"Daddy's Girls" by Danielle Steel

Daddy's Girls by Danielle Steel is about how three sisters deal with the passing of their father.  I enjoyed this book very much.  The author did a great job of bringing out the differences of all three sisters.  It also had some twists and turns with a happy "Hallmark movie" ending.  (Gerard's review, 5 stars) 

Teaser from page 21:  Kate was so shaken she could barely speak.  They walked into the house, and his belongings were everywhere, a pair of tall, mud-covered rubber boots that he'd worn the day before, his riding gloves on the table, a jacket he'd thrown over a chair. 

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"Swept Away--Trouble in Texas, Book 1" by Mary Connealy

In Swept Away—Trouble in Texas, book 1 by Mary Connealy, Ruthy gets swept away in a flood trying to cross a river, Glynna Greer gets swept away with her children out of her home to escape her abusive husband, and Luke gets swept away when he falls in love with Ruthy aka Rosie. The hired guns in the little western town get swept away when Luke and his buddies take on Flint Greer to get his ranch back that was stolen. Ruthy has some interesting skills as well as cooking which include tracking, stealth, courage, gunmanship and working hard. She is an amazing woman!

I liked this book although it moved a bit slow up until the last quarter of the book. Quite a few characters were introduced and the plan to get Luke’s ranch back and get Glynna and her children to safety took up most of the book. Issues in this book include friendship, revenge v. justice, domestic violence, romance and survival. The ending was wonderful! I look forward to continuing this historical western series with Fired Up.
 (Karen’s review, 4 stars)


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"Rekindled" by Tamera Alexander

Rekindled by Tamera Alexander is about Kathryn and Larson, a married couple struggling to save their ranch in the Colorado territory in 1864.  Larson takes off on what he expects to be a 3-day business trip but doesn’t return until five months later, scarred but more in love with his wife than ever.  Having a new found faith in God, he prays she will still want him.  She prayed during that time that God would take care of him and bring him home, but when he returned, she didn’t even recognize him! 

This is a fantastic historical Christian fiction novel that kept my interest right from the first page to the last.  It has touching moments, action, some mystery and a strong romantic plot.  I liked how the chapters alternated between Larson’s perspective and Kathryn’s.  The main theme of this book is to appreciate what you have and not judge others by outward appearances.  This is the first book in the Fountain Creek Chronicles series.  I LOVED IT and couldn’t help but pull for the couple to be reunited. 

(Karen's review, 5 stars)

 

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Loved "A Bride For All Seasons--The Mail-Order Bride Collection" by Four Different Authors

Great Beach Read--Very Enjoyable!

Do you like reading clean historical romance books?  Do you enjoy mail-order bride stories?  I do, so when I saw A Bride For All Seasons—The Mail-order Bride Collection, I just had to read it and was not at all disappointed.  In fact, it is a collection of four novellas by four different authors:  And Then Came Spring by Margaret Brownley, An Ever After Summer by Debra Clopton, Autumn’s Angel by Robin Lee Hatcher, and Winter Wedding Bells by Mary Connealy.  I loved them all!

This book is so cool because all four mail-order bride stories are tied together by the common matchmaker, Melvin Hitchcock of The Hitching Post, a mail-order bride catalogue with the highest rate of successful marriages.  None of the couples that were matched up in this book got what they expected because Melvin edited their letters, at times l just omitting something that he felt would prevent the client’s chances of finding a match!  Consequently, all the couples have trust issues to begin with and it was fun to see how the couples get past that and become happily married in time.  (See My two teasers.)

Out of the four authors, I was only familiar with Mary Connealy, but now I have a whole list of books to read by the other three authors as well!  This book is a fun, entertaining read.  There are also three discussion questions for each novella in the back.  This would be a great Book Club read!
(Karen's review)

Check out my progress on learning to Juggle (part 2) using The Great Juggling Kit book.

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Linked up with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop today for the prompt:  Book review!  What are you reading this summer?

"Safe In His Arms" by Colleen Coble is a Christian Cowboy Romance About A Woman With Low Self-Esteem

Get that book off my cat tree!

Safe In His Arms by Colleen Coble is about Margaret, a wealthy rancher’s daughter, with low self-esteem. She loves working on the ranch and really runs it but when her pa hires Daniel and brings her cousin in to help, Margaret is hurt and totally against the idea. Then she finds out that her pa intends to leave the ranch to her cousin instead of to her which totally riles her. Even though Margaret finds out that Daniel is connected with bank robbers, she can’t help but like him deep down.

This is a Christian fiction romance with action and suspense set in the old west. Coleen Coble is a best-selling author but this is the first book I read by her. Daniel and Margaret make a good team and Daniel helps her to trust in God more. This is a light cowboy love story that I enjoyed.
(Karen's review)

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"In Too Deep" by Mary Connealy

Loved the two main characters, Ethan and Audra

In Too Deep by Mary Conneally is the second book of the Kincaid Brides series. It is about Audra and Ethan who enter a marriage of convenience and both are fearful of caring too much and getting hurt. Audra finds out that her former husband stole a fortune and the guy who he stole it from is coming after her because he thinks she knows where it is. The story takes place during 1866 in Colorado territory. Audra and Ethan have some very humorous conversations and both find courage to face their fears.

