Customer Reviews

Redemption (Leisure Historical Romance)

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
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I adored reading Linda Broday's REDEMPTION and believe it's her best work to date. The characters leave the reader feeling like they're visiting with family, the period is fascinating, the action gripping, and the romantic triangle will have the reader rooting for all three involved. I'm aware Ms. Broday researches and visits the locations of her books and I thought she captured the flavor of East Texas and bayou-like Jefferson well. This is a page-turner written with intelligence and heart and offers something for everyone.

Author Linda Broday has always had a fascination with the American West, and she brings that interest to her writings as a talented romance author. In her third western-themed romance, "Redemption," Broday once again brings her readers an entertaining and heartfelt story of passion in the old West. A gifted storyteller, Broday draws her audience into the past when love was something rare and worth hanging onto when found.

On the edge of the Big Cypress Swamp in far East Texas is a town named Redemption. The very name would seem to offer a place of refuge, a place to start over again, and place to make amends with the past. Brodie Yates hoped to find those qualities as he returned to the town he also called home. After years of fighting in the Civil War and even more years of riding the West, Brodie was ready to settle down for a while, get reacquainted with his past and look for possible new beginnings. But when he walked into the small café and looked into the lavender eyes that he knew so well, the past came back to bite him in the proverbial behind.

Laurel James had come to Redemption looking for a new start. When her friend Ollie offered her a new beginning working in her small café, Laurel jumped at the chance to leave her nightmarish past behind. She was betrothed to banker Murphy Yates and life seemed to be on the upswing, when a tall, handsome stranger from her past walked back into her life. When she discovers the man she knew as Shenandoah is really her fiancé's brother Brodie, Laurel knew the life she had imagined for her future would probably not become a reality after all.

Two men, one lovely young woman, all three with pasts that haunt them, uncover passions that had been tapped down for years, and soon come to grips with the realities that life hands them. What seems to have been certain becomes fuzzy as circumstances and conditions twist and turn. But true love prevails, and with all good romances, the hero gets the girl. Only in this story, which brother is the hero?

"Redemption" will coax a smile, invite a tear or two, and warm hearts of readers everywhere.

Ms. Broday's skill at drawing the reader into the past is exceptional. I felt as if I were back in time, in a place where people struggled just to survive. This is a heartfelt book that I absolutely could not put down. Ms. Broday's characters made me laugh, made me cry and made me sigh with regret when I closed the last page. Ms. Broday truly has a remarkable talent. I look forward to future books!!!

Linda Broday is an exceptional writer who brings the old west to life through her tales of love and redemption.

I have read this first novel three times now and enjoy it more each time. Texas is a hard place to live during the Reconstruction period and tempers still run high. Laurel James survived the Civil War that left her reputation tainted after being abducted and forced into prostitution. Ollie has given her a chance to work in her café in Redemption, TX. Laurel has captured the attention of Murphey Yates, the mayor. Despite accepting his proposal, Laurel regrets this will not be a love match.

Brodie Yates, an infamous Confederate spy known as Shenandoah, comes to visit her brother, Murphey. He recognizes Murphey's fiancé to be the woman he fell in love with during the war, a prostitute named Lil, the woman he fell in love with during the war.

Laurel is faced with two suitors and her past. In post Civil War Texas, dangers still lurk for Brodie, Laurel and Murphey. Laurel acts to save those she love, but who will save her?

Readers of Western Romances will find rich texture in this story of love and redemption. Sexual tension fills the book. You will not be disappointed but exhilarated as you continue to read page after page until there are no more. I look forward to Ms. Broday's next novel.

Setting - Texas, 1869 --- Leaving behind a sordid past, Laurel and her friend Ollie settled in the town of Redemption, looking to start a new life. Laurel was just about ready to realize her dream along with a decent marriage to the town Mayor which would finally gain the former saloon girl the respectability she desired.

The confederate spy Shenandoah, was the one and only man Laurel had ever loved, but his betrayal had broken her heart. When he rode into town, she feared another betrayal that would expose her secret life and ruin her chances for the new life of respectability she so desperately wanted.

Discovering Laurel here in Texas, Shenandoah didn't want to ruin her so much as to make her his once more, but he'd have to hurt the only other person he cared about in order to do that - his brother - her fiancé.

