Love Without End by Robin Lee Hatcher

Kimberly Welch is a widow with a teenage daughter.  When her husband died she found out that her husband had not kept up the premiums on his life insurance policy and their fancy life style that they were living was paid for by going further in debt.  She lost her house, cars, and everything she owned.  She and her daughter, Tara, are now living with Kimberly’s friend in Kings Meadow.  A friend gives Tara a horse. But the horse is untrained.

Chet Leonard owns the Leonard Ranch.  Chet is hurting from the death of his oldest son and the fact that his wife of over 20 years left and divorced him shortly after their son’s death.  He is now trying to focus on raising his two remaining sons alone and running his ranch. 

Kimberly asks Chet to train Tara’s horse and teach her how to ride and take care of the horse.  He is reluctant to do it as he doesn’t have the time.  One look at Kimberly and he relents.  As he continues to train Tara’s horse, Kimberly and he become closer. 

Anna McKenna is an 84 year old woman who returns to the Leonard Ranch from Florida.  She basically grew up on the ranch and stayed there until she married and moved to Florida at the age of 53.  Anna plays an important part in the story as she helps the hurting people around her. At first I didn’t understand why we were given flash backs on Ann, but the more I got into the story I understood and enjoyed them.

I enjoyed reading this book.  It showed how two hurting parents are coping with the loss of a loved one. It’s not a high suspense but what I would class as a romance. But not an intense romance.  It’s not boy meets girl and immediately they fall in love.  It’s more about two mature hurting people finding love the second time around in a more mature fashion.  Not only do they have to think of themselves but of their children.  And the main thing is what God wants them to do. I would give this book 3 ½ stars is that were possible.  It’s good and I enjoyed it but not a great read. 

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Buttermilk Sky by Jan Watson

Nineteen year old Mazy Pelfrey left her home in the Kentucky mountains to attend secretarial school.  She thought things could only get better from now on. Business school is more difficult than she expected. She’s not sure if this is what she really wants to do. And the city of Lexington is not as friendly as she expected.  She then meets Loyal Chambers.  He is from a wealthy family and he sets out to win her. The only problem is that she has a boyfriend. Sort of.  She left behind Sheriff Chanis Clay.  Chanis surprises Mazy with a visit and he is the one who gets the surprise when he finds her with Loyal.  Through a series of mishaps, Mazy comes to realize what is important in her life and finally lets the Lord led on which direction her life should go.

I found this book to be an entertaining read.  It wasn’t one I couldn’t put down, but enjoyable none the less.  It is a clean book that I would recommend to all ages.

I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

A Promise to Protect by Patricia Bradley

Acting Sheriff Ben Logan arrives at Tony’s hotel room to see his friend lying in a pool of blood.  As Tony lay dying, he extracts a promise from Ben to protect his sister Leigh Somerall and her son TJ from those who shot him.  Reluctantly Ben agrees.  It has been ten years since he last saw Leigh and she broke his heart.  He does not want his heart broke again.

Dr. Leigh Somerall is back in town working as an ER doctor to fulfill her contract to help pay for med school.  Her goal is to get out of town as quickly as possible and to avoid seeing Ben.  She did not count on her brother getting murdered and Ben’s promise or the attempts on her life. 

This is an action, suspense, romance rolled into one book.  It was hard to understand Leigh’s stubbornness about accepting help from Ben when her life and that of her sons kept getting threatened.  As the story progresses, I understood it a little bit better.  I am usually very good about figuring out “who done it”.  But there were so many twists and turns I kept changing my mind about the guilty party.  Of course you know Ben and Leigh will get together in the end.  But there is a lot of forgiveness that has to happen on both their parts and not just on their previous relationship. 

This is the second book in the Logan Point Series.  It is not necessary to read the first book to fully enjoy this one.  The main character is mentioned briefly in this book.  I would highly recommend this book.

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

The Brickmaker's Bride by Judith Miller

The story takes place shortly after the end of the Civil War in the newly formed state of West Virginia.  Laura Woodfield is the daughter of the deceased owner of the Woodfield Brickyard.  It has lane unused since her father went off to war and was killed.  Ewan McKay has immigrated from Ireland with his Uncle Hugh and Aunt Margaret in the hopes of finding a better life.  Ewan and Hugh are in the market to purchase a brick yard.  With Ewan’s knowledge of how to run a brick yard and Hugh having the money, they are hoping to make a success of the business.

Laura volunteers to help Ewan with the books and rounding up men to work in the brick yard as she assisted her father when he was alive. Ewan and Laura realize that more than friendship is developing.  But Laura is being courted by a lawyer with political ambitions.  Ewan wants to focus his time on working hard at the brickyard to make enough money to bring his three sisters to America from Ireland. 

There is tension in Ewan’s household.  Hugh is a gambler and know it all.  Margaret is a social climber who has to have her way or everyone will hear about it loudly and often.  All Ewan wants is to be made partner in the brickyard and bring his sisters to America.  He also would like to court Laura. When Hugh signs loan papers that put the business in jeopardy, all of Ewan’s hard work is put in on the line.

I will start by saying this is not my typical genre.  I am more of a mystery reader.  The book started out slow and then got better.  There was too much description on how a brick was made and how a brick yard is run.  The essence of the story was good.  Both of the main characters were likable.  The Christian aspect of the story was handled well, although there wasn’t a lot mentioned about God.  I am giving the book three stars as it was a good book but not one I couldn’t put down and it was a slow read in several places.

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Deceived by Irene Hannon

Kate Marshall has built a new life for herself after the death of her husband and four year old son in a boating accident three years ago.  All of that changes when she spots a child on an escalator in the mall that is a dead ringer for her son.  When she calls his name the child stops and turns to look at her.  The police don’t really believe she saw her dead son.  But she won’t give up.  She contacts the Phoenix PI group and tells Connor Sullivan her story.  Connor is a former Secret Service agent and is at first just as skeptical as the police were.  The more he digs into the case the more he starts to believe Kate saw her son. 

This is the third in the Private Justice Books.  It is not necessary to read the other two books to enjoy this one.  Although, I highly recommend reading the other two books as they are just as good as this book.  All the way through the book you pretty much know how it is going to end. But the twists and turns it takes to get to that conclusion is a very good read.

I would recommend this book to everyone who loves mystery and romance all in one book. Also, Kate’s reliance on God is brought out throughout the book.  Without Him she would not have survived the years after her husband and sons deaths.

I was given this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.