Clean Christian Romance At Its Best!
Brides Of The Old West has five novels. All are wonderful stories of inspiration and love in the old west.
This book has a total of 720 pages and are not short stories; each is novel. Each author is talented, well-known, and seasoned; it shows in these stories.
You will love each novel. My hope is that this book review inspires you to buy the book.
Morning Mountain by Author Peggy Darty
This is the story of Luke Thomason, Suzanne Waters and the forever love they find in the old west. Luke has been lucky at the poker table, but luck was not on his side when he was shot and robbed.
Suzanne finds Luke barely hanging on his saddle and nurses this fine figure of a man back to health. Luke is a man down on his luck and desperate emotionally; he is bitter and has turned his back on his faith. Suzanne works like a man with her pa trying to keep up the ranch they were defrauded into buying, but things are really bad at this point.
They are low on everything including money and her pa has been laid up from an injury. Suzanne keeps her faith that God has a plan and reason for everything. Ms Darty did a wonderful job of weaving the Christian faith into the book without over powering the story; the mystery of Lucas’ past is a page-turner.
Lucas is fighting so hard against his emotions he appears gruff, hard and at times uncaring. Ms Dartys’ character growth with Lucas and Suzanne was fascinating to watch.
Suzanne wants to find love, security, and a home, but until Luke appeared no one has caught her attention and the attraction is mutual. God has plans for Lucas and Suzanne.
The road to love will have many rough spots before the end of the story, the plotting was spot on, the pacing was excellent, Ms. Darty pulled all the threads together to create a wonderful story; it never lagged and I never lost interest. This a great well-written love story.
A Brides Rogue in Roma, Texas by Author Darlene Franklin
Blanche Lamar meets Ike Gallagher at her mother’s funeral. He’s a well dressed dandy and looked out-of-place in the simple country church.
Devoted Christians, Blanche and her mother, Cordelia, lived a simple frugal life of giving and doing for others, striving to be better Christians, and unfortunately Blanche could never do well enough to suite her prim strict mother.
Cordelia believed the Bible to the letter, strict uncompromising beliefs that at times made Blanche miserable. They dressed simply and with the cheapest cut of cloth Cordelia could sew, Blanche almost had old maid written across her face.
Blanche will discover that the father she has never known has left her an inheritance if she fulfills certain stipulations; whether her father is dead or alive is one of the mysteries in this story.
Ike, as an ambassador for her father, tells Blanche that her father felt she would come to know him best by knowing his boat and all will be revealed at the end of her first riverboat trip.
Ms. Franklin created a story full of emotions, twists, turns, and mystery; then she threw in Ike’s blind sister on the riverboat. She catches the reader from the first paragraph and then weaves all the twists, turns, and mysteries together; creates a character in Blanche that is a delight to watch grow into a mature strong woman with ambitions.
Blanche will changes the lives of countless people on the riverboat with her simple strong Christian ethics, kindness of spirit, and determination to bring Christ to the employees and passengers of the riverboat. Her love for the mysterious riverboat pilot Old Obie was a joy to watch as he instills into her a love of piloting the riverboat. Blanche will find she has hidden talents.
There are several plots in this story that will really surprise you when revealed. Of course the conflict of values, the growing attraction and love between Ike and Blanche, the growth of Ike from a good man with unchristian characteristics and principles to a great man of Christian character was well written. Blanche is determined to stop the nightly gambling.
I loved how Ms. Franklin wove the solutions into this story. Ms Franklin depicted faultlessly that Christian values do not have to be rammed down your throat to present the gospel. Her story never felt preachy or pushy, but masterfully depicted the love story between God and man, then man and woman.
This is a well-written love story I enjoyed very much.
Valiant Heart by Author Sally Laity
This story begins with a wonderful prologue.
Amanda and Sara Jane Shelby on their way to the Oregon Trail have buried their father in Independence, Missouri. Low on funds, they must find a solution to their dilemma. Sara Jane, the younger sister, decides they should take the trip to Oregon with the wagon train that is leaving shortly.
Seth Holloway, wagon train master, refuses to allow them alone on the train. Amanda and Sara decide to follow behind the train after it leaves. What follows from this decision is an adventure of a lifetime created by the pen of Ms. Laity.
They have no concept of what they will face in the journey to Oregon; Indians, floods, raging rivers, insects, storms, impossible mountains, death, mud, you name it, it was on the route. Amanda and Sara are Christians and have faith God will lead and care for them.
Ms. Laity’s descriptions of the territory and the journey were vivid, her Christian values shine throughout the story, and her sense of humor was awesome.
