Book Review and Giveaway: Romance Rides the Range (Romance Rider Series #1) by Colleen L. Reece

This is a lovely, sweet romance showing characters who trust in God’s faithfulness.

Romance Rides the Range (Romance Rider Series #1)
by Colleen L. Reece

• Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc (April 28, 2010)
• ISBN-13: 978-1602608955

Genre: Christian Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
Sarah doesn’t dare look back . . .
Sarah Anderson refuses to become a drudge for her stepfather and his unruly children after her mother dies in 1882. Neither will she become a pawn for his indebtedness to a riverboat gambler. Sarah escapes from her Missouri home and heads for California to find her brother Seth, trusting God to keep her safe on the perilous journey west.
Matt Sterling rescued Seth from danger and taught him to become a top hand on the Sterling ranch near Madera. Betrayed by one selfish girl, Matt has vowed the San Joaquin River will run dry before he ever gets involved with another woman. He’s better off fighting cattle rustlers, floods and drought to make his spread one of the finest in the valley.

Is love's long lasso strong enough to overcome obstacles and rope in the runaway girl and the once-bitten, twice-shy rancher?

Review:
Sarah, a girl of sixteen, is grieving the death of her faithful mother. She is troubled by her rough, drunken stepfather, Gus, who has used her mother to care for his four unruly children and now expects Sarah to do the same. That expectation pales when Sarah learns that Gus has agreed to give her into marriage in exchange for his gambling debts to the slick, wealthy owner of the River Queen.

Sarah has always dreamed of having a marriage blessed by God like the example she saw in her parents. She believes that God is encouraging her to escape and make her way west to the safety of her brother, Seth. Seth left home a few years before to get away from Gus. He has written to Sarah in secret telling her of his life as a cowboy working under a Godly boss, Matthew Sterling. Seth even sent a picture of himself with Matthew and Sarah has been encouraged by dreams that maybe Matthew would be the Godly mate for her.

Seth also shared a picture of his younger sister with Matt. Matt has been reluctant to seek female friendship since being betrayed a few years earlier. Yet Matt is impressed with Seth’s hard work and Christian foundation and there is no escaping the beauty Matt sees in the picture of a young, innocent Sarah.

Can Sarah make it safely from Missouri to California to stay out of the hands of Gus and her would be fiance? She is sure God has a plan for her but does that plan include Matthew?

I really enjoyed this sweet story. Sarah is a young girl with a strong, determined faith that God will keep her from harm. But that doesn’t mean she will fall into the arms of a handsome rancher to protect her. She is obedient to seek God’s will even if that means working to support herself. Matt is a well respected man of integrity and high morals. Although Seth and Matt have one bitter enemy in town, most of the supporting characters are lovely, hard working men and women.

The author shares appropriate scripture that fits into the circumstances of the characters so it does not come across as preachy.  The writing is direct and simple, making this story an easy, quick read. The message of trust and God’s faithfulness is lovingly presented. My friends in Ladies’ Book club enjoyed the story too. We would be glad to read more stories by Ms. Reece.

I purchased and read this book for Ladies' Book Club meeting 8/2.

Giveaway:

ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for my gently read print copy

ENTRY FORM HERE

(Don't forget to fill in the form for entry!

I have noticed a few commenters who forgot to enter through the Form.)

For 3 Extra Bonus entries comment on the review, OR

visit THE AUTHOR'S Page at FF and tell me something you like/learned there.

* This contest is open US Only for Print Book.
* This contest will close 5 PM (Central) August 17, 2014.
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED after August 17, 2014.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review and Giveaway: Sunshine by Janet Spaeth

This is a ‘sunny’ gem.

Sunshine
by Janet Spaeth

• Series: HEARTSONG PRESENTS - CONTEMPORARY (Book 957)
• Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Heartsong Presents (May 25, 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1616263377

Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Olivia has a crazy dream, and Hayden isn’t quite sure what to think of the adorable city slicker who shows up in answer to his ad to sell the now-defunct resort his family has owned for decades. Does she really think she can remodel—rebuild, really—the place by herself? And to what end? To reopen a tourist attraction in the middle of nowhere? Shouldn’t a realtor know the old adage “Location, location, location”?

But there’s more to life than surface events. And while Livvy sees the possibilities in her new property, Hayden sees them in her….

Review:
Olivia (Livvy) works for a successful real estate office in Boston. She finds a North Dakota newspaper on her car proclaiming the sale of Sunshine Resort. She has always wanted to travel and this paper finding its way to her must be a sign from God, right? She gives notice and heads out to North Dakota.

Hayden has been raised helping his grandfather run Sunshine Resort until two years ago when they finally hung a Closed sign. It seemed that no one wanted to relax and fish at a peaceful resort anymore but instead they headed to fast paced resort locations. Hayden knows that Gramps will be saddened to leave the place and move to town with Hayden but it isn’t safe to leave him on his own anymore.

Hayden and Gramps aren’t quite sure why Livvy has appeared and whether she is the right person to purchase Sunshine. But no one else is making offers and the more Gramps watches Hayden and Livvy together the more he is certain that this is right.

Does Livvy have what it takes to fullfill her dreams and bring new life to Sunshine? I encourage you to read this little gem yourself to find out how she fares in real estate and heart development.

These are gentle and lovely characters. It is charming out the circumstances develop and how Livvy’s faith blooms to come along side of Hayden’s steadfast faith. This only took a few hours to read and it made me smile. Someday when you need a sweet, quick and delightful read, I think you’ll find this fits the bill.

Some 'Gramps' wisdom:

     “God works in mysterious ways,” Gramps added. “... He’s given us a map, and we can stay on the road and enjoy the ultimate destination, or we can do like most of us do and meander all over the countryside, taking wrong turns and finding dead ends.” Page 23

     “Love is like the wedding silver. The good and the bad will both add to the gleam, compared to the sharp imitation-silver spoon that can’t bear scratches. It’s disposable, so we can get rid of it when we’re not pleased with it.”
     “...That’s love. From new-spoon shiny to old-spoon gleam, it’s all good.” page 115.

I 've had this on my TBR since July 2012.

I decided I would offer this book as giveaway too or as a choice.
This is a Giveaway to help me read from my vast Kindle TBR library. Here is how to enter this Giveaway:
In the comments give me a word that you would like me to find in a book title to read. For example the word could be "fun" or "midnight" or any (decent) word that strikes your fancy. It might be a word from a book title you yourself want to read and you can name the whole title (not required but you can) as well as the word.  I will pick a winner through Random.org.
I will try to find a Kindle title from my +6000 Kindle ebooks that has the winner's word in it. If I have the specific title the winner names, I will read that title and gift the book to the winner if they don't already have it. If I don't have that specific title then I will try to find another title with the winner's word in it or a word as close as I can get. I will read the book I select.  I plan to try to pick books from prior to 2014 but I leave that option available just in case.
I will try to read the book each month and hold another giveaway with the review of the book I read.
For further example: If the winning word was "fun" I have a lot of children's titles with "fun" in them or I have
Pink Slipper: a Fun, Flirty Novel which I could read.
The ebook I read I will gift the same title to the winner, OR the winner can select to receive the print copy of Sunshine.
I hope this explanation isn't too confusing and I hope it is fun as I see what comes up from words you pick. :-)
* Open Worldwide
* Closes 5pm CST July 22, 2014.