--- Set in the days following the Civil war Broday writes a compelling tale that is warm, passionate and heart-wrenchingly emotional. All her characters are very well drawn as they portray both the tragic, the joyful and downright amusing personalities of the people whose strength of character made this country great. Not only does Ms. Broday deliver a well written story, but she'll keep you on the edge of your seat in this passion laced tale that will have you alternately laughing, crying, and sharing in the joys and sorrows of real people seeking redemption. [Marilyn, for www.historicalromancewriters.com]

In 1869 Redemption, Texas co restaurant owner of Ollie's café Laurel James works hard to overcome the stink of whoring during the war although she knows she was not at fault having been abducted and sold when she was fifteen to a brothel. She is engaged to marry kind hearted Murphy Yates, but procrastinates on setting the date. Although she is fond of her fiancé, Laurel doubts that she loves him, but is that enough or does he deserve better.

With the Civil War over, Murphy's brother Brodie comes out of the cold having spied for the Confederacy at Shenandoah to visit his sibling. He is shocked to learn Lil, a prostitute he met in St. Louis, is Murphy's fiancée Laurel. Angry and jealous, Brodie warns Laurel to end her engagement or he will reveal her past to Murphy as his brother deserves better than a prostitute. Laurel rejects his blackmail, but detests herself because she wants and feels she probably still loves Brodie as she did when they first met during the war.

REDEMPTION is a fabulous Reconstruction Era romance starring two super lead protagonists and a powerful insightful support cast. Post Civil War Texas is filled with action although the outlaws who invade the town make it too easy for Brodie to reassess Laurel. The triangle is delivered perfectly so that the audience will follow the heroine as she must choose between the brothers knowing that when she selects a schism between siblings could result. This is a strong historical with a delightful not so tender love story.

Harriet Klausner

Laurel has made a new life for herself in a small Texas town called Redemption. Once, she was a whore named Lil, but now is respectable, beloved, and even engaged to the town's mayer. Unfortunately, her past is about to catch up to her. The man she once loved, the Johnny Reb spy, Shenandoh, is also Brodie, her fiancee's brother. Brodie thinks his brother deserves better than a one time saloon girl, one he happens to still want. Is there any way at all for this triangle to resolve without heartbreak?

Too much seems to be unsaid to make this a more than average book. Brodie's past almost seems incidental to the plot, when it feels like it should be more of a factor. Something is missing, and what would be an enjoyable story suffers for the lack.

Amanda Killgore

THIS WAS A VERY HARD BOOK FOR ME TO REVIEW BECAUSE I LIKED THE CHARACTERS AND THE STORY HAD POTENTIAL. UNFORTUNATELY, BRODAY, LEFT TOO MANY THINGS HANGING.
1. HE(HERO BRODIE/SHENANDOAH) NEVER WENT BACK TO FIND LIL CAUSE THE "YANKEES HAD HIM"...BUT HE NEVER LOOKED FOR HER AFTER HE WAS FREE EITHER.
2. REFERENCES TO HIM/BRODIE BEING A REBEL SPY GO WITHOUT ONE WORD OF ANY MISSION OR HIS ROLE IN THE WAR
3.LAUREL IS ENGAGED TO BRODIE'S BROTHER AND BROTHER FALLS IN LOVE WITH NORA, AN ORIENTAL HEALER. WAY FAR FETCHED 'MATCH', RIDICULOUS, AGAIN NO STORY TO SUPPORT ANY OF THAT. NORA SAYS ABOUT 20 WORDS IN THE WHOLE BOOK. NOT A REAL FETCHING GAL.
4. LAUREL'S FAMILY STILL THINKS SHES DEAD AND THEY LIVE NEARBY. EVEN AT THE END OF THE BOOK LAUREL'S FAMILY IS LEFT HANGING BECAUSE SHE WON'T TELL THEM SHES ALIVE.
5. MANY REFERENCES TO BRODIE BEING WANTED BY THE YANKEES BUT NO WHYS OR WHEREFORES.AND HE'S OPERATING, EVEN AS SHERIFF, IN A TOWN WITH YANKS ALL AROUND....GO FIGURE.
6. IS VILLIENS THE 6' BAD GUY DEAD? WHO SHOT HIM AND MOVED HIM FROM THE ALLEY? HOW DID LITTLE 80#, 80 YR OLD OLLIE DO IT?
A BOOK CAN'T BE ENTERTAINING IF U SPEND IT SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS THAT SHOULD BE THERE AND AREN'T.
THIS IS REALLY A 'DON'T BOTHER' IN MY BOOK. BRODAY WRITES GOOD DIALOGUE SO GIVE HER ANOTHER TRY.