Monday, March 11, 2013

Swept Away by Mary Connealy

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Swept Away
Bethany House Publishers (March 1, 2013)
by
Mary Connealy


ABOUT THE BOOK
When a cowboy focused on revenge encounters a woman determined to distract him, there's going to be trouble in Texas!
Swept away when her wagon train attempts a difficult river crossing, Ruthy MacNeil isn't terribly upset at being separated from the family who raised her. All they've ever done is work her to the bone. Alive but disoriented, she's rescued by Luke Stone...so unfortunately, there are more chances to die in her immediate future.
Luke is on a mission to reclaim the ranch stolen from his family. But the men currently on the property won't let it go without a fight. Luke plans to meet up with friends who will help him take back the land, and since he can't just leave Ruthy in the middle of nowhere, she's going to have to go with him.
But the more time Luke spends around the hardworking young woman, the more he finds himself thinking of things besides revenge. Will Ruthy convince him to give up his destructive path and be swept away by love?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Swept Away, go HERE.

MY THOUGHTS:
I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this book since I first heard about it around August of last year and I was even more excited when I found out that it would be about Callie Kincaid's (from the Kincaid Brides series) brother. That being said this was probably my least favorite of all of Mary's novels. Not that I didn't really enjoy it, it was just more of a four-star book while all of her others have been five-star ones. It was hard for me to pinpoint exactly what felt off but after thinking a bit I realized that there were three things that just weren't quite up to par. The first was that there was some repetitiveness at the beginning of the story, which was slightly annoying but not a big deal. And the second and third things were that there was less focus on the romance and a little less humor than her other books.
Now that I have that out of the way I can talk about what I did like! I really loved the camaraderie of the guys! Their friendship was great and I loved how they interacted with one another and knew each other so well. Another part of the story that was my favorite was Dare and Glynna's story. I can't wait to read more of it in their book, Fired Up. Ruthy was great and I admired her work ethic, no one could ever justly accuse her of being lazy (though her "family" tried). And I just generally found her amusing and she fit the bill of a Mary Connealy heroine. Luke was a pretty cool character and I was proud of the fact that he was doing his best to do everything according to the law, rather than just barging in and taking his ranch by force.
All in all a really good book that left me dying to read book two!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Christy Award Finalist, a Carol Award Finalist and an IRCC Award finalist.
The Lassoed in Texas Series, Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon and Gingham Mountain. Petticoat Ranch was a Carol Award Finalist. Calico Canyon was a Christy Award Finalist and a Carol Award Finalist. These three books are now contained in one large volume called Lassoed in Texas Trilogy.
The Montana Marriages Series, Montana Rose, The Husband Tree and Wildflower Bride. Montana Rose was a Carol Award Finalist.
Cowboy Christmas—the 2010 Carol Award for Best Long Historical Romance, and an Inspirational Readers Choice Contest Finalist.
The Sophie's Daughters series. Doctor in Petticoats, Wrangler in Petticoats, Sharpshooter in Petticoats.
She is also the author of; Black Hills Blessing a 3-in-1 collection of sweet contemporary romances, Nosy in Nebraska, a 3-in-1 collection of cozy romantic mysteries and she's one of the three authors contributing to Alaska Brides with her Carol Award Winning historical romance Golden Days.

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