Swept Away By Mary Connealy Book Review

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B o o k  # 1

 

R e v i e w    B y    M a d i 
 Title: Swept Away
Author: Mary Connealy
Source: Review Book
Number of Pages: 318
ISBN: 9780764209147
Publisher: Bethany House
Publication Date: 2013
My Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

Description (Taken From Goodreads):

 "Laughter, Romance, and Action Abound in This New Series from Mary Connealy
Swept away when her wagon train attempts a difficult river crossing, Ruthy MacNeil isn't all that upset at being separated from the family who raised her. All they've ever done is work her to the bone. She prayed for a chance to get away, and then came the raging flood. Alive but disoriented, she's rescued by Luke Stone...so unfortunately, there are more chances to die in her immediate future.
Luke is heading home to reclaim the ranch stolen from his family. But the men who killed his father are working hard to ensure Luke doesn't make it alive. He has no choice but to keep moving. Still, he can't just abandon Ruthy, so she'll have to come along.
His friends--a ragtag group of former Civil War soldiers--take a fast interest in the pretty gal. Luke thinks that's rather rude--he's the one who found her. And the more time he spends around the hard-working young woman who is a mighty good cook, the more he finds himself thinking beyond revenge and toward a different future. For the first time in a long time, Luke is tempted to turn from his destructive path and be swept away by love."

 M a d i ' s   R e v i e w ::

I adored this book.

This was actually my second time reading it. It's so refreshing! It's not like most Christian/western/romance novels. This book had some major suspense, and a lot of twist and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. That's the reason I gave it four stars. The only reason that I didn't give it five is because though I love Christian Westerns, they aren't my FAVORITE genre. But if you like good clean Southern stories (who doesn't?) then this book is definitely for you.

 Just to give you a little idea on what this book was about, the main characters name was Ruthy MacNeil (Or Rosie). In the beginning of the book Ruthy is on a wagon train going who knows where with a family that isn't her own. She was orphaned at a very young age and a low-down family named the Reinhardt's took her in and raised her as their "daughter". Actually they just used her as a slave. She worked from sun up to sun down and then some. And to make matters worse they were forcing her to marry her "brother" Virgil. And yes, since they never legally adopted her this was completely legal. Life was looking bleak. Then they hit a wall. A wall of water, that is. Her "Pa" decided to cross a rising river against Ruthy's better judgment. Guess if he would have listened he might have lived. Anyway, instead of drowning. Ruthy gets caught on a piece of wood and floats for a while instead of drowning. That's when Luke Stone finds her.

Luke is on his way home to reclaim his home from a thief that killed his father, and he wasn't taking no for an answer. He didn't know what he was gonna do with a fiery redheaded (not to mention unconscious) woman, but he couldn't just leave her there to die. But regardless of her presence, he wasn't gonna let her distract him from his goal. Luke and his friends had a plan, and it better work.

 After this everything is a whirlwind. And a good one. I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone.