Dawn Comes Early by Margaret Brownley

I recently got a book from BookSneeze called Dawn Comes Early by Margaret Brownley.  Kate Tenney, a disgraced author of dime novels in Boston decides to answer an ad for an heiress of a ranch  in the paper posted by Eleanor Walker, the owner of the Last Chance ranch.  The ad was as follows:

“Looking for a woman of good character and pleasant disposition willing to learn the ranching business in Arizona territory. Must be SINGLE and prepared to remain so now and forever more. Will be given ownership of ranch.”

Kate Tenney has never been on a ranch before and knows nothing about riding, roping, branding, or taking care of cattle but what has she got to lose. No one in Boston will accept another of her books since her last book was banned.  Immediately upon entering the tiny town of Cactus Patch, Arizona Kate finds herself in the hands of a deranged gunman with all her belongings shot up in the street.  When a handsome blacksmith, Luke, saves her she feels something that she has never felt before.  But for her, love is not an option. She has trust issues and in order to be named the heiress of the Last Chance Ranch she must remain single forever!

Will she follow her heart and fall in love with Luke or will she ignore her feelings and hope to become the heiress of the Last Chance Ranch, if Eleanor Walker chooses her.  But first can she learn how to run a ranch and even have a chance at owning it someday.

This book is funny and heartwarming! A great read! 

You can find out more about this book here.

Megan's Hero by Sharon Gillenwater

I just finished reading the third and final book in The Callahans of Texas series by Sharon Gillenwater.  This book was entitled Megan’s Hero and focuses primarily on the remaining bachelor of the Callahan family, Will.  When a massive and deadly tornado cuts a path through the edge of Callahan Crossing, Megan finds herself face down in a shallow ditch trying to protect her unborn child from the danger of the storm.  Having been living out of her van for the last few weeks, she is just praying that nothing happens to the precious child that’s growing inside of her until she has a chance to get back on her feet and prepare to welcome her child into a loving home.

Will Callahan is driving down the road looking at damages and searching for survivors when he sees a small lady walking down the road very slowly. Even through all the mud covering her clothes, he can tell she is approximately 5 months pregnant.  Being a volunteer firefighter, he immediately stops and tries to help her. He is drawn to her resolve and he can tell that there is much more to her story than she is letting on due to her inability to trust him. 

Will it be possible for Megan to overcome her doubts and believe that Will only wants to help her? Is it possible he could love her and her unborn child even though it is not his own? Can Will convince her that he only wants to be there for her and love her like she deserves not like every other man she has ever met?

I highly recommend this whole series!  These books remind you that dreams can come true when you least expect it.      

You can find out more about this book here.

Emily's Chance by Sharon Gillenwater

A few weeks ago, I posted about the book Jenna’s Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater.  Well today I would like to share the second book in the series, Callahans of Texas, called Emily’s Chance.  This is a great book that follows Jenna’s Cowboy, however, if you did not read the first in this series, this one is also a great stand-alone novel!  It is a story about forgiveness and letting go of past hurts to be able to and discover the true meaning of love.

Emily comes from a wealthy family in Dallas but she has had her share of hurts.  She came to Callahan Crossing to be the curator of the museum the town is trying to get going.  She met Chance Callahan when the town was fighting a fire and he helped her save artifacts from the museum that was right in the path of the flames.  Since then, she can’t get him out of her mind.  Should she give up her dream job in Dallas and stay with Chance in Callahan Crossing? Can she trust him?

Chance is just a good Christian cowboy. He has waited a long time to find the right woman to marry.  When he sees Emily trying desperately to save artifacts in the museum from the fire, he knows he has met the woman for him.  However, the more he gets to know her, he wonders if it really is God’s will. Will it be possibly for him to convince her to stay? Is there really such a thing as love at first sight?

I highly recommend this book.  There are so many messages intertwined within the pages of a story that will definitely touch your heart.  This is a book that is hard to put down.

Find out more or purchase this book here.

Beauty for Ashes by Dorothy Love

When everything in life seems to be going wrong and it looks like there is no chance of ever being truly happy again, God promises to give us beauty for ashes.

