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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This one will change you heart and impact your life..., March 18, 2007
This review is from: Revealed (Fountain Creek Chronicles, Book 2) (Paperback)
Move over Petticoat Ranch! I still love ya, but Revealed moves into the top spot now. In fact, I dare say I loved Revealed even more than Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, which used to be my favorite book...period. The title Revealed is so perfect and sums up the story in so many ways.
What made this book so amazing? The characters were not just flawed, but they grew throughout the story. Especially the hero. To me, this is the most powerful redemption story I've ever read. The tension between the characters was truly believable. As they got to know each other more they discovered that many of their assumptions about each other were not true, which meant they had to change things about themselves because of that revelation. Is that cool, or what?
I don't want to spoil the story for you with too many details, but there was just so much healing and character growth in this novel that it sets it apart from most historical westerns. Sure, you still have the sleazy characters that you want to choke, and they were believable, too. But there is just more depth to this story than most. The spiritual threads were delicately woven throughout the book and not at all preachy, IMHO. And that first kiss was perfect. The finger trailing the lip. The look in his eyes. The romantic waiting. The fact that he said he'd wait. So many things understood between them without a word. Oh, and her scary feelings of love (as a woman should feel) and the wonder of it all was fabulously done. She experienced how special things could be with Matthew.
One of the things I loved best about this story was the theme of how you can't love others if you don't know what unconditional love is. Johnny rescued Annabelle from a horrible life and prepared the soil for her to experience true love for the first time in her life. I also loved how the author used Annabelle's concern for Sadie to reach Matthew as well. Their relationship was so well done, as was the guardedness on Sadie's end. Several times my eyes misted. Great emotional impact! I highly recommend this book.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forgiveness and love on the trail to Idaho, February 7, 2007
This review is from: Revealed (Fountain Creek Chronicles, Book 2) (Paperback)
Once again Tamara Alexander provides us with a story you take to heart and love. With two of the characters from her first novel, Tamera weaves a tale of God's love and forgiveness for even the most broken of lives. Matt Taylor and Annabelle Grayson are drawn together when he learns his deceased brother's pregnant widow needs an escort to take her to join the wagon train she had to leave when Jonathan died. She wants to continue the journey to Idaho to live on the ranch Jonathan claimed there. Matt agrees because he believes the ranch should be his, not Annabelle's. Because of her past life in a brothel, Matt feels she isn't worthy to bear the name of his brother and even doubts the unborn child is Jonathan's. Matt and Annabelle travel westward and during the trip, they learn to respect each other and to trust God to take them safely on their journey. Along the way Annabelle, with Matt's unexpected help, is able to rescue a young friend, Sadie, from life in a brothel. The ending has a wonderful twist that wraps up the story in a most satisfying way. This is one that will be hard to put down once you start reading.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great sequel..........., November 12, 2006
This review is from: Revealed (Fountain Creek Chronicles, Book 2) (Paperback)
Revealed is the second book in Tamera Alexander's Fountain Creek Chronicles and readers will be pleased to know that Tamera has written another powerful story of two broken people seeking redemption from their past. This is the story of Annabelle Grayson and Matthew Taylor, pivotal characters in Tamera's first book, Rekindled.
After the death of her husband, Annabelle chooses to follow his dream and travel to Idaho and the land he had claimed. She wants to start afresh and locate her young friend, Sadie who has disappeared. Annabelle advertises for a trail guide to accompany her on the arduous journey and is shocked to discover that Matthew Taylor, her late husband's brother, unwittingly reponds. Matthew despises Annabelle and wants nothing more than to expose her as the conniving and immoral woman he believes she is.
Tamera's deft hand writes a tender and realistic story of two people struggling to move beyond their tainted past into a fresh and forgiven future. Annabelle and young Sadie's haunting past is sensitively portrayed as is Matthew's guilt and regreat over his broken relationship with his brother. Matthew's unforgiving prejudice towards Annabelle reveals a tendency in most of us to pass judgement on prior behaviour rather than on a person's current character and conduct. Revealed is a moving story which challenges you to consider how you view those around you in light of God's grace and forgiveness to us all.
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