“True Devotion” by Marta Perry

About the Book

What kind of man turned away a pregnant woman? Susannah Laine could tell that Nathan Sloane had demons to wrestle with, but so did she. She'd come to Lakemont to find out what her late husband had been doing there before his sudden death. And she wasn't leaving without an answer....

Susannah's occupancy of the cottage where his wife had lived before her death reawakened painful memories for Nathan. Still, he couldn't deny his attraction to Susannah, and reluctantly agreed to help in her search. But the truth they uncovered threatened their burgeoning romance. Could God now give Susannah the strength to overcome her past and embrace this second chance at happiness?

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This book was released in February 2004

This is my own personal book that was reviewed

My Review

“True Devotion” by Marta Perry is a older book without a doubt but boy it really got to this reader. Someone is trying to uncover secrets and I have to say that the little bread crumbs of the secret trail didn't quite lead to the rabbit hole but instead it lead to a foxes den. So yes, just when one might think they knew where things are going, there is a major twist that I didn't see coming.

So while one is dealing with the secret the other is dealing with the past because they hadn't fully handled what had happened. As that being the case it was amazing to watch the person struggling with the past helping everyone else around them it seems. Because of this struggle they this person is dealing with they are hiding so much of themselves from everyone around them.

Susannah is a woman is on a mission and while on that mission learns quite a few other things. There is a great strength in Susannah that we see several times throughout the story and there is this great understanding her with another character. So between her strength and understanding there is also something else that is fragile within her, but it is hard to pinpoint because she hides it so well. There is also this ability to accept things even if she is not happy with what is happening.

Nathan is a man with the world on his shoulders it seems like and he is one to try to add more to those shoulders because he feels as if needs to take of the world. Nathan is also an extremely stubborn and at times foolish man, but there is something about him that just draws a person in.

Sometimes when an author gives two characters the problems that both Susannah and Nathan had, it seems as if the characters are overly flawed or overly perfect. However, that is not the case here. Both Susannah and Nathan have their good strong points and their weak flaws. Wait I don't mean that the flaws seem weak only that they have the flaws that work well with their strong points.

I hope all who read this book will enjoy it as much as I did.

"Now & Forever" by Mary Connealy

About the Book

Saddle up for romance and adventure with the Wilde sisters!

Shannon Wilde is the middle sister--and the one who loves animals. She's established her own homestead and is raising sheep for their wool. Things are going fine...until Shannon gets swept over a cliff by Matthew Tucker!

Tucker seizes every opportunity to get away from civilization, but one particular walk in the woods ends with him sprinting away from an angry grizzly and plunging into a raging river, accidentally taking Shannon Wilde with him. Their adventure in the wilderness results in the solitary mountain man finding himself hitched to a young woman with a passel of relatives, a homestead, and a flock of sheep to care for.

As Tucker and Shannon learn to live with each other, strange things begin to happen on Shannon's land. Someone clearly wants to drive her off, but whoever it is apparently didn't count on Tucker. Trying to scare Matthew Tucker just makes him mad--and trying to hurt the woman he's falling in love with sets off something even he never expected.

Please visit Mary Connealy's website

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This book was released in February 2004

This is a well loved library book that was reviewed

My Review

“Now & Forever” by Mary Connealy is the second book in her 'Wild at Heart' series, and wow what a book. This is a book where it is not exactly necessary to have read the first book “Tried & True” but it will help with figuring out a few of the characters, especially the Wilde family and that dynamics. I think that reading this first two books will be somewhat required reading when it comes to “Fire & Ice” this fall, for the two major characters are seen all through the first two books. I would like to say that the two major characters in “Fire & Ice” is not a great surprise, HOWEVER, this is Ms. Connealy and with her nothing is a sure thing.

This is so predictable again to Ms. Connealy's writing, which of course is not predictable. The villain of the story is one of two characters, though I suspected one more than the other, just because of a hunch. However, the hints and clues all fitted each of the characters that are suspect, so honestly either one could have been it. The one who was the villain truly had a hidden dark soul without a doubt and frankly it was almost scary how this character seem to find enjoyment with what they were doing.

This is Shannon Wilde's story and what a story it is. As her back story comes out it almost horrific with what this young lady went through in her past. Regardless what happened though there is something gentle within Shannon that she is not afraid to show to her sheep, though she is guarded with everyone else. It seems almost if Shannon is trying to figure out where she fits in the world, for she is so use to doing things one way but now due to a marriage of no choice she is finding that there are other ways of doing things. Some of those new things are things she likes and some not so much.

Matt Tucker is a man we also meet in “Tried & True” and we learn a great deal more about this mountain man. He is the typical Alpha Male who has to protect everyone, can do everything, doesn't need anyone, and especially hates being laid up. His pride gets in the way at times but he is not reckless on the most part. Tucker is a man who is a thinker, and careful. There is a reason why he has the reputation that he has and frankly it is well earned. Though Tucker seems almost perfect for the Alpha Male, he isn't and it shows at times.

The romance within the story is some different and yet, so similar to “Tried & True”. Again the chemistry between Shannon and Tucker is there from the get go, well maybe from “Tried & True” but honestly that is only hinted at. But now in “Now & Forever” that chemistry is different for it is not between a man and woman but now it is between man and wife. It is that same chemistry with a little more intensity, after all this time it is between man and wife, though never once is the reader privy to their private husband and wife moments. I truly found myself falling in love with the characters as the story works itself out even with all the crazy things going on by the hands of the villain.

The story takes several twists and turns throughout the story and I almost have to wonder if there isn't a part of this story that will be carried over into “Fire & Ice” for things seems to have gotten off track on that. Other than that wondering, the story on the part is pretty well concluded within the book, but with Ms. Connealy what might seem concluded in a book, but in the next book shots that idea out of the water. So I am looking forwarded with baited breath for the fall for “Fire & Ice”.

I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy historical romances that has a touch of suspense and plenty of humor, all of which are so characteristic of Ms. Connealy's writing.

Other "Wild at Heart" Books

Tried & True