No Place for a Lady

I was very excited to start this book thanks to a recommendation by my very dear HCR friend, Candy!! Candy has great taste and we have very similar "likes" in books, so I knew I would enjoy this one--and I did!!

Overall, I'm a big Maggie Brendan fan. I've read several of her books, though not all. This particular novel was intriguing enough, but I picked up on a few writerly things that made the story less fabulous than it might have been otherwise . . .

Allow me to explain.

Book Rating: Somewhere between Up All Night'er and Here a little, there a little

Maybe being a writer taints me as a reader, I don't know. But when I started this book I noticed right away a few things that turned me away from the story no matter how engaging it was. I won't spend much time on those things, but let it suffice that I found the actual writing passive and telling a lot of the time which pulled me out of the story.

The basic plot--girl with no family goes to a Colorado ranch and ends up needing to run the place. Honestly, even though there are almost too many of these plots to count, I still like them! There's great conflict, and just so many fabulous opportunities for romance, don't you think? *grin* The premise and setting were intriguing enough to keep me interested, but honestly it was the characters that I found less so . . .

The heroine, Crystal, didn't really come alive to me. I didn't get to know her and "feel" her emotions and struggles as I would have liked, but I think that might have been due to the writing style. Again, this is just my opinion. As for the hero, it's hard not to fall for a cowboy--am I right?! In this case, Luke is pretty great. However, even though their relationship just didn't have to spark I was looking for. But again, that might have been due to the writing style--or maybe it's just an Amber thing.

There were some really great scenes that I don't think I've ever really seen in another book--won't say what they are cuz I don't want to give it away . . . but in that repsect, I found it a very enjoyable read.

Thank you, Cathy for this fabulous recommendation! And please, if any of you ever have a recommendation please let me know--I'm always excited to learn about new books!

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Twice Promised

This novel is very cute, but you wanna know what I liked the most? The title! (And as a side note, I very much dislike “faces” on the covers of books, but I really thought this girl looked like how they describe her in the story. Very pretty.)

Book Rating: Up All Night’er

I just really, really love the title of this book! TWICE PROMISED. Perfect!

This story comes right after DEEPLY DEVOTED and in that book you became acquainted with Greta Olsen, the lovely young sister of Catherine Olsen. (I have a feeling Anna’s story will be next, but I could be wrong. She’s the youngest sister by the way…*wink *)

Greta was madly in love with a man named Bryan in the previous story, but at the beginning of this book we find out that he died. Very sad. Greta saw how well the mail-order-bride thing worked out for her sister, so she gives it a try herself. Little does she know there is another woman who's come to Central City, Colorado to marry the same man! And, she knows even “littler” than that, that the man she came to marry is the brother of the man she just lost! Hooo! Crazy, huh?

I thought this story was just plain cute. I can’t think of any other word that describes it as well. You actually get to follow two couples as they fall in love—the more romance the better, right? That being said, I thought the actual romance was a bit slow at times and for some reason I had a hard time becoming very attached to the characters as adorable as they were.

Jess (the main leading man…Zach was the other one, but I won’t go into detail on him) just didn’t do it for me. I know that all leading men can’t be the same or these books would get real boring, real fast (or would they?…hmmm…Drew O’Connor…). Eh hem. I digress. There wasn’t much about him that I found appealing. I think Brendan wanted to describe how much he needed a woman’s influence in his life, but for me he came across as messy, forgetful and disorganized. So, that was a bit of a disappointment, but wasn't a complete turn-off.

Overall, very enjoyable read and I do recommend it.

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*Thank you to Revell for the free review copy*

A Love Forbidden

This lovely historical romance features a devoted leading lady and a leading man who doesn’t know where he belongs in the world. It works, despite the minor set-backs.

Book Rating: Up All Night’er

I love series stories! I easily get attached to characters and I always like reading more about then in subsequent books. The leading lady in this book is introduced briefly in the previous story A HEART DIVIDED.

Shiloh is a sweet, devoted girl who fell in love a boy who worked at her father’s ranch many years ago. He made such an impression on her that she never forgot him. Many years later when their paths cross again she is thrilled at the chance to have a friendship with him. He however, is not.

Jesse doesn’t like the memories of his life with the white people, and is afraid of all the buried emotions that Shiloh will likely surface in him. But he can't deny he's attracted to her.

