"Tried & True" (Wild at Heart Series Book 1) by Mary Connealy

Tried & True by Mary Connealy is about three sisters becoming homesteaders after serving in the Civil War disguised as men to fulfill their pa's dream.  Kylie, Bailey and Shannon are the three sisters who have been made tough by war and have picked up some manly skills.  Shannon loves animals and is happy raising sheep while the eldest sister, Bailey loves being independent and raising cattle.  Kylie, however, prefers civilization, tea parties and bonnets and has agreed to homestead for just three years to claim ownership of the land and then sell it to her pa and move back east.  When the land agent comes around and discovers she is a woman so can't get the 2-yr land exemption and has to live on the land five years to own it, she is devastated and her plans change.

I enjoyed this first book in the series which centers on Kylie and look forward to reading about the other two sisters in the next books of this series.  Kylie's struggles to do manly jobs at her cabin, the efforts to try to get her to leave and the romance that developed between her and Aaron, the land agent, kept my interest. 
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from pg. 21:  Aaron Masterson had his arms around the prettiest little thing in the whole wide world.  And considering she was soaking wet, freezing cold, and crying her head off, that was saying something.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Mudbound" by Hillary Jordan: LOVED IT! (UPDATED)

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan is historical fiction that reminded me of The Help but is a much faster read. I LOVED this one even more than When She Woke, the first book I read by Hillary Jordan. Mudbound tells the story of a black family and a white family living in the deep south in the early 1940s. The black family are the sharecroppers on the white family's land. The characters are likable and well developed. It has a really good ending and would make a fantastic movie!

If you liked The Help by Kathryn Stockton, you will love this book too!  I highly recommend this one!
(Gerard's Review)

Karen's review:
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan is a book that drew me into the characters.  It is historical fiction during 1946 about a black and a white man coming home from war to Mississippi to help their families on the farm.  I had no idea what this book was about from the title, but “Mudbound” is the name of the farm Henry bought out of the blue without even consulting his wife, Laura.  She is the one who named the farm because she felt trapped there.  Through great story telling by all the characters, the reader discovers the tragic story behind Pappy’s death.

Although I did not like the offensive language, it was a part of history and was used appropriately in conveying the unfairness the Blacks faced every day.  Mudbound is very well written and had lots of good passages in it.  I had a hard time choosing a teaser!  I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it if you like books with some depth that cause you to really take an interest in the characters.  I agree with Gerard that it would make a good movie.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

By reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett I learned a lot about the unwritten "rules" that maids were expected to follow and that segregation was quite extreme in Mississippi during the 1960s.  For some reason, I thought that the mistreating of blacks as low life was longer ago in slave days.  The main story line is that one of the white ladies, Skeeter, gets the maids to share with her what it's like being a maid and how they feel about things so she can write a book about it.  The author actually grew up in the south and had a maid.  

I was fascinated by this book which revealed a very different community from what I am used to.  I liked how Abileen, the maid who took care of a little white girl used to tell her "secret" stories that were teaching her that people are people, whether black or white.  It is entertaining to read what the maids thought of the families who employed them and is a thought-provoking book.
(5/13/10--KAREN'S REVIEW)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett has been on the best sellers list for a long time so I just had to find out for myself if it was that good--it is!  The writing is superb!  This is a novel, but you would think that the characters were actually real.  It is about the early 60s when white people in the south had black maids and a young girl decides to write a book from the maid's perspective. 

I enjoyed this book very much!  It went fast and I was into it from beginning to end.  I'd love to see this book made into a movie--it would be outstanding!  Read this one, you won't be disappointed! (5+++ stars)
 GERARD'S REVIEW (3/18/10)

See also: Bloggin' bout Books review:  The Help A Pitch-Perfect Southern Masterpiece
The Parchment Girl

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