Andrea Renee Cox

Why are so many debuts retellings?? This is a fantastic book, but I would have loved to see more of the author's creativity rather than mirroring Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice plot.

There were plenty of things to make this story stand out. Gothic genre, murder mystery, and the juicy sort of melodrama were a few of my favorites.

This author is definitely one to watch. (I'm already a fan and have read nearly all of her other books. I've got one more to go on her backlist at this point plus her newest.)

Content: tobacco, marital affairs, illegitimate child spoken of

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

Other than some chunks of telling in the baddie’s POV (NetGalley copy, so hopefully that got fixed before publication), this was a spectacular book.

Ever since Little House on the Prairie (book series and TV series) and the Oregon Trail computer game, I’ve had a soft spot for wagon train stories. This one was wonderful. I loved that it also featured asylum escapees.

The loyalty and protectiveness Beth felt toward her mother was excellent. Jake was a fantastic character—just the sort of cowboy I like to root for. He handled a lot as a wagon train scout, but romancing Miss Beth became tricky with her secrets.

It was really fun to see a diverse mix of transportation in this book: on foot, horses, carts, covered wagons, carriages, and trains. That combination provided lots of interesting atmosphere.

Once again, Connealy proved herself a master at writing settings. They always come alive under her hand. Hidden Canyon and the river fiasco were both especially vivid standouts.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

For 60 percent, I couldn’t put my finger on what was driving me nuts about this book. Then it hit me all at once and made the next 11 percent pure torture. So I’m done, and here’s what I landed on.

Neither lead acted their age. In fact, they both acted like impulsive, selfish eight-year-olds much more often than they acted like fully grown adults.

Catríona never could seem to remember that she had clients other than the rich guy she was intentionally matching poorly so he’d fall in love with her. Unethical, unprofessional, inappropriate… you name it! I’m not sure why her father and others in the community held such high opinions of her matchmaking skills (they claimed she was “the best” of the town, county, and country, but the best would act ethically and professionally). If I ran my editing business the way she ran her matchmaking one, I’d have clients running for the hills and telling everyone far and wide not to trust me with their precious books. (Thankfully, I run my business ethically and responsibly and cherish each and every client.) She even told one client that she hadn’t been treating him like she normally does her clients and then proceeded to give the excuses of being busy and having this very important client she had to match. Um, whoa. She just TOLD A CLIENT that she had MORE IMPORTANT CLIENTS than him???!! What in the world? Every client, as any good businessperson knows, is just as important as all the other ones. They each pay you a wage and expect good service. I cannot imagine treating my clients in the rude, immature, and ridiculous ways this lady did. And to basically forget you have a full load (plus an extra shoved-on-you client) simply because you’re trying to skip town with the rich guy? Wowzers, woman. Grow up.

Donal fooled me for a while. He seemed mature and responsible at first, taking care of his kid and his farm and all. But then push came to shove. We all know what happens then. The real truth comes out. He got a terrible business offer (basically a loan-shark sort of deal with a fast due date on the return) from a pair of elite, wealthy gents, and instead of praying about the idea and discovering the solution God had in store for him, he asked his NINE-YEAR-OLD daughter for advice (she didn’t have full understanding of the situation, of course, because she’s only NINE and has ZERO experience with crooked political types who are never happy unless they’re ripping off the little guys [like her daddy]) and—shock upon shock!—he took her advice and signed the paperwork. Not only that, but he left her home alone during a humongous, wild storm (hurricane or rain-wrapped tornado—it wasn’t made clear which it turned out to be) in order to impulsively head to town to sign the paperwork right then and there. Now, why on earth would he abandon his child, who should have been frightened as all get-out of the wild weather but somehow wasn’t (I’ve never known a child her age to not be petrified of tornados [which are much more prevalent than hurricanes in my area]), in order to make a business deal—and an atrocious one at that!

Then, after they go through a long search to rescue said child, Donal and Catríona somehow end up in a super passionate kissing session. How was that even a thing for these two? How had he even fallen in love with this lady who was smitten with and treating him poorly (way past abuse and/or neglect, if you ask me) for a guy with buckets and buckets of money and who Donal saw was a terrible flirt with all the servant girls? I mean, this rich dude was a flirty playboy at best and a vile pervert at worst. Not much leeway in between, if you ask me. And Donal knew Catríona was head over heels for the guy. Why would he let his heart yearn for a woman under such a surfacy, money-driven spell? That sort wouldn’t make a good wife for him or mother for his child!

And Catríona herself. Why would she let herself get wrapped up in Donal’s passion if she was still mooning over the rich guy? She hadn’t come to her senses about him up to this point even after he’d pushed himself on her, which made her uncomfortable but not so much as to immediately, or even belatedly, break off things with the guy. Was she asking to get accosted? I couldn’t really tell.

The kiss really came out of nowhere and made absolutely no sense.

I’m honestly not sure how I was supposed to root for these people. They didn’t make any smart or grownup decisions. They seemed to chase after things that weren’t biblically sound (which is never a good sign, if you ask me). And they weren’t even attracted to each other or considerate of each other for the majority of the book.

Romance? Eh, not so much. More like suspension of belief for however long it took me to decide to give up on this book.

Oh yeah. It was 71 percent. Not sure how that equated to hours spent, but however many it ended up being now feel completely wasted.

I was hoping to find out what happened to these fictional people, but at this point, I don’t even care.

I did like the parts of the festival that I saw. The dance and the tea and walk were very pleasant. I also loved how Ireland came alive under the author’s hand. That aspect was really well done. Deidre was my favorite character. She seemed the most realistic and responsible and delightful to be around. I wanted much, much more page time for her.

Content: pubs (excessive), alcohol, replacement expletives, replacement profanity, one expletive (through the first 71 percent of the story)

What a masterpiece! This symphony was exactly what I needed in this season. This book that was saturated with internal dialogue was the most beautiful companion as I processed a pretty big disappointment.

I wasn’t expecting this book to fully immerse me into Lucy’s world to that returning to mine gave me a whirl of vertigo. I wasn’t expecting this beautiful heart that was Sasha to completely captivate me. I wasn’t prepared for the exquisite expression of forgiveness through a signed song.

I wasn’t expecting to turn into a puddle of tears.

Pick up this book today, friends. Let yourself feel it, let it wash over you, and let it whisk you away.

And tell me Brogan doesn’t steal your heart—I dare you.

Charming mystery! I loved that it was mostly set in an attic—rare! Also, it’s a sweet siblings story, which is right up my alley. Can hardly wait to see what happens next in this short story series.