Surprised By Love by Julie Lessman

There are 3 things I can count on in a novel by author Julie Lessman:

1. Lots of drama

2. Passionate Romance

3. The ultimate surrender of a characters will to their Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

I cannot read a novel by Julie Lessman that I don't find myself getting anxious that everything is going to turn out for the characters I am invested in! Surprised By Love is no exception in this area. From the very beginning I was fretting over the relationship of Bram and Meg and between Cait and Logan. The twists and turns that the characters go through had me taking deep breaths to calm my stressed-out nerves! Each relationship had its ups and downs. Meg and Bram are such sweet God-fearing characters that I fell in love with them immediately. And throughout this series I have been waiting for Cait and Logan to get their relationship straightened out. Surprised By Love has the perfect "Happily Ever After" ending that I so crave in a romance novel.

Next, any Julie Lessman fan knows that her novels are always going to have passionate romance for her characters. After all, her tagline is "Passion with a Purpose." Surprised By Love does not disappoint in that department. There is passion between characters and there is passion for faith shown throughout the novel. I happen to be a fan of the steamy kisses portrayed in Surprised By Love! These scenes are portrayed carefully, tastefully and realistically and never go beyond the bedroom door.

Lastly a feature in all of Julie Lessman's books that I appreciate the most are the characters ultimate surrender to their Savior. There is nothing more romantic than watching a soul that is lost in darkness slowly yield their will and desires to a patient and loving Savior wooing them to Himself. Logan is just such a soul. Struggling constantly against surrendering his will to the Savior Logan finds that things don't always go the way he wants them to. I loved reading his transformation, his surrender and his ultimate victory and peace in the Savior.

Surprised By Love also features characters from the first two books in the series which is always fun to catch up with what is happening with them. I enjoyed the witty banter between all of the characters. The McClare family has found a spot in my heart just as the O'Connor family did in the Daughters of Boston and Winds of Change series.

Check out my reviews of the first two books:

Love At Any Cost

Dare To Love Again

The Unexpected Bride by Lena Goldfinch

About the Book:

What's a man to do when his father orders him a bride?

Rebecca Sullivan has been "Becky" all her life, a real hoyden. Her childhood sweetheart taught her to ride bareback and shoot a rifle, but then he chose a "perfect lady" for a wife—a real Southern belle, who's now expecting a baby. Heartbroken, Becky signs up to be a mail-order bride to a Seattle man, sight unseen. She resolves to squelch her hoydenish ways and become a "perfect lady" for her future husband.

If logging-operation owner Isaac Jessup had wanted a bride, he'd have chosen a sturdy frontier woman, not some fragile lady from back East. Ready to explain the mistake, honorable Isaac takes one look into Rebecca's vulnerable eyes...and knows he'll marry her, even though this delicate waif is obviously unsuited for wild Seattle.

Could an unexpected marriage be a match made in heaven?

Book One in The Brides Series
Sweet Historical Western Romance / A Mail-Order Bride Novel

Release Date: October 6th, 2014

Available to order: in ebook format:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this sweet romance! Rebecca is quite the character. I love that she was so determined to make her unconventional marriage work. She did frustrate me for a while with trying to be someone she wasn’t, but it was understandable considering her background. I really liked Isaac as well. He was an honorable and handsome character. I loved his desire to provide for and protect Rebecca. I think that a good story causes the reader to feel like the characters are real, and that is the way I felt while reading this book. I was connected emotionally and found myself shaking my head in irritation at Rebecca and Isaac sometimes. When they assumed they knew what each one of them was thinking or feeling I wanted to go in and shake them, but then I realize that I do the same thing in “real” life! I’ll definitely be looking forward to more books in The Brides Series.

Deceived by Irene Hannon

Three years ago Kate's husband was killed in an assumed accident on the water. Their four-year-old son Kevin was with her husband and his body was never found, just his life jacket floating in the water. Now Kate has put her life back together and moved to a new state and city. A chance glimpse of a young boy(who happens to look exactly like her son) on an escalator in a local mall has Kate employing private investigator Connor Sullivan from Phoenix Inc. Knowing that it is a long-shot, but unable to put the image of the little boy out of her head Kate asks Connor to find the boy and his father to see exactly who they are and if there is the remotest possibility that her son could still be alive.

If you are a romance/suspense fan like I am then the Guardians of Justice series is the perfect read for you! I enjoyed this last book in the series. At least I think it is the last book since there are no more single men in Phoenix Inc. Connor falls hard for Kate and even though she doesn't think she is ready for a relationship Kate too can't deny the attraction between her and Connor. The romance between Connor and Kate is not foremost in the story though, it is woven throughout the investigation into who the little boy and his father are and how it affects Kate. If this boy truly is her son, then why does this man have him and what happened on that fateful day when her husband died? Suspense builds throughout the story with the ultimate showdown causing my heart to race and my fingers wanting to flip to the end to see what happened!

We get a sneak peek at the end of DECEIVED into the authors next book coming out and I am already hooked and can't wait for it!

Check out my reviews of the other two books in the Guardians of Justice series:

Vanished
Trapped

I received my copy of DECEIVED from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.