The Homesteader's Sweetheart (book) by Lacy Williams

Lest you think I no longer write book reviews, here's one. My first one in three weeks!

This book is part of Harlequin's Love Inspired Historical line. It's an inspirational historical romance, which basically means that the romance is sweet (no sex scenes) and there are some religious elements.

SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING: There are a few things that some might consider spoilers in my post. I think they're fairly minor, though.

Synopsis:

This book is set in the Wyoming Territory in 1890. Penny Castlerock's father wants her to marry a man she dislikes, a business partner of his. Her father won't listen when Penny says there's something about the man that disturbs her, so, in order to escape for a little while, Penny visits her grandfather in the country, taking her younger brother with her.

The man they pay to take them to their grandfather is Jonas White, who had hoped to convince Penny's father to give him a loan. Jonas' daughter, Breanna, occasionally has seizures, and Jonas has found a doctor who says he can cure her. However, the doctor expects the full payment right away. Jonas, who, in addition to Breanna, has 7 adopted sons (yes, really), barely has enough to take care of himself and his family. He doesn't have the kind of money the doctor is asking for, and he's discouraged when Penny's father sends him away without hardly even listening to him.

What Penny doesn't at first remember is that Jonas used to work as a bricklayer's apprentice near the finishing school she attended in Philadelphia (a nice coincidence, I know, but just roll with it). She thought he looked handsome but otherwise never paid him much attention. Jonas, for his part, developed a huge crush on Penny but could never even bring himself to talk to her, certain that someone with his background was completely beneath her notice.

During Penny's stay at her grandfather's house, Penny gets to know Jonas and his family more, and she begins to fall in love with all of them. She's used to the finer things in life and at first resists falling for a poor man like Jonas, but, as she adjust to life in the country, it becomes easier to imagine life without the luxuries she's used to. Unfortunately, Penny's father's business partner may not be so willing to give her up.

Review:

I hadn't realized that Lacy Williams had another book out, until I read a review of The Homesteader's Sweetheart on The Misadventures of Super Librarian. While I enjoyed Marrying Miss Marshal and could trust that the religious aspects of her newest book would be fairly light, I was a little leery of reading a romance with that many children in it. I'm not usually a fan of romance novel children.

As you can tell, I decided to give the book a shot anyway. I'm glad I did. Although I didn't like The Homesteader's Sweetheart as much as Marrying Miss Marshal, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Marrying Miss Marshal (book) by Lacy Williams

Synopsis:

The book is set in the Wyoming Territory in 1889. Chas O'Grady is a private detective, hired to look into reports of cattle rustlers in the area. He's a city boy, but he figures he'll do just fine...until he's nearly flattened by a stampede. He's saved by Danna Carpenter and doesn't react well to that. Danna assumes he's merely upset at being saved by a woman, but it's more than that. Four years ago, the woman Chas loved was killed, leaving him with paralyzing fear that other women in his life might be hurt. He left his parents and sister behind and did his best not to get to know any other women well, but he can't help but feel an immediate connection to Danna.

It isn't until later that he learns that Danna is actually the local marshal. Her husband, the previous marshal, had made her one of his deputies, and she had been made the new marshal after he was killed. Now, Danna is determined to find his killer and win the respect of the townspeople, but it's an uphill battle. No one will agree to be one of her deputies, so she's left to do her job all on her own.

Chas needs a job if he wants to blend in until his investigation is complete, but the only available job he's capable of doing is being one of Danna's deputies. Being Danna's deputy means possibly growing closer to a woman with a dangerous job, a woman he might have to watch die the way he watched the woman he loved die. Chas doesn't want to do that, but he has a job to do.

Review:

I originally heard about this book via a review over at Misadventures of Super Librarian. It's not something I would normally have read, because I tend to be leery of inspirational romance (well, Christian fiction in general, really) and because I'm not big on Wild West settings. I was reassured by Wendy's comment that the religious aspects of the book were pretty light, since I prefer not to feel like my recreational reading is preaching at me. I didn't immediately cave and buy the book, though, until I had a really crappy day. Some people buy chocolate or a tub of ice cream at such times. I buy a book. Actually, sometimes I buy ice cream or chocolate, but this particular bad day was a book kind of day.