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wildflowerleahg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
I was not expecting to love this so much
A Christian romance that had not only a good plot but GREAT CHEMISTRY and didn’t feel cringy.
The only thing I will comment is how I keep forgetting this book is set in the 1800’s. There want too much of a distinction, so if you NEED all the details of a historical novel, this will bug you.
Also the last big just seemed to drag. We had some characters just flat out refusing to make choices. Some people found this predicable but I found it fun.
Can’t wait to read the rest!!!
A Christian romance that had not only a good plot but GREAT CHEMISTRY and didn’t feel cringy.
The only thing I will comment is how I keep forgetting this book is set in the 1800’s. There want too much of a distinction, so if you NEED all the details of a historical novel, this will bug you.
Also the last big just seemed to drag. We had some characters just flat out refusing to make choices. Some people found this predicable but I found it fun.
Can’t wait to read the rest!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Animal death and Blood
100_pages_hr's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I love marriage of convenience books so much and this one was especially good. I felt like the romance evolved very naturally, had the perfect amount of conflict, and a great ending (except the weird last chapter which probably should have been an epilogue).
I loved the partnership in this book. Even before the romance evolved I really liked how Greta worked so hard and was such a help meet for Wyatt on the ranch. But I so loved how supportive he was of her own business endeavors and also with her sister.
Overall a great read with a good balance of western and romance.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
I loved the partnership in this book. Even before the romance evolved I really liked how Greta worked so hard and was such a help meet for Wyatt on the ranch. But I so loved how supportive he was of her own business endeavors and also with her sister.
Overall a great read with a good balance of western and romance.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Death of parent
now_booking's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I would like to read more Christian romance this year and when I was younger, I used to really enjoy old Christian historical fiction featuring the American West so I decided to give this first book in this author’s new Colorado Cowboys series a try. In summary, I did like it, but I didn’t think it did anything especially unique or different or memorable, it was just okay and pleasant enough as a story.
The premise is that mail-order bride, Greta, is headed to Colorado with her young, sickly sister to start a new life with her new husband and hopefully find healing for her sisters lungs in the higher-altitude air. On getting to Colorado, she discovers that her husband-to-be is missing and presumed dead, and completely destitute, she enters into marriage with a down-on-his-luck rancher, Wyatt. Together they must all learn to live and rely on each other as a family and overcome their deep-seated demons through love and the Grace of God.
I liked the premise of this but found the execution a little bland. I know novels of this style and genre (Old American West Christian Romance) frequently lack diversity or a deeper, more nuanced look into the historical context at the time, so my expectations weren’t high in that score. There was a lot of mention of indigenous people (“Indians”) as antagonists and enemies, which whilst that might have been the prevailing feeling when this book was written, felt a little un-nuanced; this is why I appreciated that Wyatt had the grace to acknowledge that white mining settlers taking over indigenous land was a trigger for the enmity between settlers and indigenous people. I thought more would be done with the relationship between Astrid/Greta and the Utes in the novel but it wasn’t explored. I would like to see Christian romance explore the existence and perspectives of non-white characters more and with more empathy and nuance and to acknowledge the existence of non-white people as is was This overall felt a little piecey to me- I cared about the story and the characters but it didn’t feel cohesive and I kept falling out of reading it.
One thing I really enjoyed were the themes of insecurity and self-doubt that were explored in this novel in differing ways for each character- for Greta, her insecurity comes from believing she’s a burden and that her worries are unimportant to others in the grand scheme of things, and for Wyatt, his insecurity comes from feeling like a failure, an anti-Midas because he’s tried and failed at so many things so many times in life. I loved how faith was used to approach and salve these insecurities and how it was acknowledged that these characters weren’t instantly fixed by knowing God’s perspective but were rather on a journey of changing long-held mindsets, because that was realistic and relatable.
Even though this was definitely closed-door in terms of spice level, I did find this a lot spicier than your typical Christian romance or at least than the ones I used to read. It is chaste in the sense of no “adult” scenes but there is a lot of making out, if that is something you’re currently avoiding in your reads or don’t find appropriate for your Christian romance. It is nothing inappropriate and I think this book is probably Christian teen-appropriate, but went all on different walks with accountability and with our convictions so I’m putting this note in about heat-level.
Overall, I thought this was okay. The last chapter with Wyatt’s family back in Pennsylvania ended on enough of a cliff-hanger that I might check out more books in this series when they come out.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The premise is that mail-order bride, Greta, is headed to Colorado with her young, sickly sister to start a new life with her new husband and hopefully find healing for her sisters lungs in the higher-altitude air. On getting to Colorado, she discovers that her husband-to-be is missing and presumed dead, and completely destitute, she enters into marriage with a down-on-his-luck rancher, Wyatt. Together they must all learn to live and rely on each other as a family and overcome their deep-seated demons through love and the Grace of God.
I liked the premise of this but found the execution a little bland. I know novels of this style and genre (Old American West Christian Romance) frequently lack diversity or a deeper, more nuanced look into the historical context at the time, so my expectations weren’t high in that score. There was a lot of mention of indigenous people (“Indians”) as antagonists and enemies, which whilst that might have been the prevailing feeling when this book was written, felt a little un-nuanced; this is why I appreciated that Wyatt had the grace to acknowledge that white mining settlers taking over indigenous land was a trigger for the enmity between settlers and indigenous people. I thought more would be done with the relationship between Astrid/Greta and the Utes in the novel but it wasn’t explored. I would like to see Christian romance explore the existence and perspectives of non-white characters more and with more empathy and nuance and to acknowledge the existence of non-white people as is was This overall felt a little piecey to me- I cared about the story and the characters but it didn’t feel cohesive and I kept falling out of reading it.
One thing I really enjoyed were the themes of insecurity and self-doubt that were explored in this novel in differing ways for each character- for Greta, her insecurity comes from believing she’s a burden and that her worries are unimportant to others in the grand scheme of things, and for Wyatt, his insecurity comes from feeling like a failure, an anti-Midas because he’s tried and failed at so many things so many times in life. I loved how faith was used to approach and salve these insecurities and how it was acknowledged that these characters weren’t instantly fixed by knowing God’s perspective but were rather on a journey of changing long-held mindsets, because that was realistic and relatable.
Even though this was definitely closed-door in terms of spice level, I did find this a lot spicier than your typical Christian romance or at least than the ones I used to read. It is chaste in the sense of no “adult” scenes but there is a lot of making out, if that is something you’re currently avoiding in your reads or don’t find appropriate for your Christian romance. It is nothing inappropriate and I think this book is probably Christian teen-appropriate, but went all on different walks with accountability and with our convictions so I’m putting this note in about heat-level.
Overall, I thought this was okay. The last chapter with Wyatt’s family back in Pennsylvania ended on enough of a cliff-hanger that I might check out more books in this series when they come out.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
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