I struggled with liking Jesse. He was only partly nice to Shiloh I thought—so bogged down with his past that he couldn’t even really let himself acknowledge that he loved her. He would say and do things that were meant to push her away, and sometimes I kept thinking, “Girl, get over him! He is SO not worth it!”

In the end, I tolerated him well enough. But I thought he could have been made into a much more likable leading man.

There were a few good rescue scenes that I enjoyed, but honestly the romance didn’t do much for me in this one.

Like in the book before, this one had a great Christian element.

I do recommend this, even thought it wasn’t one of my fav's.

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A Heart Divided

This is my first Kathleen Morgan book…I’ll be comin’ back for more!

Book Rating: Up All Night'er

A feuding family story—gotta love those!  Two young lovers get caught in the crossfire of their families anger and have to overcome their differences in order to prove to one another that their love is more important than anything between their families. (Wow, that was a mouthful…)

Awww! So romantic!

Sarah Caldwell is being forced by her father to take part in a robbery! And even though she wants nothing to do with it, she goes along for the sake of her ailing brother.

Cord Wainwright can’t believe that the Caldwell’s have robbed them again! And when he realizes that the little blonde beauty had a hand in things he is even more surprised.


However, both of them are even more shocked when their feelings for each other begin to bloom into a strong love. But can they overcome it all and help heal their broken families?

This leading lady is very likable, I thought.  She is fairly young and naive at times, but it didn't bother me too much. Cord is a great leading man--strong, wise and perfectly flawed. *wink*

This is a fabulous evening or weekend read. Some novels are like a yummy, heavy meal—they stay with you for a long time. Others novels…are more like orange juice. This one is somewhere in the middle—delicious romance and fun characters, but maybe nothing you will come back to and read over and over.

I have a good feeling you will like this one.

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Remembered

Remembered was my least favorite of the three books in the Fountain Creek Chronicles.  Hey, now!  Be nice.  Yes, I know it won a Christy Award, but it still did nothing for me.

Book Rating:  Here a little, there a little

I have a strong feeling that I would feel differently about this story if I had not read A Lasting Impression first.  I felt like those two stories were awfully identical in a lot of ways, so this book got boring for me real fast: A beautiful, sweet French girl who is a good artist, doesn’t have any parents and is basically alone in the world. Crazy, huh?  It was just much too similar to me.

That being said, there are great elements of the story.  The character of Jack Brennan is wonderful, and if you don’t like him as a leading man, I will be quite surprised.  (Maybe kinda like how you are surprised I didn’t really like this book…)  The Christian message is good as well.

Veronique is in Colorado searching for her father, and she needs Jack Brennan to help her in her search.  (Another thing…here is a girl who needs a “guide”… which in my opinion is very similar to Revealed.  Just another element that made me a bit more disinterested.)

Over the course of the book the two protagonists fall in love, and it’s a great ending as you can imagine.  If you had read this book, I would love to hear what you think about it!  If you haven’t read it, please let me know once you have and what you thought as well.

I would love to write more and really gush about this book, but I can't.  Sorry gals.

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Revealed

Some books really click with you when you read them and others simply don’t.  I read the Timber Ridge series first and I lo-HOVED them!  This particular series really didn’t do it for me.  I liked “Rekindled”, but the other two were only so-so.

Book Rating:  Here a little, there a little

Yeah, yeah.  I can hear your sneers through my computer.  “But, Amber…” you say.  “How in the world could you not like this book?!  Are you insane?!”

I don’t think I’m insane. *teehee *  And as much as I would like to console you and say I will give it another try, sorry.  It ain’t happenin’.

First I will hail it’s one good attribute: the Christian message was fabulous, as are all the messages in Alexander’s books.

Annabelle Grayson (a character you will get to know from the first Fountain Chronicles book “Rekindled”) has had an extremely hard life.  But thanks to a loving and sweet husband she was saved from her pervious existence and given the chance at a second life—a life of joy.  Sadly, her husband dies—in like the first few pages of the book!  Leaving her and their unborn child by themselves.

Thankfully they have great friends to turn to.  However, Annabelle still feels the need to finish the journey she and her husband started, and get to Idaho before winter sets in.

