BOOK REVIEW & CFBA Tour: The Vigilante's Bride

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Vigilante's BrideBethany House (August 1, 2010)
byYvonne Harris
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yvonne Harris earned a BS in Education from the University of Hartford and has taught throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic. Unofficially retired from teaching, she teaches writing at Burlington County College in southern New Jersey, where she resides. She is a winner and three-time finalist for the Golden Heart, once for The Vigilante's Bride, which is her debut novel.







ABOUT THE BOOK

Montana Territory, 1884...Is Her Kidnapper the Only Man Who Can Keep Her Safe?

Robbing a stagecoach on Christmas Eve and abducting a woman passenger is the last thing Luke Sullivan expected to do. He just wanted to reclaim the money stolen from his pa, but instead ended up rescuing a feisty copper-haired woman who was on her way to marry Sullivan's dangerous enemy. Emily McCarthy doesn't take kindly to her so-called rescue. Still, she's hoping Providence will turn her situation for good, especially when it seems Luke Sullivan may just be the man of her dreams. But Luke has crossed a vicious man, a powerful rancher not used to losing, and Emily is the prize he's unwilling to sacrifice.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Vigilante's Bride, go HERE

My Review:

I wasn’t sure what to except when I picked up THE VIGILANTE’S BRIDE, I certainly did not expect to be swept away.



I don’t come across many western romances that have the true flavor of the old west without feeling sappy or clichéd. The characters were well developed and the middle never sagged and nowhere in the book did my attention lag. Tension and character emotions were ratcheted and stressed.


The love story was sweet and moved forward at a fast clip, but it didn’t feel stilted. The entire book had an excellent pace to it. It is a fast read, but in no way did that distract me from the true enjoyment of the book.


There were a lot of points of view in the story and I would have liked the hero’s faith journey to have grown a bit more before the ending, but I do feel I can leave the characters, confidant they will continue to "grow."

All in all this is one of the best western romances I have read in a long time; it has that true “old west” shoot ‘em up flavor without feeling sluggish or overdone.


Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review through CFBA. This is my honest opinion.