I laughed and laughed when Sara sang to the Indians warrior party. Each woman will find within herself strength, faith and determination to complete this journey and the journey of life.
Sara Jane’s character growth was astounding, as she grows from an immature, naïve, girl, to a mature woman. Only the strong could have made the journeys of the pioneers and not only survive but thrive in the untamed west.
Seth is fighting his attraction to Amanda tooth and nail; Seth emotionally injured and faith lost, will learn to trust and love God again; you will have to read the book to see if he wins Amanda or is someone else on the tip of Author Laity’s pen for her?
The pacing of the story was on target and it did not lag. I enjoyed this story of the early pioneers willing to face danger and death to tame a wild land, and form new family units with love of God and for each other in their hearts.
Lessons In Love by Author Nancy Lavo
This is an absolutely wondrous story of a man, Luke who has never been hugged, held, cared for, or loved, a half-breed man of honor and Deborah.
Luke has no last name and no home other the one that Cyrus, Deborah’s Uncle, had given him as a boy. Deborah had traveled from Louisiana to give her seven-year-old brother, Case a normal life, or as normal as possible for a boy with a turned foot and twisted leg, to the same house Luke considered a place of rest.
What a meeting in a dark hallway that was for Luke and Deborah! Deborah seems obsessed with Luke not touching her and all Luke could think was not on a bet would he touch that dirty filthy woman who had never seen water.
Deborah’s and Case’s life has been very hard, their home burn down, the rest of family dead and an Aunt took them in was very prejudiced against Case’s birth defect. Deborah had to find a home for Case. Case considers the run down filthy house the Promised Land.
Case has a wonderful loving spirit; he loves Jesus, and fascinated with his new Indian friend, Luke. Oh, how Case needs a strong man to look up to and to teach him how to become a man. The gospel story told from the mouth of a child was wonderful to read as he told Luke how Jesus loved him.
This small child was a wonderful witness for God love, forgiveness, and redemption.
Luke cannot leave the two of them out in the wilds of Texas alone; they don’t even have a gun. God will use a small boy, Case, with the love, feelings, and wisdom of an adult to change this oh so alone man, and he will drag Deborah along kicking and screaming.
I laughed and laughed at the things they did and said; and then on the next page I wanted to cry for all the injustice, evil, and prejudice in the world. I was running the gauntlet of emotions with this story.
What a story Ms. Lavo created. She knows how to grab you and not let go. She hooked me from the first page. The plotting was perfect, the pacing couldn’t have been better, and the humor was a relief from the sadness, injustice and prejudice you will read in this story.
But God is always in control and he had a reason to bring these three marvelous people together. Do not pass up this story as it will brighten your day, touch all your emotions, and leave you wanting more.
To See His Way by Author Kathleen Paul
Life has been tough for Tildie, first she her entire family dies from influenza, and then she finds her life with her beloved Aunt Matilda almost unbearable. Her Aunt had remarried an evil, lazy man, John Masters.
He sold Tildie to a Frenchman at the fort on the Arkansas River. The family travels to make delivery and an accident occurred; when Tildie awoke she was in an Indian camp, her Aunt is dead, her Aunt’s three young children are fine, and John Masters is dying. Even though Tildie despises John Masters, she presents the Salvation Plan to him as he lay near death.
Ms. Paul story is one of wrestling with the demons of hatred, the feelings that John Masters got away with all his evils way by accepting Christ at the last-minute, she resented God for allowing him his evil without punishment; she wrestles with her conscience for having these feelings and the feeling that God has left her.
But God has a plan that will change everything for Tildie and the children for he has blessed them with a Christian Missionary, Jan Borjesson ministering to the territory and Indians. Jan knows that God has provided Tildie as his one and only love, his helpmate, and the children to love.
The journey back to civilization is hard and long, they will face raging rivers, heavy snow, crippling injuries, bears, few supplies and the evil of men bent on murder and worse. Through all the tribulations, God is working to build a strong family.
Ms. Paul infused this story with so much emotion, I could feel Tildie’s wrestling with her unchristian feelings, I could feel Jan’s tender care of her and with God’s guidance leading her back from the dark, I could feel Tildie’s insecurity that Jan could not possible love her and want her along with three children.
This is a wonderful story of God’s love for all people whether they are Indian, white, evil or good and how God will work life to his plan. It is a wonderful love story of a mans healing love for a young woman and three children desperately in need of that love. I am very glad this story was in this book.
Recommendation:
This is a wonderful collection of books; the stories are tender, sweet and clean. I applaud the authors and publisher for providing such an amazing collection. Each story is well developed and the pacing was fine with well developed characters that grow in each story.
I received this book from the publisher, Barbour Books 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.
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