Customer Reviews

McKenzie (Montana Skies #1)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

McKenzie is desperate to find and rescue her sister , Kaydie, who is living in Montana with her deceptive and abusive husband. In desperation, she chooses to travel there after answering an ad for a mail order bride. Leaving the high society life in Boston to travel to a remote ranch, McKenzie's marriage to Zach was initially only going to be the means to an end. At first she can't wait to return home but will not give in until she has finally found her sister. McKenzie's plans are waylaid, as she is welcomed with open arms into the Montana community and is overwhelmed by a genuine love for her from her new husband, Zach. McKenzie has never witnessed such love before and discovers that only an intimate relationship with God can allow her to experience it firsthand. Zach patiently shares his faith with her. The book was well written and Penny does an exceptional job developing the character of McKenzie as she experiences love, faith, grace and ultimately unconditional forgiveness. Through it all McKenzie develops into a strong woman of faith. The book kept me engaged from beginning to end, and no chores were accomplished that day. I can't wait to read the next installment of the Montana Skies Series.

I read this book in two nights. I started it, thinking it was going to be a quick read, but was a bit wrong. I was up, both nights, WAY to late because I could not put it down. The story is well written, and you get attached to the characters. I loved the deep love between the sisters, deep enough that McKenzie would marry a stranger to be closer to where her sister might be. All to save her sister from a bad man. McKenzie and her stranger husband grow closer as time goes on, despite her posh back ground and worldly ways and thoughts. Through the people around her, she learns to love God.

Defiantly one of the books that will get the great honor of being read over and over!

I would like to extend a heartfelt "Thank you" to Penny Zeller and her publisher for sending me a copy of "McKenzie" to review for them. I am truly grateful for this generosity. I really appreciate the time, effort and expense it takes to make a reviewer copy available to me.

"McKenzie" a novel by Penny Zeller is the touching romantic tale of a high society young woman from Boston who accepts a marriage proposal in order to rescue her sister, Kaydie, from her abusive husband. Being a mail-order bride was not McKenzie Worthington's dream. But when Zach Sawyer placed the advertisement in the Boston newspaper for a wife, she couldn't help but notice that Zach lived near her desperate sister. Pushing her own happiness aside - after all, she planned to have the marriage annulled after returning to Boston, McKenzie embarks on a cross-country trip to marry a man she's never met and rescue the sister her heart aches for. But McKenzie never planned to fall in love.

Penny Zeller tells a beautiful story. The characters are warm and lifelike. The situations are bold and colorful. The drama and romance keeps you turning the pages. I look forward to reading further novels in this series, particularly Kaydie's story.

Oh my goodness. How do I even start? I LOVED this book! Penny has written a remarkable love story. She has written about faith, hope, and God's unchanging love for us.

McKenzie Worthington was born into a rich, sophisticated, well to do family in Boston. She is the middle daughter of three. She is used to having everything done for her by servants. Her parents are hoping for her to marry one of her own kind. McKenzie is used to beautiful clothes, tea parties, balls, etc.

Zachary Sawyer is a rancher. He loves God with all of his heart. He lives in a small town in the Montana Territory. His home is rather crudely built, according to some standards. Old, worn out blankets cover the windows. Zach works hard on his ranch. He has been praying for a wife, someone to share his life, his dreams, and his young adoptive son with.

Thanks to a nosey store keeper, Zach runs ads in several newspapers across the country advertising for a mail order bride. Back in Boston McKenzie is desperate to find her younger sister, Kaydie, whose abusive husband took her across the country away from her family. Kaydie has written a few letters to McKenzie, the last of which she mentioned being in and around Montana Territory.

McKenzie sees Zach's ad for a mail order bride and decides to answer it. She sees it as the perfect way to find her sister. She will go there, marry Zach, find her sister, then her and Kaydie will both return home to Boston where she will have the marriage annulled. Sounds like the perfect plan until she gets there and finds Zach to be a very kind, gentle, loving man. His son, Davey, falls in love with his new Ma. The towns people accept her with open arms. All of this begins to change her heart and ruin her plans!

What will McKenzie do? She wasn't supposed to actually have feelings for these people. She wasn't born to live like this, she was born to live in high society.

Penny did an excellent job of writing her characters! They come alive on the pages! Her descriptions of the surroundings are so vivid you are there! This book is definitely one I will want to read again! And the sequel, Kaydie, is coming out next year! Can't wait for that one.

