Full Length Novels!

Clean Stories Of Love And Marriage

 

This book contains five full length stories of marriages of convenience that bring happiness, love, and joy to each marriage.

These stories were written by talented seasoned authors.  You will not regret purchasing this book.  Each book is a well-developed and character driven.

 

Thanks to a Lonely Heart by Author Elaine Bonner

Steven Barnes needs a wife to care for his 5 children he hasn’t seen in years; he left to seek work in Austin and never returned, he sent correspondence and money during these years.

His children think he simply deserted them. His wife allowed all to believe he had deserted them and she has died as a martyr to Stevens supposed desertion; the county will take the children shortly. Emily Johnson is a widow and so very lonely she has a deep desire for a family; Steven proposed a marriage of convenience for the children.

She would be a housekeeper and nanny but not a true wife; they travel two weeks back to his farm in Tyler. Ms. Bonner set this story up very well and plotted it skillfully. She paced the story just right and shows her skill of creating difficult situations and turning them into joy.

She created a family from five resentful children, a lonely Christian woman, a man eaten with guilt, a community that sees Emily as the other woman, Christian friends that help them deal with the difficult situation, and a faith in God to know what is best and that he will heal the situation. The Christian principles and values are not preachy or pushy, but show how God can set things in motion and create a family from the most vicarious situation.

This was a sweet love story that shows Gods love, forgiveness, healing, and redemption and that with God all things are possible.  Ms. Bonner showed how good God is to us, and how he can heal any broken heart or spirit. I enjoyed this sweet inspirational book very much.

A Bride’s Sweet Surprise in Sauers, Indiana by Author Ramona Cecil

 Regina Seitz’s father determined to marry her off to a man of German descent and to insure her husband is German he has sent to his former home in Venne, Hanover for Diedrich Rothhaus.  Neither of them wants to marry the other.

Regina has her eye on Eli Tanner a non-German and Deidrich’s eye is on the gold fields of California. They each have a plan to thwart the marriage plans of the fathers, as Deidrich’s father came with him to America; Deidrich and Regina join forces.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive; they have a problem as they both feel an attraction.Ms. Cecil’s  plot and pacing was right on target as she leads these two towards love and security, God always has a plan regardless of what man thinks he wants and this love story is no different. Ms. Cecil added an extra element to this story as Eli Tanner is a mean, brutish, unprincipled young man; Ms. Cecil’s character development of him made my skin crawl.

Regina’s mother and father have kept a huge secret from her; this secret will cause heartache, jealousy, hatred and discontent, but God is in control in this as always.

Ms. Cecil was not pushy or preachy in her lessons of Gods love; the settlers that came to settle this vast land were by and large godly people and Ms. Cecil’s writing reflects this history.

I enjoyed this story and Ms. Cecil writing style.

Sonoran Secret by Author Nancy J. Farrier

Diego Garcia owes Eduardo Villegas a debt; in return for absolving the debt, Garcia will give his daughter in marriage to Eduardo. Eduardo expected Teresa to appear from under the veil, but things did not go as planned.

He is wed to Fealdad, which mean ugly; she has not talked since babyhood, can not read or write, frightened to death of men, worked like a slave by her mother and father, and has been physically abused by them her entire life.

Eduardo allows the marriage to stand and begins a life with Fealdad whom he renamed Chiquita, which means small.  Their road is very rocky to happy ever after.

The author infused this story with such emotion. I felt so sad reading of Chiquita life; I wanted to cry.   She gave the handsome Eduardo a serious character flaw; although a Christian he has a bad temper that frightens Chiquita immensely.

Ms. Farrier crafted a story of such deep emotions as she leads our characters through forging a solid marriage in spite of the flaws of each. This is a story of redemption, God’s love, insecurities, evil men, attempted murder, strong central characters and romance.

