Summer of Promise by Amanda Cabot - My Review

Abigail Harding decides to leave Vermont to head west to Fort Laramie to check on her sister Charlotte.  She thinks that Wyoming will be dusty and boring.  Her stage coach is robbed a short distance from the fort, but Army Lieutenant Ethan Bowles is on board to save the day.  The two are thrown together during the robbery and once they arrive at the fort.  Ethan just so happens to be best friends with Abigail's brother in law.  Abigail is bound and determined to not like Wyoming and return to her intended and her teaching position in Vermont.  Ethan has no need for a headstrong woman or love.  There are robberies going on in and around the fort and both Ethan and Abigail feel the need to determine who is responsible. Abigail also needs to help everyone she meets and somebody has to keep her safe. 

I loved this book! I waited for the release date for a while and downloaded it first thing on the morning that is released.  I was not disappointed!  There were lots of twists and turns in the book that kept me reading.  I was always surprised.  Just when I thought I had figured something out I would be thrown for a loop.  I think I finished it in record time.  I totally identified with Abigail's need to fix things and help people.  I loved learning more about Fort Laramie.  I've read lots of books where the characters briefly visited the fort, but I really enjoyed it as a setting for this book.  The famous fort is no longer just a stopping point on the Oregan trail (remember that game in elementary school?), but a real place.  Amanda Cabot did a wonderful job bringing the fort to life.  I really look forward to the rest of the books in the series.  I want to see how things turn out for the other sisters.  Does it really have to be a year?

Another Favorite Author, Julie Lessman!!!

You know how when you discover something new you are so excited and need to tell everybody about the new thing you discovered?  Well that is how I feel about Julie Lessman and her books!  Julie's books kept popping up as suggestions on a website so I finally reserved them at my local library.  I got the entire first series, The Daughters of Boston,  last spring which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied.  Let me tell you that the passion is definitely a prominent theme!  I have to say right off the bat that these books, as well as all of her books, are outstanding.  They are real, not sugar coated.  The books are complicated, there is conflict, and everything doesn't always end up rosy.  I promise that it all works together for good.  Have I mentioned that her books are thick, 480 pages thick? Not a quick lazy afternoon read by any means. 

This series is set in Boston during WWI and it follows the O'Connor family of eight. Patrick and Marcy are the loving parents, Sean is the oldest brother, Faith and Charity are the older girls, Lizzie and Steven are the younger siblings, and Katie is the baby of the family. With six kids you can imagine that there is some serious sibling conflict and it mainly occurs between Faith and Charity.  The family has a strong foundation of faith, but that is rocked over and over. Patrick and Steven go to war and the rest of the family moves to Ireland to be with family.  There is a constant back and for between Faith and Charity and their different love interests. There are real trials and tests to the faith that is the core of this family.  I could go on forever!  The books are bold and address situations that most Christian fiction doesn't even coming close to touching, but the result is incredible. 

Faith's book is A Passion Most Pure and Charity's is A Passion Redeemed.  Lizzie is the younger sister and her book is A Passion Denied. There is also a second series called Winds of Change and has a book dedicated to each of the remaining O'Connor siblings.  Katie's story is first in A Hope Undaunted, Sean's story is second in A Heart Revealed, and Steven's story will be released this year.

I enjoyed each one of these books and was totally engrossed in them.  I think I might just have to start both series over again in anticipation of the last one in the series.  I am looking to add all of the Daughters of Boston books to my personal library since I previously borrowed them.  If you see a bargain somewhere let me know!

One of my favs!!! Or should I say three?

I love Mary Connealy's books.  I stumbled upon her books while looking for books on a website under one of those "if you like this you might like this"  links.  I went to the bookstore down the street and they just so happened to have the Lassoed in Texas Trilogy.  It looked familiar, so I bought it.  I was totally unaware of what Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon, and Gingham Mountain would do to me!  I was hooked.  These books are laugh out loud funny!  Of course I love historical fiction so this was perfect!  It has been a little more than two years since I bought this book and I have read 17 of her books, I think.  Does that say something?   I think so!  I have read more Mary Connealy books than any other author!  Well that's true if you don't consider those series I read as a young girl.  So for that reason I decided to to write about Mary's books for my first book review on my blog.

What I love, love, love about Lassoed in Texas...
1. It's 3 books in one
2. The characters all overlap
3. I am a totally fascinated with the idea of a marriage of convenience
4.  I couldn't put it down
5. I laughed out loud more than once, quite alot actually
6. I really never knew what would happen next
7. Each book has women who are strong and independent because they had to be, but all opened up to the love and support of the hero
8.  In Petticoat Ranch I love that the drama that always surrounds Clay and Sophie and the girls
9.  In Calico Canyon I love how Grace, the only woman in the family,  learns to understand Daniel and his boys.  Did I mention that I have three boys?
10.  In Gingham Mountain I love how Grant and Hannah meet because of their love for certain orphaned children and the interesting family that they have.

Needless to say I loved this trilogy!  I have read and re-read this book, passed it to friends and suggested it to many.  I hope you enjoy it too!

This is the link to the Video Book Trailer for Mary's new book In Too Deep. I can't wait for the release!
http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/2012/01/in-too-deep-coming-in-february-video.html

Woohoo!!!

I love a good book and I read all the time.  I finally decided that I would do something about it.  When I find a good book I want to tell everybody about it, soo.... now I will.  I hope to add review from all the books I read and dream that maybe one day I will do an author interview here!  Watch for more!