Penny did a great job of captivating you in the first chapter. How would McKenzie use her "skill, sense of adventure and wisdom" to track down her beloved younger sister? Each chapter unfolded a twist to her ultimate plan of "mission accomplished and annuled marriage". Did I put the book down after starting to read it? No, I read it in one afternoon and it was a delight to read!

It is not normally the type of book I would read but was asked by a friend to read it and enjoyed it. I love the way Penny deals with McKenzie's heart in the book. McKenzie's is cold and calculating and totally into what is best for her no matter the cost to anyone else. She allows Zach into her life to use him but God has other plans and uses Zach to show McKenzie how much God loves her. I thought the book was well written and the play of character development is fantastic. It leaves you wanting to know more, of course there is another book planed, but not so open that you feel cut off at the end. Good Job by the author.

This is yet another marriage of convenience story that I really enjoyed. I enjoyed seeing McKenzie and Zach's relationship blossom along with McKenzie's growing faith in God. I was a little confused at first as to why a wealthy young woman couldn't just hire someone to find her baby sister instead of leaving the comforts of her home for the West and life with a stranger but it ended up working in spite of that! I'm really looking forward to seeing where the next story goes and I have the feeling it's going to involve McKenzie's sister, Kaydie and a certain ranch hand. ;-) If you are a reader of sweet, Christian romance I recommend McKenzie, Book 1 in the Montana Skies series by Penny Zeller.


***Special thanks to Cathy Hickling of Whitaker House for sending me a review copy. I was not obligated to provide a postitive review.

McKenzie, a wealthy Boston socialite, decides that the best way to find her sister in the Montana wilderness is to become a mail-order bride. Her intention right from the beginning is to marry and then use any means possible to find her sister, return to Boston, have her father annul the marriage and get on with life. What she doesn't expect is to be greeted with kindness and love from the man, his ranch family, and the small town. Her idea of a relationship with God is attending church on Sunday as a social obligation, she is unprepared for the serious and loving relationship that Zach has with God. As she learns more about God she is changed on the inside, changed so much that when she becomes the one rescued by her mother she has to seriously consider just exactly what it is that she does want. An excellent book to start off a series. Well written, good character development, loved the daydream vignettes, definitely a page turner.

McKenzie, by author Penny Zeller, tells the story of the depth of one sister's love for another. McKenzie Worthington loves her younger sister, Kaydie, so much that she is willing to risk everything in order to rescue Kaydie from a disastrous marriage to an abusive and evil man. McKenzie goes so far as to enter into a marriage via the venue of becoming a mail-order bride as a means to travel to the Montana Territory in search of her younger sister.

Having come from a wealthy and privileged background in Boston, McKenzie was not prepared for the lifestyle that she encountered when she moved to Pine Haven to marry Zach Sawyer. Zach was looking for a wife and mother for his son; McKenzie was looking for a place to stay and a means of support while she attempted to rescue her sister. The master plan was to have her father, who was a lawyer, annul the marriage, leave Zach behind, and return her life in Boston once Kaydie was found.

Penny Zeller has created a beautiful love story and shown how the best laid plans are often foiled when God steps into the picture and reveals His plan. In spite of all the obstacles that Kaydie, McKenzie and Zach had to overcome, the author has shown that, as the Bible states in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (KJV)

I have always been interested in the concept of mail-order brides and, in the story of McKenzie, Penny has revealed a realistic picture that vividly portrays this process. Her main male character, Zach Sawyer, is the same age as my middle son so, as I read, I could not help but compare Zach to my own son. This contrast helped the story to come alive in a very real way.

In the rapidly-growing field of extremely talented Christian fiction authors, Penny Zeller has excelled and has distinguished herself with her superb ability. She uses the tools of her trade with surgical precision to craft believable and captivating stories filled with a message of love and forgiveness.

McKenzie was provided to me by the publisher, Whitaker House, for review purposes. I was not obligated to give a positive review nor did I receive any other form of recompense for this review.

I thought this book was heart-warming and inspiring. It really showed what a mess we are when we don't have a personal relationship with God. I liked how she took Mckenzie's character through the process of just simply knowing God, to having a deeper relationship with Him. She was able to see the changes in her thoughts and personality. I think all Christians could relate to that process, because God takes us all through it, so we can be transformed into the person He wants us to
be.

I thought the story was really romantic, and I liked that it was clean too. I liked seeing Zach and Mckenzie's marriage eventually grow into what God intended it to be. I also got a few good ideas from her book, for my marriage. I liked how Zach and Mckenzie would get together every night to pray and read the Bible. My husband and I sometimes read the Bible together, but I would love it to become a nightly thing we do together. I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read the next chapter in the series.

-Sarah G.