About the book:
Another Christian historical romance, and indeed with this book, what you see is what you get. This book has everything you would expect: romance, dashing romantic suitor, sweet heroine, Western town, evil vs. good, nice Christian message. So I cannot fault this book at all for being what it is.
The highlights of the book for me is Sadie. I was able to relate to her easily because she is a singer. I am a singer, too. And even one of my students said that the girl on the front of the book looks like me–nice compliment since the heroine is more then ten years younger than I! And much thinner. I also enjoyed the way that the Bible and faith in God was woven so easily into the framework of the story. While the two main characters did lose their way, they came back to the Lord, and that was the key. I did like the way that evil was brought to justice in the book. That was probably the most clever part of the book.
I did not rate this book as high as the others I have read recently because sometimes I felt like I was reading the same old story. While the book has some good points and a few things that establish its uniqueness, I still felt all too often like I was reading a similar story to what I had been reading lately. And I did not feel that I was able to connect with the story and characters the way I had with other novels in the genre–just my personal preference. I also felt the ending was very sappy and left a few unanswered questions. But in this book’s case, I probably would not read a sequel, but then again, I might consider it.
I have agreed that the book deserves a four-star rating because it does deliver what one would expect. Perhaps if I had read it at a different time and place, I may have connected with it more. But thankfully there is enough interest within it for me that I was able to read it in a relatively short period of time. It is a light read, and its simple message does come across. I liked the fact that the message was stressed that if you are doing something wrong and you know it is wrong and you still continue to do it, it is wrong–no matter what your reasons!
I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated in any way, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
About Kim:
Although Kim dreamed of being a writer from her earliest memories—even recalls telling her kindergarten teacher that people would check out her book in libraries someday!—she chose to become an elementary school teacher. She used her degree first in an in-home daycare/preschool, then as a home visitor with Head Start, and finally in a fifth grade classroom. Kim loved the kids, but health challenges (a variety of auto-immune disorders) made it difficult to keep up the pace of full-time teaching.
In 2001, she dropped to part-time status and began using the morning hours at home to write. The characters and stories that had lived in the back of her brain for years found their way from her fingertips onto a computer screen. She made a promise: to never write anything that would embarrass her mother or to write anything she would be embarrassed for her daughters or former students to read. A friend read the manuscripts and made a statement that resonated with Kim.
“Your stories, even though they cover tough topics, are so gently told, and they’re laden with hope.”
Hope. Kim’s favorite word. She adapted the comment into a pledge to her future readers: Gentle stories of hope. And of course, knowing our hope is found in nothing less than a relationship with Jesus Christ, Kim’s stories always possess a strong spiritual thread.
Kim’s first book, A Seeking Heart, which was loosely based on her mother’s family history, released in June of 2002. She began attending writing conferences to learn more about publishing, and she signed with a literary agent in 2003. In 2005, between March and November, she signed contracts with Bethany House, Barbour Publishing, and the Heartsong Presents line for a total of ten books. At the end of the school year, she resigned from teaching and has enjoyed a full-time writing and speaking ministry ever since.
In September of 2018, she celebrated the release of her fiftieth novel, a number not even the imaginative little dreamer could have envisioned. Every day, you’ll find her at her computer, most often with a cat on her lap, bringing to life the characters that fill her head and using their struggles to show the hope we can possess when we place our lives in God’s loving, capable hands.
When Kim isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling with her retired military hubby, quilting, antique-shopping, and spoiling her quiverful of granddarlings—six Sweeties, two Bugaboos, and a pair of Wugmumps—who are the joys of her life. She likes them even more than chocolate, and that’s saying something.
Kim is currently at work filling her most recent contract and using her teaching degree combined with her love of writing to teach at writing conferences across the U.S. She knows God opened the door to a writing ministry to her, and she intends to write until He closes the door or calls her home.
