Wednesday, March 18, 2015

TO WIN HER FAVOR By Tamera Alexander

http://www.tameraalexander.com/

If you love horses, as I do, and civil war history, then this Christian Romance is for you. Tamera Alexander, one of my all-time favorite authors, has done it again. From the first page, you are caught in the struggles of both hero and heroine to survive an environment hostile to both for different reasons.

 Cullen McGrath finds himself in post-Civil War Tennessee because it's where his deceased wife wanted them to settle after fleeing Ireland and trouble with the Thoroughbred Racing authorities there. On the passage over, he lost both wife and daughter and now he just wants to buy some land to farm. But everywhere he turns are signs "Irish need not apply" and others willing to show him the door, literally.

 Maggie Linden has lost her mother and then her four older brothers to the war. Her father is in failing health and their farm is set to go to auction soon. Maggie's prize possession is the thoroughbred mare she's raised and trained from a foal to achieve her dream.

By divine appointment, Cullen meets up with Maggie's father who recognizes the character of the man and realizes that his needs and theirs intersect. So he makes a proposition to Cullen that involves Maggie's consent to succeed.

The proposition involves a marriage of convenience for both parties in which they both might achieve their greatest hopes; but will their hearts become the biggest prize of all?

Ms Alexander tastefully describes the intimacies of marriage with sensibility and her descriptions of the struggles to develop a relationship in marriage are relatable. She also deals with the atrocities of racism and bigotry and the struggles for women to be accepted in a male dominated world. I think you'll find you can't put this one down.

I received this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

WHENEVER YOU COME AROUND By Robin Lee Hatcher

http://www.robinleehatcher.com/


Definitely a sweet romance and most definitely romantic--"Whenever You Come Around" belongs on your keeper shelf. I've read quite a few books by Ms. Robin Hatcher but this novel part of the Kings Meadow Series is one of my favorites.

Charity Anderson has one of those bad days that go from bad to worse when her dog, inadvertently causes her new neighbor, Buck Malone to fall and suffer injuries that will incapacitate him for a while.  Both Buck and Charity for different reasons desire a single lifestyle with no room for a significant other.

That changes when Buck needs help to get chores done around his small ranch and help with meals and even some personal assistance. Charity, doesn't like men since she had a traumatic experience back in high school, which is why she hasn't returned to her hometown community before now. She definitely doesn't like handsome cowboys that like to flirt and cause her to feel things she doesn't want to feel any more.

 Both Charity and Buck have trust issues; and Charity's past is full of pain which an astute Buck senses. Buck sweetly draws Charity out until she finds she has to trust him with her ugly past and leave him to choose whether she is worth it or not. Will Charity's courage to confront her past land her in the arms of her hero at the class reunion dance? Check it out.
 
I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.