The Soldier's Secrets

The more I read Love Inspired books, the more I like them.

Let's just say this book REALLY made me want to read the first one in the series, Sanctuary for a Lady. It is now on my TBRRN list. (That's "to-be-read-right-now" for those who didn't know. *wink*) And I JUST heard from Naomi that her third book in the series comes out in January of next year!! Yeah!!

Book Rating: Best of the Best

Holy smokes!! This story was excellent. Naomi is a truly gifted writer and she really knows how to hook you into every scene. There's a lot of excellent action, great history (you know I love history!!) and seriously, there's a kiss in this book that is--well, it's perfect.

Bridgett Dubois, the heroine, is very wonderful. Tough, sweet, generous, thoughtful--I really liked her. She is a widow with several children and works hard to make sure they are safe--which isn't an easy task. Her father-in-law is blackmailing her--and what he's forcing her to do could ruin everything. (Don't want to give too much away here, ladies, but it's pretty exciting!!)

Jean Paul (our beloved hero--really, REALLY fabulous) is haunted by his actions during the French Revolution--even though he had acted in the name of liberty. When he meets Bridgett, he finds that perhaps he can open his heart once again, but he fears what she will think of him when she discovers the truth of what he's done.

The emotions that were woven into these characters were very real and at times, extremely touching. One of things that I found especially interesting was the history. The extent of my knowledge about the French Revolution comes from The Scarlett Pimpernel and Les Mis. Not super great. So, this really opened my eyes on some things I had no idea about.

You can't wait to read it, can you?? *teehee*

Congratulations, Naomi, on another wonderful story! I know readers are going to love it, just like I did!!

Happy Reading!
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Three for the price of one: Calico Bride, The Reluctant Outlaw and The Unexpected Bride

I have been wanting to write reviews for these books for a long time! There's nothing like a good LIH when you're hankerin' for a fun, easy-to-read romance that you know will have a good message. They are light and fun. Though, if you are wanting something with a bit more passion, you might want to search for a stand-alone novel like A PASSION MOST PURE, etc.

So here, are three quick reviews of three very fun LIH's.



First, CALICO BRIDE.

Book Rating: Up All Night'er

This was the first Jillian Hart book I ever read, and I found it very enjoyable. Very enjoyable indeed. It bordered on a tad cheesy at times for my taste, but hey--like I always say, one man's cheese is another man's cheesecake. *big grin*

Lila Lawson dreams of excitement  like the kind she reads about in her favorite novels. But when Burke Hannigan--the new deputy in town--arrives, she gets more than she bargained for!!





Next, THE RELUCTANT OUTLAW

Book Rating: Up All Night'er

Juliana O'Malley and Evan Harris are thrown together by fate. Juliana thinks that Evan is a terrible outlaw, but his gentlemanly ways contradict everything.

This was a very fun book. For me, it was very fast and kept me wanting to turn the page. I think I might actually want to read this again someday.








Lastly, THE UNEXPECTED BRIDE

Book Rating: Up All Night'er

One of the things I liked most about this book was the dress the woman is wearing on the cover! So beautiful!

Haydon Bowen never wanted to marry again after the tragedy of his first marriage, but his brother had different ideas for him...

Rainelle Devonwood is glad to be a mailorder bride to excape her evil brother. But when she learns her "husband" didn't actually know she was coming, she does her best not to let Haydon drive her away.

I enjoyed the romantic tension in this story and the message of Christ was very good.

Wooing the Schoolmarm

Here is another lovely LIH, m’ladies. Dorothy Clark is a great author. I think I will read all her books from here on out.

Book Rating: Up All Night’er

Willa Wright has sworn off men. But, when the new Reverend shows up in town, he sets her heart a’flutter. Will she be able to trust again, and can Reverend Matthew Calvert deal with his new life’s challenges, while trying to make the charming (but cold) schoolmarm fall in love with him?

Well, you’ll just have to read to find out!  *teehee *

This story was a quick, very enjoyable read. All LIH books get to the meat of things right-off, so you never have to wonder when the leading man and leading lady will finally meet or when they will start feeling attracted to each other. It happens in the first chapter. Yay!

Willa is a sweet girl, who hasn’t had many great “men” examples in her life. She works hard and keeps her life in strict order—promising herself never to open her heart again. I found Willa to be a lovable very enjoyable character. But, sheesh, her friend Ellen was a piece of work! Let me know what you thought about Ellen if you’ve read the book…

Matthew Calvert is a leading man anyone can love. Aside from his good looks and spiritual nature, he is caring for his niece and nephew after the death of their parents and the way he loves them is enough to melt anyone’s heart!

The romantic tension was strong, but I wouldn’t say this story was necessarily dripping with romance. However, I do recommend it.

Through the book Willa gains a stronger testimony of God, and I enjoyed seeing her faith in Him grow.

Let me know what you think about this one, y’all!

Happy Reading!
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Lady Outlaw

I’m a big-time Love Inspired Historical fan.  Any other LIH’ers out there?  Yay!!

Say it with me, “L-I-H!  L-I-H!  L-I-H!”  *teehee *

I’m going to start writing more reviews on these books and will have an entire link set aside for them, because let me tell you, there are TONS of them!  And that’s wonderful news for HCR people like us because we will never run out of super-duper awesome books to read.

My latest LIH “read” comes from a new author--and friend of mine, I might add!--Stacy Henrie, entitled: LADY OUTLAW.  Catchy, right?  You know you want to read it already! 

Side note here…I will be featuring Stacy and another awesome new author (who I will name later!) in October!!

Book Rating:  Best of the Best

I want to say something really quickly about LIH books in general.  All the ones I have read were thoroughly enjoyable.  But, you might find, like I did, that some of them can be a teensy-weensy bit cheesy at times, with a helping of melodrama on the side.  *teehee *  Not every single LIH is like that, but I have read a few…just FYI.  So if you want to avoid that kind of thing, you will want to make sure and read my reviews--I’ll let you know if there’s any of that in there.  I'm not usually bothered by it, but I have been known to roll my eyes a time or two.

LADY OUTLAW however, was not cheesy in the least.  I had a great time with this story.  And, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die, it’s my favorite LIH to date. 

Jennie Jones will do anything to save her ranch—even if she has to *gulp * rob stage bandits!  She’s beautiful, kind and determined not to let anything stand in her way.  But her dashing new ranch hand Caleb Johnson is making her question her plans for the future.

Both main characters are very real and very lovable.  They are together a lot throughout the book too, which is a bonus.  That just equals more romance of course!!  (That’s typical of all LIH’s which is one of the reasons I like them so much.)  Their growth and development through the story was wonderful.  Also, I was kind of surprised by a few things in the end.  Fun!

The Christian element of the story was excellent.  I thought Stacy touched on issues that you don't see all too often in these stories, and I really appreciated that.  It's sweet and inspiring.

You will want to pre-order this’n!  Congratulations, Stacy on a wonderful story!

Happy Reading!

Buy it!