Matthew Taylor (another character from “Rekindled”…I really liked him in that book, but things changed for me in this one…) applies for the position as a guide for Annabelle.  But he had no idea what he was getting into, and now he’s not even sure if he wants to continue, knowing that she is the one who is employing him.

This book has a lot of anger in it, and a lot of sadness.  As does “Rekindled”...  However, this one seemed a lot darker to me for some reason—there was hardly any happiness in it.  None that really stuck out to me, anyway.  Annabelle’s life was so hard, and so was Matthew’s.  And the fact that throughout a major portion of this book they vehemently hated one another, it was difficult for me to see this as a romance.

Again, there is a place in this world for books like this, but I am not one for dark stories.  And that’s what I really felt like this was.  Dark and heavy and sad.  Of course things pick up near the end, but that wasn’t enough to make me like it.  If I finish a book and know that I will read it again, then it meets my criteria for an Up All Night’er or Best of the Best, but this was not it for me.

Let me know what you think when you read it.  And don’t be hatin’ on me for not liking it if you totally love it, because you really might.  There are lots of people that do.

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The Inheritance

I was so touched by this story and the message.  It has a very heartfelt, real-life feel about it.  If memory serves me right, this is the first Alexander book I ever read, and I was immediately addicted!

Book Rating:  Best of the Best

Often times when I read these stories I think to myself, “That’s nice n’all, but that would never really happen.”  This story dealt with some very real issues, (ie: the wayword brother) and I was so grateful to see that!

Many times in our lives God allows us to have very difficult challenges—so it is with the leading lady in this story, McKenna Ashford.  McKenna is trying her best to care for and parent her younger brother Robert, who has been in a great deal of trouble in recent months.  She goes to Colorado in search of a new life for them, and what she “inherits” is nothing like what she expected.  She is overwheled with her responsilities, and isn’t sure if she can handle the weight of it all.  Her faith and trust in the Almighty was wonderful!  You will be so inspired, I know I was!

U.S. Marshall Wyatt Caradon is a leading man anyone can love!  He is gentle and kind, yet tough when he needs to be.  So dreamy!!  Wyatt helps McKenna with her difficulties and finds he can leave behind years of hurt by allowing himself a new life with this lovely woman.  The romance of the story was kinda slow in coming, but once it got going there was no stoppin' it!  Mmmmm, yes I think I'm gonna have to pick this one up again this summer!!

The “inheritance” in this book wasn’t really what I thought it was going to be, and I was very moved.  I would read this again and again.  Can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

My testimony of God’s love and grace were strengthened through this book, and I’m sure yours will be too!

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Rekindled

Rekindled is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  This is the first book in the Fountain Creek Chronicles series and boy, is it a doozy.  I was sucked in from the very beginning. "But you don't have to take my word for it!"  (Yep, that's my not-so-subtle "shout-out” to the best "book review" show ever-- Reading Rainbow.  Hollah!)

Book Rating:  Best of the Best

First off, don’t expect to get through this without crying.  Have a tissue handy….or two… or three.  It’s a beautiful story about—well it’s a story about a lot of things: finding Christ, finding yourself through Christ, forgiveness, and of course true love.  I am really surprised this didn’t win a Christy Award, frankly.  But all the books in this series have won awards or have at least been nominated.  Again, I read these out of order, and I don’t recommend that though it can be done.

Kathryn Jennings is deeply in love with Larson, her husband of ten years.  He loves her deeply as well but, unfortunately, has some serious trust issues.  These issues stem from childhood so you know they’re gonna take some time to get over.  Also, they have not been able to have children, and he blames himself.  Kathryn hopes that someday he will break down his emotional walls so they can enjoy a truly happy marriage.

One night, something dreadful happens to Larson, nearly killing him, and sending him through a rough and lengthy recovery.  In the process he learns a great deal about himself, and about God.  But, there are still some hurdles to get over in his quest to show his wife that he loves her more than ever.

So many times I put down this book and said, “Holy crud!  This is so sad!  I can’t keep reading this!”  Then twenty seconds later I would pick it back up and start reading again….voraciously I might add.

The characters are phenomenal.  The plot, captivating.  The message, fabulous.  Go read it.  Now!


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From a Distance

From A Distance is the first in the Timber Ridge series.  Out of all of Alexander’s books these are my favorites.  This book in particular is very good and extremely popular—it even won a Christy award.  As much as I like it, I have to say it unfortunately my least favorite of the three.  --Don't look at me that way, you're making me feel bad.

