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Another awesome effort by Ms. Hake

Another gripping humorous novel with a lot of suspense. Ms. Hake skillfully brings characters to life and creates such chemistry between them! I have Kindle Unlimited, but Ms. Hake 's novels are so superb I gladly paid for her books that weren't available on Unlimited. ( )

A delightful story set in the 1850's, that had an ending I wasn't expecting. I thought I had the book figured out right away, but this one took me places I wasn't expecting, which I usually enjoy. I found myself smiling through most of it and laughing out loud at times. The interaction between Ruth and Josh was so precious and Ruth was a joy to "be around", even if she was a little 'accident prone'. Looking forward to reading the other book in the series, "Bittersweet", next.

Ruth Caldwell has good intentions, but seems to always get herself into trouble. She finds her mother dying when she is expelled from yet another ladies finishing school. Her mother makes her promise to leave Missouri and travel to her father in California (whom she has never met) and live with him when she dies. So Ruth finds herself at the Broken P Ranch in Folsom, California where her father has also recently died. The family he was partners with on the Ranch take her in as one of their own, until the courts decide if she has part ownership of the ranch.

Josh McCain Jr. for the most part runs the ranch with his Dad and sister Laney. He is such a good person and gentleman and although Ruth gets herself in trouble sometimes, he is slowly learning to love her. But Ruth doesn't think very highly of herself and it takes some convincing that she is 'letter perfect' to Josh. There is a lot more going on in this story and it kept me up late at night just enjoying these two and figuring out what was really going on at the ranch.

A couple of my favorite quotes from the book:
When talking about hardships a family was going through - "None of us knows the dear Lord's plan or timing. 'Tis our place to take His lead and obey. The path is oft rocky, but the view is always best when we get where He's taking us."

When a dear person is failing in health: "When God grants us the love of a mate, a child, or a friend, 'tis a blessing. We have no right to tell Him how long to allow us the enjoyment of that blessing, so if He takes that loved one back to His bosom, we're to thank Him for the time He granted us." ( )

This was a fair book, but I have read better. ( )

This was an enjoyable book all and all. For those of you who may know the other authors I read and adore, I would say this was similar to reading [a:Mary Connealy|58306|Mary Connealy|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1218215353p2/58306.jpg]. This was my first experience with Cathy Marie Hake and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future. I am not sure if it is the pregnancy hormones or things that need to be done, but I did not zip through this book. It took me a while to read it. When I was not with it, it did not call to me like some books where I think I will go crazy if I do not read the next page. However, I did like it overall. I laughed, thought about crying, got angry, and snickered too. This story contained a wealth of emotions and a good couple handful of humor. The characters were enjoyable and some detestable just as they should be. I saw clues to what would happen and anticipated the next scene as if it were a film. Easily, this is a read that I recommend. ( )