Customer Reviews

Lightning & Lace (Texas Legacy, Book 3) (Truly Yours Romance Club #9)

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With the retiring of their beloved pastor, the little town gets a new preacher, except he looks nothing like a minister of God. In fact, he is mistaken for a hobo and treated as such when he arrives in town.

Bonnie Kahler's husband died two years ago and her oldest son is now incorrigible. and she certainly cannot control him, nor can his school teacher or grandparents. Much of the first section deals with the misdeeds of this 12 yr. old boy.

However much he wants to succeed, the new preacher has disguised himself to prevent his past from being revealed, but that is not going to be possible, even in this little town. Love blooms in the most unlikely of places.


Heaven's Gates, a former brothel, houses the soiled doves who have turned from their trade and are now working. However, there is a dark, dark, figure, a hypocrite really, who is determined to run the town, the church, the people, AND feed his lust at the expense of his helpless but very wealthy wife who happens to be financing all his evil deeds without knowing it. This mystery is a large part of what holds the reader's interest.

This is a lovely Christian fiction read, an historical book and brings the reader close to each family. I was pleased to have read the entire trio of Texas Legacy. Are there to be more?

Diann Mills draws her Texas Legacy series to a close with Lightning and Lace, part thriller and part romance but great reading all the way.

It's 1898 and Travis Whitworth steps off the train in Kahlerville, Texas with the hope of returning to preaching after the scandal in Southern Texas that involved his church and a brothel.

He purposely dresses funny, with the hope of fending off all females, but Bonnie Kahler unwittingly bounces past his wild hair and too-big britches right into his heart.

Bonnie also needs to mend her past and make right the neglect of her three children. But first she must rise from her grief over the death of her husband and put the married banker in his place by refusing any more of his gifts/advances. The fact that her oldest son was arrested and now lives with Brother Travis, along with other innocent but evil-looking circumstances, gives rise to enough rumors to feed the mill for years. The gossip threatens to destroy Travis and Bonnie and her family. Travis reaches past his own secrets to Bonnie, and together they walk into peace and forgiveness. It isn't easy but the past is healed and Mr. Banker's wrong actions are exposed. His wife confesses her crime and the dead body is buried.

You will like this page turner, with conflict on every page. It's a great read for teenagers as well as adults.

DiAnn Mills always writes adventurous romance, and this is no exception. Expect a great story about a widow and a wounded preacher. It's a page-turner, and you'll love the ending. Great read.

Each book in the Texas Legacy trilogy has very different stories,and each was great in their own way, with different types of characters in each. This one involves a mystery as well,to add to the adventure/suspense of this western romance series. It has been a very good reading experience,and I am very pleased with this author and plan to read more of her work. I really like the adversity she has her characters experience,and grow through,plus the happy endings. I am not a reader who likes books that are too full of angst,especially if it isn't balanced by a wonderful HEA.

"Lightning and Lace" by DiAnn Mills is the third book in the Texas Legacy Series. This is a beautifully-written, suspenseful novel about a family in pain and the community around them. Bonnie is a young widow with a troublesome son who simply wants her family restored. Travis is the town's new preacher. He is helping Bonnie with her son, Zack, and trying to keep his past a secret. There is also a criminal on the loose. He is beating women, and no one is talking about his identity.

I was hooked on the intrigue and developing family issues and romance from the very first chapter! What a great book! Now, I must go back and read the other two! I also can't wait to read #4, "A Texas Legacy Christmas"!

As both an author and reader of fiction, I was impressed with "Lightning and Lace". Maybe it is because I have always enjoyed a book that could hold my attention and make me think at the same time. In a nutshell, the characters are believable and yet a little out of the ordinary and the story line unique. Give this book a try.
The Christian fiction book that I have written main story line is about ten years in the life of a little girl who was "chosen by God" to be the next Madonna in the second coming of Christ.
Tommy Taylor
Author - The Second Virgin Birth

LIGHTNING AND LACE is the third novel in the Texas Legacy Series. It continues a few years after where Lanterns and Lace left off, focusing on the character of Bonnie Kahler. Now widowed, and dealing with depression and an unruly son, Bonnie has to dig deep to strengthen herself and her family before she loses them completely. With the help of the new pastor in town willing to help Zack deal with his father's death, Bonnie does what she can to keep her family together. The unwelcome advances of Lester Hillerman continue to bother Bonnie. When she discovers what an inscrutable man he is, she finds herself barely holding on and praying that others will finally see Lester as the monster he is.

