Plains of Promise (Wyoming #2) - Colleen Coble

This is one of Colleen Coble's older books that are being released digitally and since I enjoyed Where Leads the Heart, I was glad to be able to continue the series.  This one was available for $2.99.

Emmie is the sister of Ben Croftner, the villain of the first book.  Emmie has been trying to escape from the reputation of her family her entire life.  She finally feels like she has someone who loves her for who she is, marries him and settles down to enjoy her life.  A tragic carriage accident kills her husband and his real widow shows up on her doorstep.  Discovering that she wasn't really married and has no means of support, Emmie finds out about Sarah, (our heroine from book 1) who needs a companion and helper while she is pregnant.

Emmie travels west and fits in well.  A handsome officer, Isaac (also introduced in the first book) appears to be interested in Emmie, but after what she has been through, she wants to have nothing to do with men ever again.  Her heart doesn't want to live without love and so she is forced to deal with her past.

A promise made without thinking it through is what ends up tripping up Emmie in this story.  She never thought that she would have to follow through when she made it and when it seems like she's going to have to, she is sad to learn that she may not have the happiness that she has so recently found.

I did enjoy this book, but I have to say that I wish that Isaac had been a little more developed.  We learned so much about Emmie and there were glimpses of Isaac, but not enough in my opinion.  There were a lot of repeat characters from the first book, and for that reason, I think that this series should be read in order.  The next book, The Heart Answers, is not available yet.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for more of this author's books to pop up digitally.  Good Book!

Gentleman of Her Dreams - Jen Turano

I decided the read this free novella to see if I wanted to add this author's upcoming release, A Change of Fortune, to my price drop list.

Charlotte has asked God for a husband, and she thinks that He has answered in the form of Hamilton Beckett, a widower with children.  Charlotte has a tendency to get herself into trouble - a lot.  Her antics have even landed her best friend, Henry, in jail in the past.

As Charlotte begins to put her plan to win Hamilton's heart into action, Henry returns from being away for two years.  Believing that Mr. Beckett is what Charlotte really wants, he vows to help her any way he can, even though his feelings for her are more than friendly.

These two have the most unbelievable things happen to them.  I found that I could deal with the ridiculous situations with no issues, although I have my doubts about the "boat" scene on the Hudson River.  I don't think a boat in that shape would have made it very far without the problems they encounter.  It didn't really bother me though.

The part that bothered me was the moment Henry picks to tell Charlotte his true feelings.  I had to go back and read it about three times trying to figure out what set him off.  I'm still not 100% sure.  I also find it hard to believe that being friends since they were 4, neither of them let on that they were in love with each other.  Henry left because he started to feel like a burden to her because she sighed when it was their turn to dance.  I can't believe that he wouldn't make some sort of comment, "Oh, so you don't wish to dance?" or something along those lines, even in a joking manner.  These two seem to tease each other all the time.  Instead he leaves for two years?

We do get introduced briefly to the heroine of A Change of Fortune, Lady Eliza Sumner.  I went ahead and put it on my watch list.  There is an excerpt from the novel at the end of this novella, so it's worth it just to give the novel a try.  Overall, I did like this story, but I'm a hopeless romantic, so even though I have some reservations about the reveal, I did enjoy reading this.  Good Novella!

Walker's Wedding - Lori Copeland

I picked this one up for less than $5.  I can usually depend on this author to give me a good read.

We begin by reading about how little Walker wants to think about marriage.  His friend is telling him that he needs an heir for his ranch, but Walker feels like he has all the time in the world to worry about that.  Immediately after proclaiming about how much time he has, he gets horribly gored by a bull.  Rethinking his mortality causes him to send for a mail-order bride.  Who it is matters little, only the fact that she can bear children.

Sarah has wanted to be married since she was a little girl.  She has just been rescued from a marriage to a man that she's known for a short period of time.  Her father has had enough of her shenanigans and is sending her to her uncle's.  He's an evil man who locks her in a room if she does the smallest thing wrong.  Sarah sneaks away and decides to take a train to New York, but on the ride she meets the intended bride of Walker, who is weeping because she has no desire to marry this man.

Sarah sees this as her opportunity to finally get married, the one thing she has wanted. They trade places and Sarah arrives in town and marries Walker, who barely notices that the name of his bride has changed.  Sarah keeps secret the fact that she has run away from home and that she wasn't sent by the mail-order bride agency.  Walker has been betrayed by a woman in the past and Sarah is afraid of the consequences of telling the truth.

I did enjoy this book.  The price went down even more after I purchased it, but I don't mind too much.  The only issue that I had with the story had to be the villain of the tale.  He really didn't make that much sense at the end.  He was really evil there for a little bit, but magically seemed to grow a conscience.  It was just weird how quick he went from villain to coward.  Other than that, it was a cute little story and I liked the characters.  Good Book!

Veil of Pearls - MaryLu Tyndall

This was a book that I picked up for $1.99 when the price dropped.  I have read two of the books in her Surrender to Destiny series, Surrender the Night being the only one that I have a review for.  I thoroughly enjoyed those and felt like I had found a new author.

We begin with Althea escaping her cruel master on a plantation in Barbados.  He has her ankles in chains so that she is unable to run, but this night has the perfect circumstances for her escape.  A gruff, but not evil captain sees her circumstances and helps her to escape to Charleston.  Changing her name to Adalia, she now has to find some kind of employment and pray that she is never found.