Book Rating:  Up All Night’er

OK, yes this book does get my second highest rating, but deep in my heart I am not sure if I would go back and read it again.  Well, maybe I would…give me another second to think about it.

This book was kind of like Beyond This Moment where I just felt like people were hiding too many things.  It really bothers me when people hide stuff—in books or in real life!  (Keep that in mind, dear friends, so that you do not incur the wrath of Amber. Grrrrrrrr….)

But I do always love Alexander’s books and the messages she includes are always heart warming and very inspiring.

This book is about—you guessed it—a pretty lady (good job!) named Elizabeth who travels to Timber Ridge to, well, here’s where all the secrets come in...  She is there because she wants a job at a newspaper back east, but she doesn’t tell anyone forever—it just bugs me so bad!  So she tells them all this other stuff and they believe her--like in the other book!  AH!  I’m getting exasperated just thinking about it…  It does resolve though, in the end, so don’t get too worried.

Daniel is an extremely rugged (and did I mention swooningly handsome?) man that conjures up images of Jeremiah Johnson…only with longer hair…and I don’t think Daniel is supposed to look anything like Robert Redford…but, you get the idea.  He is dealing with a lot of guilt and heartache from his past and he just wants to be left alone.  But now that Elizabeth is around, that’s not gonna happen.  (You want details?  Go read it!)

I was honestly quite confused by this story.  I guess maybe I should read it again, cuz it might make more sense the second time around.  The things I did really enjoy about it were of course, the romance!  *sigh *  I also loved that all the charaters from the other Timber Ridge books were in this book, too.  That made it totally fun!  There’s plenty of excitement to keep ya comin’ back for more.

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Beyond This Moment

I love books where the leading man is in law enforcement: Texas Ranger, Sheriff, all of the above!  So hot!  And boy, does this book deliver in the romance department, let me tell ya.  This is the second book in Alexander’s Timber Ridge series, by the way…it comes right before Within My heart…just FYI.

Book rating:  Up All Night’er

First off let me say, that as much as I loved this book it was almost too difficult for me to get through!  Molly Whitcomb has a secret.  A secret that, given her circumstances, really shouldn’t be a secret at all!  And she kept it a secret for FAR too long in my opinion, and I could hardly stand it!  But, this book has so many other wonderful elements that it’s definitely a must-read, no matter how uncomfortable it may make you.

James McPherson is the Sheriff and he can tell Molly is hiding something.  Even though it may hurt his reputation, he is willing to take the risk and open his life and his heart to this lovely professor from Georgia.

There are some great “to the rescue” situations in this book.  I just love those, don’t you?!  James is a truly wonderful character—in fact I think he is my very favorite character in the whole Timber Ridge series.  He is strong, lovable, kind and forgiving.  Molly is one lucky girl!

Alexander always includes a wonderful spiritual message in her books, so you will never be disappointed there.  If you can read the books in order I recommend it, but its not necessary by any means.  

Happy Reading!

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Within My Heart

I didn’t know when I first read Within My Heart that it was the last part of a three-part series.  Whoops.  But, thankfully, it didn’t make the story hard to follow.  In fact I totally loved it.  I loved it so much that I went back and read the first two books, then read this one again.  And, it’s still my favorite of the three.

Book rating:  Best of the Best

Rachel Boyd is a strong, determined mother of two--and widow.  Her husband was killed tragically several years before and she is struggling to make ends meat and to keep her ranch from going under.  She struggles with loneliness, but is sure she can never love anyone as much as she loved her beloved husband Thomas.  Or can she?

Rand Brookston is a dashing young Doctor with dreams of building a good practice and bringing some much needed medical knowledge to the little town of Timber Ridge. 

In the beginning, Rand has feelings for this strong, yet delicate beauty from the South.  But, he gets the feeling there is something about him she doesn’t like, though he can’t put his finger on it.  It’s truly beautiful to watch their relationship grow.  No surprise here—I cried several times throughout this book.  I just thought the message was beautiful and some of the scenes were SO moving.  I just can’t recommend this book enough to you. 

It's not really a “light” book.  So if you need something that isn’t in the least bit sad, you might want to look in another direction.  But really, you won’t be disappointed here.

Happy Reading!

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