LIGHTNING AND LACE definitely picked up momentum where LANTERNS AND LACE had slowed the series down. I feel this novel had a lot more conflict that had to be resolved and deeper characters that the reader could hang on to. I really enjoyed the interaction between families. I like sequels that add and build on characters from previous books instead of merely mentioning them. I look forward to reading A TEXAS LEGACY CHRISTMAS, the final in the series.

Diann Mills weaves a wonderful continuation from Lanterns and Lace where we first learn of Bonnie Kahler and her dying husband, Ben. The transition from one book to the other is beautifully penned in this story of a woman who loses herself in grief for time.

At the retirement of her stepfather, Reverend John Rainer, Travis Whitworth steps up to the helm of the Piney Woods Church. His job is cut out for him, as he attempts to follow in the footsteps of Reverend Rainer. His first encounter in town is breaking up a fight between two boys, one who is Bonnie's son, Zach.

The story, crafted tediously, brings Bonnie to the realization she is neglecting her children through her own grief. As she struggles to manage an out-of-control son, Travis steps up to lend a hand. He helps Bonnie out on the farm and manages a little spare time to offer guidance to a troubled Zach.

When a Travis finds a murdered townswoman, his church members begin to shift their eyes in an accusing manner toward him and Zach. In a story filled with surprises, Lightning and Lace takes hold of the reader and grips them tight.

Mills takes twists and turns throughout this work which approaches many subjects including how even Christian minds wander. This third in a series of the Texas Legacy has brought us still closer to the townspeople of Kahlerville, their lives and deep personal relationships.

Once again Barbour has allowed Diann Mills to bring us into a western world where real people have love, suffer hurt, and find redemption.

Reviewed by Cindy Sproles, Mountain Breeze Ministries

Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (4/07)

This book is about Bonnie Kahler and her extended family. It's a book of tragedy, triumph, inspiration and love of God. The secondary character in the book is Travis Whitworth, the new pastor of Kahlerville, Texas. The reader learns of his trials and tribulation before coming to Kahlerville.

Bonnie's husband passed away and she was not able to handle her family, her ranch and her grief. A not-so-well-meaning friend got her hooked on drinking spirits before bed. Her son Zach lost all respect for his mother, and became quite a handful. The local teacher would not welcome him in her classroom, especially after the church was vandalized and the blame was placed on Zach. Brother Travis says he will keep the boy and also home school him in an effort to turn the boy around. There is rumor of an affair between Bonnie and Brother Travis. It was started by Lester Hillman the not-so-well-meaning friend. He is married but wants Bonnie for himself and will do anything to make that happen.

Rosie, a local lady of the evening who turned her life over to the Lord, is murdered. Again Lester implicates Zach and Brother Travis. Between Bonnie's brothers and Travis, they figure out who the real killer is and put a stop to Lester's reign of terror.

Ms. Mills was very successful in getting the point of her book across. There is nothing that God can't handle and turn around for good. Her characters are very well thought out, and presented in a way that makes you feel like you know them personally. If you are a reader of Christian fiction, then you will love this book. It's an adventure from beginning to end.

"Lightning and Lace" was thoroughly enjoyable to me and I would be interested in reading more of Ms. Mills work. I highly recommend it and hope other readers enjoy it as much as I did.

Received book free of charge.

Bonnie Kahler lost her husband, Ben, and the loss has overwhelmed her. Since his death she can't seem to cast her sorrow aside long enough to care for her three children. In addition, she has begun to drink the wine provided for her by Lester Hlllman, banker, and a married man. Her thirteen year old son, Zack, is aware of her problems, and has become a rowdy, undisciplined troublemaker. Bonnie can't control him.

Travis Whitworth, the new preacher, has just arrived to replace Reverend Rainer, beloved pastor, who is retiring. Travis interrupts a fight between Zack and another boy, which upsets Bonnie. The congregation would prefer a married pastor, and Travis crosses a prominent church member who is one of their biggest contributors. Not a good beginning. Travis and Bonnie don't agree on much of anything, but they both want to help Zack.

Lightning and Lace is the conclusion of DiAnn Mills Texas Legacy series. A satisfying wrap up of a delightful series, strong heroes, courageous heroines, and a strong message of faith and love.