Morgan is a plantation owner and a bit spoiled.  He doesn't realize that slavery is a bad thing and Adalia thinks that she is the one to teach him and bring him back to God.  Morgan is entranced by this common woman who is immune to all his charms.  He eventually gets her to attend some parties and events with him, where his friends are less than happy to see a commoner, especially a lady that has had her cap set for Morgan for a long time.

Adalia works for a pious doctor that reads his Bible all the time but yells at his servants like they are nothing. Adalia, being one-fourth African American, sees the wrongs in slavery, but since she passes as a white woman, she never reveals her heritage.  She falls in love with Morgan, and he with her, with all her secrets between them.  Nefarious people push the issue to where it has to be dealt with.

I have to admit that I was happy when I was done with this book, and not because I enjoyed it.  It was one of those that I trudged through just to see what happened at the end.  I really didn't like the holier-than-thou character of Althea/Adalia.  She spouted God at Morgan while she had stuffed Him into a corner herself.  Acting like she had it all together, she would almost make wrong decisions and a man in a white suit would magically appear and spout Scripture at her before disappearing.  Something about those encounters just didn't sound right.

I have taken the other books by this author that I was tracking off my list, save one.  The third book in the Surrender to Destiny series I will still watch for.  I really did enjoy the first two.  I had thought that maybe this was one of her earlier books, the writing didn't seem to flow very well, but ultimately it's her latest book.  This one just wasn't my cup of tea.

Promised to Me (Coming to America #4) - Robin Lee Hatcher

The last in the Coming to America series, Promised to Me was a book that I approached warily.  I had enjoyed two out of the three previous books, but I was curious who this was about, since the first three novels thoroughly covered the original three friends that came to America together.

There was barely a connection to be had in this book.  In the prologue, we meet Jakob, a man who came to America on the same ship as the three original characters.  He had noticed the friends throughout the journey and that is where the connection ends.  The actual story begins over 10 years later.

Jakob has sent for his childhood sweetheart, Karola, to come and be his wife.  She is thrilled, as Jakob was promised to her before he came to America.  He promised to send for her, and she put her life on hold as she waited for him.  Enduring the ridicule of people around her, Karola was surprised to hear from Jakob after so long.

As Karola steps off the train, she is surprised to see Jakob, but even more so his children.  He claims to have sent a letter warning her of the death of his wife and the fact that he has three children.  Karola is shocked and a little angry that he didn't wait for her.  At the wedding, Karola realizes that she cannot go through with the sham marriage and refuses Jakob.  He is still in need of a caregiver for his children through the harvest, so he asks her to be a housemaid, staying in a nearby cabin.  He tells her that she owes him since he spent a lot of money bringing her to America.

As she spends time with the family, Karola falls in love with the children and with Jakob all over again.  Jakob doesn't really have any interest in falling in love again, but Karola becomes part of his family in such a way that he begins to wonder what they will do without her.

The end to the series is a good one.  I'm not quite sure that this one fits in with the other three.  Those first three had a common thread to them that worked and this one seems like the black sheep in terms of being relative to the others.  Still, it was a nice story that I enjoyed reading.  Good Book!

A Match Made in Heaven - Colleen Coble

This was one of those novellas that I bought for $0.99 and spent a few hours reading.  As I have mentioned in the past, this has to be one of my favorite authors and she's releasing her older novels and novellas digitally.

Nick is an architect and he has an important meeting with a client who insists that he brings a date.  Being new to the area, Nick doesn't know many people and definitely has no interest in a relationship.  He calls an older woman that he met at church and asks for her help.  Grandma sets Nick up with her granddaughter, Callie.

Callie is an interior designer that is about as thrilled to be going on this blind date as Nick is.  They met briefly in a parking lot and it wasn't exactly love at first sight.  At the dinner, Callie shines and ends up getting hired to design the house with Nick.  Unfortunately, Nick thinks that she has just used him to further her career.

Misunderstandings abound in this short book.  Nick and Callie both feel a mutual attraction, but they both also have trust issues.  They enjoy spending time together, but they seem to go to war when working on the house.

It was a great read and a refreshing little novella.  Good Book!

In His Arms (Coming to America #3) - Robin Lee Hatcher

After finishing Patterns of Love, I decided that I needed a break from this series.  The adversity in that book had been depressing.  Dear Lady was the first in the series and I did enjoy that one, so I opened up this third book and gave it a shot.

Mary is the last of the three women that came to America together.  It has been over a year since they arrived and Mary is working as a housemaid.  The lecherous man of the house tries to take liberties with Mary and she bashes him over the head with a silver cigar box and runs away, thinking that she has murdered him.

A woman on the train west senses that Mary and her young son are in trouble, and she has had her share of that.  She is gravely ill and starting to re-evaluate her life.  Not usually a giving woman, she offers Mary a position in her saloon as her bookkeeper on a whim.  Mary has very little choice and decides to trust the woman.

Carson is the sheriff and the last person that Mary wants to fall in love with.  She is a thief and a murderess and if he discovered what she had done, he would be obligated to take her to jail, leaving her son without a mother.  She can't let that happen.

The mining town in Idaho that they live in is having issues of its own.  The mismanagement is creating unrest among the miners and an accident may end up causing riots.  Mary is searching for her miner brother, who came to America years ago.  She's not even sure that he's still in Idaho, but she needs to find him and get away from Carson and her growing feelings for him.

The wealthy man that Mary thinks she killed needs that cigar box and will do whatever it takes to get it back.  His search for her would reveal her past and destroy her chance at happiness.

I was glad to read that this book wasn't as depressing as the previous book.  The obstacles are not near as bad and it was a great story.  I'm currently finishing up the series and enjoying the read.  Good Book!