Grace Like Rain by
Julie Lessman
Blake “The Rake” McClare has avoided the altar for all of
his 28 years. Enjoying his playboy existence, Blake has never wanted for female
company. Patience Grace Peabody has successfully avoided being taken in by
Blake’s charms. As secretary for the law firm that Blake is a part of she knows
Blake’s reputation and is determined to not be part of the women that fall at
Blake’s feet. When Blake sets his sights on Patience he becomes a changed man.
Determined to walk the straight and narrow in order to win her affections,
Blake puts away his wandering ways and sets out to prove that a rake can change
his ways and become a man wholly devoted to one woman when the right one comes
along.
As always Julie Lessman doesn’t disappoint in the
steam-factor or in the drama factor. Even though this is a short story, Julie
still packs in her signature “Passion with Purpose” and enough drama to cause
the reader to have heart palpitations and doubt that we will get our Happily
Ever After ending that we so desire. As always there is a spiritual thread that
runs through the story. I always love that the characters in Julie’s books
ultimately bend their knees to the Maker of heaven and earth. If you haven’t
read any of Julie’s books before, I say it is time to start!
His Beloved Bride by
Ruth Logan Herne
Grace is in desperate need of help. With a fever raging in
her body she cannot take care of her newborn baby. Grace cries out to God and
it seems like her prayers are answered.
Phillip has spent his time buying land and developing his
property. Now it is time for his Grandmother’s estate to be settled and in
order for him to receive his inheritance he must be married and have a child.
When Phillip hears about recently widowed Grace he heads out to her homestead
with a proposition for her. When he arrives he finds her passed out from the
fever and her newborn baby crying in hunger. Moved to care for these two
pitiful souls he takes them to his home and gets the local midwife to check on
the two.
Grace agrees to Phillips suggestion of a marriage of convenience
with the agreement for both of them that they would dissolve their union once
the requirements for the inheritance have been met. Grace would be taken care
of and Phillip would receive his inheritance. Phillip finds though that he
likes having Grace and the baby around. Grace finds that not all men are cruel
and that Phillip is a man to be trusted.
Prairie life is hard though, and when tragedy strikes
Phillip and Grace both wonder if their love can survive.
I thought that His
Beloved Bride was a sweet romance. I thought Grace and Phillip were perfect
for each other and loved the way Phillip came in and rescued Grace and her baby
and how he was so gentle with her. This is the first time I have read this
author and it will probably not be the last.
Meeting In The Middle
by Pam Hillman
Curt Parker is a widower with two daughters to take care of.
His mule has just died and his fields are in need of plowing and planting. His
neighbor Alaina Garland has a mule, but is in need of help getting her fields
planted. The two strike up a deal to help each other out. Alaina would like to
work alongside Curt while he is plowing. Insisting that his girls will always
been within sight and they can keep a watch on them while they work. Curt
insists that he can do all of the work and Alaina must stay at his home and
take care of his daughters during the day. At an impasse Alaina agrees for a
time and shows up every morning to take care of Curt’s daughters. She quickly
falls in love with the girls and it isn’t long before Curt also captures her
heart. Alaina is still insistent that she can help him and keep track of the
girls, she is frustrated at Curt’s stubbornness. Is there some middle ground
that these two can meet at to get the work finished?
I enjoyed this story. Curt’s fears of leaving his girls
unattended are very understandable. Once he learns to give that fear to the
Lord things go a bit smoother between he and Alaina. Since this collection of
short stories is called “With This Kiss” I have to mention that the kisses in
this story are pretty smoldering! Once again I haven’t read this author before,
but now I’ll have to look her up and try her books.
The Innkeeper’s
Promise by Cara Lynn James
Lydia Barlow and Dane Paxton share ownership of The Mountain
View Inn. Dane has been an absentee owner for the past several years. Now he is
in need of some money to fund some other ventures he is working on. He wants
Lydia to buy out his share. Unfortunately Lydia and her mother have not been
very good stewards in keeping the books of the Inn. There is no money for Lydia
to buy out Dane and in fact the Inn is at risk of being foreclosed on. A
neighbor is very insistent about buying the Inn from Lydia and Dane and has
given them a very good offer. Dane wishes to take the offer but Lydia has a
promise to keep to her uncle who gave her and Dane the Inn. She definitely
doesn’t want to sell to her neighbor and she is determined to try and save the
Inn. Having had a crush on Dane for most of her growing up years Lydia is
fighting her feelings for Dane and Dane is just now seeing Lydia in a romantic
fashion. Will the two of them be able to come up with a plan to save the Inn?
I thought the romance in this one was a little quick, but
being a short story, things needed to be moved along and also some background
had to be left out. We do find that Lydia has always harbored a desire for Dane
to move back and help her with the Inn, but I still found that the path to
romance was a bit quick. I did enjoy the setting of the story though. Love the
idea of families spending lazy summer days at an Inn on a lake.
Closer Than Brothers
by Mary Connealy
This is the story of 5 young men in a Confederate Prison
camp during the Civil War. In the midst of sickness and danger they become fast
friends who have each others backs. This is also a prequel to the author’s
books The Kincaid Brides series and The Trouble in Texas series. I haven’t read
any of the books in either one of these series. I have to actually say that
when I read this was a story set in the Civil War I almost decided not to read
it. While I loved the classic Gone with
the Wind I’m just generally not a fan of stories set in this era of
history. But it was the last book in this set of short stories and I wanted to
be thorough in finishing what I started and being able to review all 5 of the
stories. I definitely would love to pick up these series and read them after
finishing the prequel. I would especially like to read Vince (The Invincible)’s
story. And also see which one contains the rest of Callie’s story as we are
kind of left hanging at the end of Closer Than Brothers.
My Overall Impression
of the Series:
After finishing all of the stories in this collection I
would have to say that I definitely would like to check out more from these authors.
I have read all that Julie Lessman has written so I’m good to go there, but the
rest of the authors are pretty new to me and so I will definitely have to look
them up and purchase their full length novels. If you like short stories, and
an abundance of romance then definitely check out this collection. I wrote the
reviews in the order that I read the books. You can see that Julie Lessman was
my priority(smiley face).
