She's Finally Found a Place to Call Home... How Far Will She Go to Save It?
With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to their Texas family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have just three months to pay.
Though facing eviction, Rosa falls in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. They welcome her vivacious spirit and try to help her navigate puzzling American customs. She can't help but stand out, though, and her beauty captures attention.
Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, Rosa must decide to what lengths she will go to save her future. Read an excerpt: http://ow.ly/9sK2C.
Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a history minor. She has worked at The Mustang News and First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She now lives outside Oklahoma City with her husband and four children. Meet Regina here.
Learn more about Regina by visiting her website, www.reginajennings.com
My review:
There were some things I truly adored about this romantic historical fiction title, and some things that frustrated me to no end. But even though some things that happened in the story that drove me crazy, those things didn't take away from the story's overall appeal. I loved how the book paralleled the story of Ruth in the Bible and how the author did a pretty amazing job at making it fit in 1878 in Texas where instead of Ruth being a Moabitess, the heroine Rsa was a Mexican. I thought it worked well for the story. The author did a great job with the setting as well. I felt completely grounded in the time period throughout the story.
The scenes where some amazing chemistry simmered between Weston and Rosa were hot enough to melt chocolate, but for me, they cooled too quickly, like cool water on a fire. I don't mind that type of angst a few times here and there, but it got to the point where I wanted to say, "Enough already!" At the same time, the fact that I cared enough to get frustrated with them says a lot about the author's ability to keep a reader engaged. This story contained the classic 'poor communication' that usually makes for ongoing conflict in romance novels. It worked for this story for the most part, but there were a few times I wanted to yell at Rosa and say, "Come on, chica, he loves you. Don't you see that?" At the same time, her reservations made sense given her past.
The thing that intrigued me most about Rosa's character was her sincerely felt obligation to earn her keep and be useful. She couldn't see herself as being loved for anything but her ability to help others. Surely no one would love her for herself. How often we act that way with God. He loves us with a love that can't be earned or changed regardless of what we do, yet sometimes we find ourselves striving to "earn our keep" as Christians.
It looked pretty ridiculous when Rosa was acting that way, so I thought about how silly our striving must appear to God. Sometimes God will do like Weston did and say, "fine, you want to try and earn your favor? Go ahead and see if you can do it." Then He leaves us to our own devices until we are miserable and want our relationship with Him restored to where it was before... when we trusted God and allowed Him to love us the way He wanted to. Of course, we can't make God love us any more regardless of what we do. That was well illustrated in this story. At least that was what I got out of those scenes.
All in all, this was a good read. I would definitely read another novel by Ms. Jennings, especially if it's a historical romance. She's gifted when it comes to writing internal dialog and engaging the reader's emotions. On the one hand I felt like I was being tortured emotionally along with the characters, but that was one of the things that made this book special. I loved the fact that I cared about what happened to them. I would definitely recommend this story to lovers of historical fiction and romance.
Litfuse Publicity provided me with a copy of this book to review for the tour, however, the opinion expressed above is entirely my own.
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1 comment:
I thought this was a great book and really liked the heroine, Rosa, too. Especially when she misunderstood certain American phrases that provided for humorous situations. Can't wait to read Regina's follow up story about Molly!
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