Bandit's Hope (Backwoods Brides #2) - Marcia Gruver

Last week I reviewed the first book in this series, Raider's Heart.  At that time, I wasn't sure about reading them out of order or alone, so I decided to read the next on in the series and make my decision.

Tiller has been away from Scuffletown for 10 years now, raiding with the gang and taking advantage of innocent people.  He's become tired of that life and when they take advantage of a poor old gentleman, Tiller needs some time away from the gang to decide what he wants from his future.  A storm brings him to the door of an inn, where he finds not only rest, but an attractive woman who seems immune to his charms.  When the beaten old man turns up as well, Tiller fears that his secret will be out and he'll lose the peace he's coming to cherish.

Mariah has her own secret.  Her father's dead and she hasn't told anyone.  She got his body out of the house and buried it without anyone seeing, but now she's going to have to secure the future of the inn.  That's going to take marrying a white man who can be molded to do her bidding.  Tiller doesn't fit into that mold, but she's drawn to his kind spirit anyway.  Her uncle shows up to take her back to family, but Mariah has no plans on leaving.

The addition of Otis and his wisdom has both these characters evaluating their lives and where they stand with God.  Tiller especially becomes close to the man and his guilt begins to weigh heavily on him.  Eventually, all their truths are going to come out and they'll see if their love is strong enough to take the strain.

I did like this book, but I have to say that you should either read the first book before reading this one or skip it all together.  Pretty early on, the main points of the first book are rehashed and all the cool twists and turns I experienced reading the first book were all laid out in this one.  If I had read this one and then went back to read the first one, I would have already known most of the important points and it would've taken away from my enjoyment of the unique story.  They're both good books, I just recommend you read them in order for the most satisfaction.

I looked at the names for the main characters in the next book, and I have to say that it will probably be a different story for that one.  Neither of the main characters are present in this book, so reading that one out of order shouldn't be as big of a deal.  I look forward to reading it soon.  Good Book!