 |
| Visit the Tour Page |
Softly Falling by Carla KellyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received from publisher to review
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Description: Beautiful Lily Branson learns that her wayward father has lost his Wyoming cattle ranch in a card game to handsome cowboy Jack Sinclair, no less! When a series of deadly winter storms sets in, Lily and Jack must work together to save the cattle—as well as their hearts.
My thoughts; Lily Carteret has been searching most of her life to find a place where she can feel comfortable, loved, and at home. She has lived off of the good graces of her Uncle, because her father has proven himself to be unreliable, a gambler, and a drunk. She didn't fit in at boarding school because she did not look like all of the other girls. Her mother was black and her father was white. In the nineteenth century England, this was a social problem.
She was shipped off to live with her father in Wyoming. He supposedly had a prosperous ranch. Her father's financial situation was not what she was led to believe. She arrived in Wyoming to find her father beaten by life once again.
Lily learns through a rough winter to find herself, a purpose, and eventually love. This book takes readers through a process. The process doesn't involve just Lily, but all of the survivors of the ranch. They become bound together in their determination to survive.
I enjoyed the fact that Carla Kelly doesn't sugar coat the hardships of surviving a harsh winter. The brings great detail to survival, the toll on people and animals that multiple blizzard can bring. The book is man vs nature. It is about survival. The romance is sweet, but not the main focus of the book.
I also loved that this particular group of people band together as equals. There were a few of mixed or different racial heritage. From the beginning most of them treated everyone as a person of value.
Another great historical fiction romance from Carla Kelly.
* 
About the Author: Carla Kelly is a veteran of the New York and international publishing world. The author of more than thirty novels and novellas for Donald I. Fine Co., Signet, and Harlequin, Carla is the recipient of two Rita Awards (think Oscars for romance writing) from Romance Writers of America and two Spur Awards (think Oscars for western fiction) from Western Writers of America. She is also a recipient of a Whitney Award for Borrowed Light and My Loving Vigil Keeping.
I love your review! My post goes up tomorrow and I had a lot of similar thoughts on the book. :)
ReplyDelete