He's a preacher.
Both are in need of a miracle.
Sarah Prescott has never known a respectable life. Just a hardscrabble childhood and brothers who taught her to shoot first and ask questions later.
Justin Wells left Boston in disgrace, heading out alone on the dusty trail to Texas. But when the once-respected clergyman encounters a feisty redhead in handcuffs with a dying U.S. Marshall at her side, their journey takes a dramatic turn.
His high-society expectations and Sarah's outlaw habits clash from the start. With a price on her head and towing an orphaned baby rescued from the brink of starvation, Justin and Sarah make the difficult journey toward Rocky Creek. There, justice will be meted out. Perhaps--they hope--with a healthy portion of grace.
My Thoughts:
Let me start out by saying that the romance level in this book is higher than many others in the genre, not as far as inappropriate content (there's none), but just quantity of scenes. You can simply feel the tension and longing the two lead characters have; their feelings are alive in such a way that the characters themselves simply jump off the pages.
Often times when historical novels have a female lead intended to be feisty or wild, generally I find their "eccentric" behavior to be somewhat forced and over-the-top, BUT, that is definitely not the case here. Sarah is certainly colorful (especially for the time period), but in a good way; her unusual ways are charming and seem very natural considering her history and childhood. I found many of her sayings and quotes quite amusing, and I loved how she wasn't stiff and all about propriety, as the time period generally demanded women to be.
Justin is also very likable and easy to sympathize with. You might think a story with a preacher as one of the lead characters might be boring, but it's certainly not. He's simply a regular person, just like you and I, trying to do what God would have him do, even when it's unbearably hard.
This is the first book by Margaret Brownley that I've have the pleasure of reading, and I have to say that I really, really enjoyed it. Bravo!! I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store as the Rocky Creek series continues!
My Rating: 5 stars
Reviews for the rest of the Rocky Creek series will be coming later this month, stay tuned! :)
I cannot say how long its been since this book has been sitting on my book shelf but it's sort of ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough, this one sat on my shelf for a year or more before I got around to reading it! Partly because I wanted to acquire books 2 and 3 in the series before I started it, and partly because I love my kindle so much that I have a hard time getting myself to read the "real" books that are sitting on my shelf.
DeleteAnyway, I'm glad I finally decided to read this series, because the entire trilogy is quite entertaining!