eliza Southerland to start Harmony House. From mixed ancestry, illegitimate, and female, Eliza understands the pain of not fitting society’s mold. Yet those are the very attributes that lead her to minister to outcast children. The taciturn Jonah intrigues her with his courage and kindness, but there are secrets behind his eyes–ghosts from wars past and others still being waged.

However, when a handful of urchin children from the area go missing, a pair of Horsemen are exactly what the women need. Working together to find the children, will these two couples find love as well?

My thoughts

It is impossible to resist Karen Witemeyer’s writing. Once again she absorbed me into this story of adventure, romance, strong female characters and the men of integrity who love them.

The Heart’s Charge provides us two stories in one. We readers first met the Hanger’s Horsemen in the first book in the series and in this second book we join up with two members of the group, Mark and Jonah. Together, Mark and Jonah stumble upon a pregnant woman in labour. They, reluctantly, assist in the birth and find themselves responsible for the care of the young infant. This then leads them to Harmony House, a place where children of any race or background can find a home. A surprise awaits them both. Mark finds the woman he once wanted to marry and who broke his heart. Jonah finds a strong and resilient Eliza who might just be the one woman who can work her way past his tough exterior.

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