I liked this book very much because it was a sweet romance without being racy and still had enough adventure and suspense to peak my interest. The first book of the Kincaid Brides series centered on Ethan’s bossy older brother, Rafe and his wife, Julia who is Audra’s step-daughter. I liked this book much better and give this this 5 stars for good Christian romance. I look forward to reading Over the Edge, the last in the series, about the youngest brother, Seth.

See my review of the first in this series, Out of Control.

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"Out of Control" by Mary Connealy

Read this on on Kindle

Out of Control by Mary Connealy is about two controlling people who fall in love very quickly during the 1800s in Colorado. Julia got trapped in a cave while looking for fossils and Rafe, a rancher nearby, discovered her in there and rescued her. The mystery comes when Julia is stalked by a guy who is after her father's buried treasure. This book has suspense and adventure but also interesting characters which makes it a good read. I look forward to reading the sequel, In Too Deep.
(Karen's review)

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"Half Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls

Half Broke Horses is a true life novel about Lily Casey who grew up in the 1930s, the oldest daughter of a horse trainer in Texas. Lily was a girl with gumption and her story is both inspirational, funny and amazing! She could break horses, play poker, teach school and fly a plane! Lily was a strong girl who never gave up and who always found a way to manage, even when things were tough. The only child she encountered that she couldn't teach was her own daughter who was a wild child with compassion and a yearning for adventure. I enjoyed this novel and found it to be an interesting read which is based on the author's grandmother's life.
(Karen's review)

We also enjoyed The Glass Castle by this author, about the author's immediate family growing up in poverty with an alcoholic father and mentally disturbed mother.  Jeannette was much like her grandmother, Lily.

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. Happy Reading!

"Unspeakable" by Sandra Brown

Unspeakable by Sandra Brown is an interesting novel because it has three main story lines and I only guessed the ending of one of them.  The first is the two escaped convicts Carl and Myron, who can’t even stay out of trouble until meeting up with Carl’s brother.  This bunch is mean!  Another interesting story line is about the newly retired policeman, Ezzy and his preoccupation with an unsolved crime from 22 years ago.  The third is about a deaf/voluntary mute widow, Anna, and her 5-yr-old son, David who live with her father-in-law on a ranch.  Shortly after Carl and Myron escape from prison, John Sawyer, a drifter, suspiciously arrives to offer to be their ranch hand.  Although he is a good worker and eventually Anna begins to fall for him, something just seems off about him.

This book is very well written too; it was easy to follow the different story lines and keep characters straight.  I liked the character development which gave this book a realistic flavor and the fact that everything was explained in the end and there are no loose ends.  Unspeakable is packed with humor, action, suspense, romance which mix together making this a really good read that kept my attention throughout!    I highly recommend it.

Sample of humor:  Ezzy, the forced retired cop’s description of a cruise:

She also had mentioned a cruise.  He couldn’t think of anything worse than being stranded on a ship with a bunch of strangers and a hyperactive crew determined to see that he had a good time doing things he didn’t want to do.

Sample of mean:  They had left the sisters resting in peace at the bottom of their water well with bullets in their heads.

Sample of action and suspense:  Jack grabbed David’s hand and thrashed through the shallow water to shore.  “Quick, put your shoes on.  Get your clothes.”  Jack scrambled into his jeans and picked up his boots.  The triangle had stopped clanging, but Anna wouldn’t have used the emergency signal just for the hell of it.   

Sample of romance:   His arms tensed, tightening the embrace.  Then, pressing her lips with his, he kissed her.

He thought Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, because her mouth was very soft and so sweet and temptingly receptive.

Moments later, it was he who initiated the exchange of tongues, but she responded favorably.

(Karen's review)

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"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" by Nancy Pickard

"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" is a murder mystery that takes place in Kansas.  When one of the sons of a wealthy and influential family is killed and his wife missing, their 3-yr.-old daughter goes to live with her grandparents, Hugh Senior and Annabelle.  The family immediately suspects one of their young ranch hands, Billy Crosby, a wife beater and an alcoholic.  Billy is sent to prison for murder but the body of the victim's wife was not found and no one really knows what happened to her (until the very end of the book).  When Billy gets out thanks to his son becoming a lawyer and getting his sentence commuted due to an improper investigation 23 years later, most of the town is not very happy.  

This book is about family, betrayal, revenge and marriage.  I enjoyed this book very much but almost didn't read it because of the sex scene that it starts off with.  I thought the whole book was going to be that way, but it isn't.  I felt sad about several good people getting killed and it had me guessing throughout the book as to who the real murderer was.  I thought it was a good read and had a hard time putting it down.  I recommend it if you like a good murder mystery and books about families.
(Karen's review)

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