Reviews

Holding the Fort by Regina Jennings

betherin02's review against another edition

4.0

A novella featuring camels enticed me to check out Fort Reno and I’m so glad I did! Amusing yet heartfelt, sweetly steamy, and delightful!

melissasbookshelf's review against another edition

4.0

Loved this newest book from Regina Jennings. She is quickly becoming a favorite of mine in the Christian romance genre. This story is about Louisa, a singer in a saloon who finds herself out of a job. Her brother is stationed at Fort Reno and has recently gotten himself into trouble with the Fort's commander Major Adams. She decides to go visit her brother and convince him to stay out of trouble. On the way, she helps a soldier who falls off his horse doing a silly stunt. When she arrives at the Fort, she is mistaken for Major Adams' governess and soon realizes that the soldier she helped is really the tough commander Major Adams. As she tries to pass herself off as a governess, she soon realizes she is out of her element. While Major Adams suspects something is off with the new governess, he is quickly appreciating how she is with his daughters and is falling in love with her. As Louisa becomes more and more comfortable with Major Adams and his family, she must decide whether to tell them the truth or continue on with her charade.

raymathis33's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

aubrooke's review against another edition

5.0

Great start to a new series!

Absolutely loved this book! I am a sucker for books where there is a hidden past or where a character is trying to portray the opposite type of person they are. I love Louisa and Daniel too!

holtfan's review

2.0

The plot sounded interesting enough and I'd say those words describe my general feelings towards the entire book: interesting enough.
Interesting enough to keep me reading, but not enough to keep me mentally engaged. Every time I felt inclined to give up, something would happen to keep me curious for just a little bit longer.
Nothing exceptional. Nothing terrible. More than a little preachy.

cinnamon454's review against another edition

3.0

You can read my review at: Random Thoughts of a Book Nerd
Holding the Fort definitely wasn't a book that made any big impact on my reading experience. It's a very easy read that your brain really doesn't have to process. But in a way that's exactly what this book is supposed to do, it's not supposed to make you think, it's supposed to give you a nice story to read. For that, I do give this book credit because it is definitely a nice, light-hearted story.
Louisa Bell wasn't my favorite main character, the main reason being that her character didn't seem to develop much throughout the entire book. There was some development, don't get me wrong, it just seemed that she didn't grow or change in the way the author wanted her to. I do have to say that even though Louisa lacked character development, she was a lovely main character in other ways. Her love for her brother was evident in her trip to a small fort in the middle of nowhere. She also has a gift for helping the Majors two little girls be the best that they can be. Louisa and Major Daniel together were also enjoying to read at times where you could see their love growing for one another.

Major Daniel Adams, in my opinion, was an okay love interest. He was kind and caring. All he wanted was the best for his daughters, but he couldn't help but fall in love with their governess along the way. The only problem that I had with Daniel was the fact that he knew something was off with Ms. Bell and he didn't bother asking her even though he cared greatly for his daughter's safety.

One thing I did love about this book was combing the romance with history. It's always interesting to learn about events that took place through fiction, even if all of the people didn't exist at that moment in time. You at least get to learn the major facts about historical events well reading a romance.

But, I did have a major problem with this book, being that it was way too long for the content in it. The two main characters seemed to debate the same things through about 200 pages when it all could have been solved by asking each other a few questions. It just seemed like the book was going in circles for a while. The book dragged because of this, but I have to admit there were other things within this story that did make it worth reading.

Overall, the book encompassed everything that a Christian romance needed, a strong and innocent young lady and a daring a brave young man. It's the perfect read for when you don't want too many plot twists.

mistree's review against another edition

5.0

Set in Indian Territory in 1885, this series is off to a great start! Louisa has lost her job as a singer at a saloon in Wichita, Kansas. She learns her brother, who is at Ft. Reno in Indian Territory has been acting up again so she sets off to see him. When she gets to the fort she is mistaken for the governess the major of the fort has been expecting. Even though she is woefully unprepared for the task of teaching a 16 year old and 10 year old she falls to the task. She finds she enjoys the position at the major's home and she and the major begin to fall in love. The trouble is, he does not know about her past. That is a bit of the story and is a fun, quick story at that.

whiteraven191's review against another edition

3.0

I'll start with what I liked. I adored the characters in this book. Normally, I can't stand stories where the plot hinges on characters not communicating properly, but all the characters felt so real that I could totally see this sort of thing happening. I also appreciated how genuinely nice the romantic lead was. It's sad that I have to explicitly say he's nice, but such is the state of modern romance. Even the Christian themes (which I hadn't expected when I started the book) didn't feel too shoehorned in, or heavy-handed.

Actually, on the subject of the Christian themes, I actually really liked the main message. I was so afraid, when I realized that this was a Christian novel, that the message was going to be "performers are sinful strumpets, but you're not, Louisa, because you're now a Good Christian (TM)." What the actual message was was "God loves everybody because He's God and that's kind of His thing. Anyone who tells you you're going to Hell for performing at a dive bar is wrong." I'm kind of impressed; this Christian novel is way less slut-shaming than a lot of YA and NA books.

My one complaint was the setting. I know too much about how horribly Native Americans were treated, especially at Christian-run schools, to feel entirely comfortable reading this. I look forward to reading some of Jenning's other books, since this is the only one that should have that problem.

rjd's review

4.0

Interesting plot idea

I thought the first few chapters were a bit slow, but then it picked up. I always have enjoyed Ms. Jennings' works, but this was not my favorite. It was definitely worth the cost and time to read, though.

insearchof_wonder_'s review

4.0

Laugh out loud funny! A great lighthearted read. One does have to suspend reality, but isn't that sometimes exactly what we ask a book to do?