Beauty For Ashes by Dorothy Love exemplifies just this promise.  Carrie Daly is a beautiful young woman, recently widowed.  Her life seems to be full of ashes. Promised to a man but not sure if she loves him. Living with her brother and being forced out on her own when he marries a widow with two young boys that are mean and ruthless. Almost run down in a busy street by a run away horse called Majestic.

In the midst of the worst year of her life, she meets a man that could make all her dreams come true.  He comes in the form of a horse trainer named Griff Rutledge.  But Griff has some ashes of his own. He comes to town to collect a debt from a saloon girl he once helped out and to get away from his father and brother instead of forgiving them for things that happened in the past.  However, instead of getting on his way, he finds himself taking over the training of a wild horse named Majestic for a town race. Then he meets a beautiful woman named Carrie Daly.  Is it possible for her to be the one that can make him want to make peace with his family and settle down with a wife and children?

This book is a story of forgiveness and love.  Time and time again, the author paints a picture of God restoring lives and truly replacing beauty for ashes.

Find out more and purchase this book here.

Heart of Gold by Robin Lee Hatcher

Heart of Gold by Robin Lee Hatcher was an amazing read! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Shannon Adair is the daughter of a minister who leaves the Civil War torn state of Virginia to move to the small western town of Grand Coeur, Idaho.  Shannon is a true southerner and cannot imagine ever being happy outside of Virginia after her fiancée is killed while fighting for the Confederacy.

Matthew Dubois is a rugged stage coach driver that has to hang up his hat and gloves and pass the reins on to someone else so he can care for his sick sister and her son after her husband was killed in the war.  He takes a job for the Wells Fargo Office there in Grand Coeur, Idaho fully intending to go back to stage driving when his sister gets over her illness.

Matthew’s sister, Alice, knows that she is going to die from this illness and all she wants is for her brother to find a good woman to settle down with to help raise her son as she would. Through her nursing experience, Shannon is introduced to Alice and she becomes her caretaker.

Will Shannon be able to let go of the south so she can find true happiness with Matthew? Can Matthew give up driving the stage to settle down with the woman he loves and the boy he will be forced to raise?

I highly recommend this book! It is another clean, Christian Inspirational Fiction that will be hard to put down. 

You can purchase this book here.

Sunrise on the Battery by Beth Webb Hart

I just finished reading an amazing book called Sunrise on the Battery by Beth Webb Hart.  It is about a woman and her family that seem to have everything; money, social standing, and influence.  But for Mary Lynn, the mother, something seems to be missing.  After fighting her way up from having nothing to having virtually everything, she still has the sense that there is something more out there. So she goes to church. While there she asks the members to pray that Jackson, her husband, will come to know God.  She gets what she prayed for but it may just change her life as well.

I think, after reading this book that the main message the author is trying to bring across is perspective.  Is it more important to have everything on the surface but feel emptiness inside? Or is it more important to be whole, confident, loved, and have a personal relationship with God and possibly have to do without the prestige and honor of having everything?  Also, while reading this book I was faced with what being a Christian really means.  Its not just going to church and doing all the things expected of you.  Sometimes being a real Christian means stepping out into the unknown and uncomfortable to get your hands dirty helping people that you would not normally see in a church building. 

This is a well-written book with an excellent message. It is written in a real down to earth way that anyone can identify with. I highly recommend this book!

You can purchase this book here.

Jenna's Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater

I recently finished reading a book called Jenna’s Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater.

Jenna is a daughter of the Callahan’s in Texas.  She has recently moved back home to the ranch after her husband left her and their two-year-old son Zach.  She wonders if it is possible to love and be loved again. Can she trust another man? 

Nate is a man battling some demons of his own.  After just returning from two tours in Iraq, he is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  After running into Jenna, the girl he loved in high school, he wonders if he will ever be able to get over his past and be able to become the kind of man that Jenna can love and trust her heart with.

While reading this book I was laughing, crying, and constantly on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened.  This book is very down to earth and shows the true meaning of love.  I was drawn to this book with western backdrop for a Christian romance novel.  If you want a book that you can relate to while you read, this is the book for you.  This family battles everything; war, betrayal, and natural disasters.  But through it all, their faith in God brings them closer together and gives them the strength to make it through.

I highly recommend this book! Check it out!