Petticoat Ranch

First of all, let me say, I love the covers of these books.  HCRs have such fun covers!  My only pet peeve is that when they show the whole face of the girl and/or guy in the story—as beautiful as that face may be, it messes with my own imagination and I kinda don’t like that!  So the covers of Connealy’s books are perfect for me, because they are artistic and cute, but I don’t have an actual face to see that distorts my own interpretation of what the characters look like.  (My favorite covers of all belong to some Gist books…)  Now, what about the story we’re discussing here?  Oh ya.  It was pretty good, too.  (Understatement!)

Book Rating:  Up All Night’er

Petticoat Ranch was truly a great story.  It starts off quickly, and doesn’t stop!  I had a hard time thinking that I could get into a book where there are so many children involved.  I guess I just thought it would take away from the romance.  To be honest there wasn’t as much romance as I would have liked to see, but the characters were all so lovely I didn’t mind so much.

If you are looking for a sweet romance, filled with excitement and laced with gentleness—this is NOT the book for you!  This story takes place in the dirty, dirty west with lots of bad guys and TONS of hardship.  (Mmmmm, I like the west!  Anyone second that?!)

Sophie Edwards is an amazingly strong woman who has had to care for herself and her four young daughters for a very long time.  (You will be so amazed at the things these girls had to do to protect and provide for themselves, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were really some people that actually lived that way…or very close to that way…)

Clay McClellan has been looking for his twin brother for many, many years.  Who would have ever thought he would run into his brother’s family in Texas—and need them to save his life.  Now, Clay was a very likeable guy.  Cute personality and kind to Sophie and the girls, but I have to say I didn’t really care for the way he communicated and handled things with them a lot of the time.  But, he would risk his life for anyone and worked hard for their welfare.

There was good romance and fun kisses, but overall it lacked a bit of the gentleness and sweetness that I enjoy so much in these stories.  Most of the book was very rough and tumble.  I like reading about strong women, but Sophie pushed my limit.

I absolutely loved the message of how the Holy Spirit whispers to us.  It was very inspiring and it made me realize that I need to listen for God’s whisperings in my life on a daily basis.

So, if you are up for an adventure and think you can handle this wild ride, go for it!  I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Happy Reading!
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