She included fleeing from evil gunmen, flash floods, and the mystery of who is trying to kill Chiquita and why. Ms. Farrier presented the plan of Salvation so well in the story that it did not feel pushy or preachy. I enjoyed this story very much as Ms. Farrier brought Eduardo and Chiquita from the deepest despair to the highest of love for each other and for God.

Ms. Farrier plotted this story very well from beginning to end, and added a surprise for Chiquita in the last chapters of the story; the pacing of the story was very good. I never lost interest nor did the story lag. This is a good clean solid story.

Love’s Shining Hope by Author JoAnn A. Grote

This is the story of rejection, misunderstandings, responsibility, doing what is right regardless of what you have to give up, faith in God’s will, Christian values, and romance between husband and wife.

Pearl Wells has always loved Jason. Jason loves Miranda, and then she threw him over because he would not turn his back on his family and farm after his mom and dad died in a buggy accident. Jason has a responsibility for his siblings and gives up his architecture plans to farm; Pearl wants to help him with his family.

The town gossips are busy spreading rumors, her adoptive parents worry about the rumors and in middle of all Jason proposes to Pearl.

Ms. Grote plotted this story and paced it very well, the different situation going on in this story keep the interest at a high peak as you are rooting for Pearl to attain her dream of love with Jason, booing Miranda and her better than thou ways, wanting to shake Jason’s brother Frank, wanting to shake Jason really hard several times during the story especially when he thought Pearl had another love interest, help Maggie in the teenage years, and heal sweet little Grace’s spirit.

I wanted to cry at times, laugh at times, and sigh at times I became so involved with the characters; this is an emotional well-developed story. I loved the fact that Frank read the “The Progressive Farmer” from front to back as I grew up reading this farm magazine.

Ms. Grote led our main characters through hoops before they admitted to the love they felt, but with God’s grace they will get their happy ever after.

The Christian values presented in this story are not pushy or preachy, but add to the story greatly. Ms. Grote did a great job of uniting a family with Christian values and with love; this story will keep your interest from first page to last.

Kiowa Husband by Author DiAnn Mills

Sara Jane Benson and her family are traveling to Oregon with the wagon train. Tragedy strikes when Typhoid fever strikes her mother and mother.

Painted Hands, a white man raised until his teenage years by the Kiowa Indians and going to Oregon to look for his brother, is forced to marry Sara Jane as her family is voted off the train. What follows is a hollowing journey for Sara Jane and Painted Hands; Sara Jane contracts the fever, and Painted Hands begins to care greatly for Sara Jane as he nurses her.

They have a very rough road ahead spiritually as well as emotionally. Sara is steadfast in her commitment to Painted Hands and is a very religious person with a deep faith in God however her faith will be sorely tested during this journey. Painted Hands lost his family to fire and his hands were severely burned; he has found his brother survived is in Oregon.

Painted Hands comes back to the Lord during the journey, then backslides as they face hardships and desperate times; he is fighting many demons. Ms. Mills clearly showed the grace of God, his forgiveness, and redemption in this story as well as a wonderful story full of forgiveness, strength, and love.

Painted Hands will have to reveal to Sara Jane his history and the fact he feels he is cursed. He will have to come to terms with his failings and faults.

The pacing of the story was spot on, development of the characters was well done, and the plotting was great. Ms. Mills shows in this book what a mighty God we have and if we rely on him, he will bring us through the fire.

Painted Hands, aka Toby Carlson, has many fires to pass through before he will find peace.

I loved watching Sara Jane and Painted Hands coming to terms with life and love. This is a wonderful faith-based story full of emotion, by a talented author.

Recommendation:

This book does not contain short stories but fully developed faith-based stories that anyone will enjoy. The joint page total is 720 pages.  I received this book from Barbour Publishing and Netgalley in return for an honest book review.

 

Books reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion;  book reviews on line under my name are my opinion.

 

Links To Authors Web Sites

Ramona K. Cecil

Nancy J. Farrier

 

 

Originally Posted On 10-1-15