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Dawn Crandall's Review of “A December Bride" by Denise Hunter

{My Review}

If Denise Hunter writes something, I'm going to read it. It's that simple. Even if it's short. Even if it's a novella. As far as I know, A December Bride, which is part of a novella series put together by Zondervan, is the only (non-Smitten) novella she's written. She was the perfect choice to begin the series, because as far as I'm concerned, everything she writes is absolutely wonderful.

This novella follows the lives of two characters from her fictional town called Chapel Springs (which is based off of the quaint Ohio River town of Madison, IN), and one of which is the sister of the hero in her latest full length novel, Barefoot Summer. The characters were well developed for a novella. They had super awesome chemistry together... which is pretty much a given being that they're characters from the imagination of this particular author. The plot was simple, but that's a given when the word count is so restricted. Novellas, as much as I've been trying to get into them more this year (mostly because they're everywhere all of a sudden), aren't my favorite. But this one was really good. I flew through it in one evening and enjoyed every minute. 

An eBook Advance Reader copy of A December Bride was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

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{More About the Book}

(from Goodreads) What started as a whim turned into an accidental - and very public - engagement. Can Layla and Seth keep up the facade in Chapel Springs this holiday season - for the sake of her career . . . and his heart?

Under normal circumstances, Seth Murphy, the best friend of Layla O'Reilly's ex-fiance would be the last person she'd marry. But the news of their upcoming (and phony) nuptials convinces a big client that Layla may be high-society enough to work for his agency, a coup that would put her fledgling home-staging business on the map. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, even when she was dating his best friend. Maybe she'll never forgive him for the way he hurt her back then, but he has to try. And Layla is willing to keep up their engagement farce until she's landed her client. For Layla, it's the chance to save her career. But for Seth, it's his last chance to win her heart.

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{More About the Author}

Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, and her husband Kevin says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

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Look out for the next novellas coming out in the "A Year of Weddings" novella collection. There are some pretty awesome authors included in the collaboration.

A Writer's Review of “Barefoot Summer" by Denise Hunter

{Dawn's Review}

Denise Hunter is another author I love to love. She has the incredible ability to get inside her characters so deeply! And her plots! Oh my! I oftentimes need to sit down and prepare myself to read her books because I know my emotions will be put through the ringer by the time I’m finished with it! 

The blurb below isn’t lying when it says “the chemistry between them (Madison and Beckett) is electrifying”! This story between them is compelling. Rich. Everything I ask for in a book.

Denise Hunter books are the kind I’m quite frankly addicted to... and cannot find enough of. Sure, there are plenty of books out there—more than ever since now anyone with the internet can publish their work on Amazon. But I can’t help but notice that there just aren’t many of those that have the ability to win my affections as much as tried and true authors who have made it in the ever-changing traditional publishing world in the last ten years.

If you want to be swept off your feet and have your heart tumbled around in your chest because of the words in front of you, look up Denise Hunter’s books. Every single one of them.

I received a complimentary paperback version of Denise Hunter’s Barefoot Summer by Thomas Nelson publishers in order to give a review containing my honest opinion. 

I give Barefoot Summer 5 Stars.

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{More About Barefoot Summer}

Madison’s heart has been closed for years. But one summer can change everything.

In the years since her twin brother’s drowning, Madison McKinley has struggled to put it behind her. Despite the support of her close-knit family and her gratifying job as a veterinarian in their riverside town, the loss still haunts her.

To find closure, Madison sets out to fulfill her brother’s dream of winning the town’s annual regatta. But first she has to learn to sail, and fast.

Beckett O’Reilly knows Madison is out of his league, but someone neglected to tell his heart. Now she needs his help—and he’ll give it, because he owes her far more than she’ll ever know.

Madison will do anything—even work with the infamous Beckett O’Reilly—to reach her goal. And as much as she’d like to deny it, the chemistry between them is electrifying. As summer wanes, her feelings for him grow and a fledgling faith takes root in her heart.

But Beckett harbors a secret that will test the limits of their new love. Can their romance survive summer’s challenges? And will achieving her brother’s dream give Madison the peace she desperately seeks?

Purchase a copy here.

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{More About Denise Hunter}

Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, and her husband Kevin says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

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Denise Hunter is celebrating her new Chapel Springs Romance series with a Summer Fun Giveaway. The first book, Barefoot Summer, is already a favorite with readers. “Hold-your-breath romance, heartache, and laugh-out-loud moments. It’s more than a good read. It’s a delight.” -- Lisa
 
Summer: it’s all about sunny skies, star-gazing, swimming, spending time with loved ones, and living as if a small part of the weight of the world has been lifted off your shoulders.

Get ready for some serious summer fun with Denise’s 12-Day Summer Sun giveaway. From June 10-21, keep your computer near as you head to the lake or your friend’s barbecue because Denise will be giving away a summer essential each day!

My Top 12 Reads of 2012

Well, I did it.  

My goal was to read 48 books this year, and I have. There were a few in there I might have given up on before ACTUALLY finishing, but I did try. Here is a list of my Top Twelve  Reads for the year 2012.  

(They are listed in the order I read them with a link to my review)

 

The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter

(Contemporary Romance, Thomas Nelson) 

I loved the love-hate tension Denise Hunter created between the two main characters of this book. I really didn't know which side I was on concerning the hurts they both caused one another in the past.

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The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
(Regency Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Julie Klassen always amazes me with her fleshed out characters and flawless plots.
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My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade
(Contemporary Romance, Bethany House)

This book came out of nowhere and totally blew me (and all of my friends!) away. I'd never heard of Becky Wade before last spring, but I sure am going to keep my eye on her books in the future!

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Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Karen Witemeyer is another author I can always count on for true-to-life characters and plots that make me sigh all the way to her satisfying endings.
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The Messenger by Siri Mitchell
(Revolutionary Historical Romance, First Person, Bethany House)

Hannah Sunderland and Jeremiah Jones were, quite possibly, my favorite couple of the year. Which is funny, because the story is about so much more than them falling in love. I blame the fact that it was written from both of their perspectives in first person.
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Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan 
by Melanie Dobson
(Historical Romance, Summerside Press

Melanie Dobson was another new author for me. I loved the suspense in this book, even if part of it was not having the hero and heroine meet until close to the middle of the book.   

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The Rose of Winslow Street by Elizabeth Camden
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Atmosphere. Dark and gothic. And real.

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Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

I blazed through this book so fast, I wished it was twice as long! Actually, I wish any of Jody Hedlund's books were twice as long.

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A Love Surrendered by Julie Lessman
(1920's Historical Romance, Revell)

AMAZING wrap up for the O'Connor Family. I think Steven was my favorite of them all... but that might only because his was the last book. I think that every time I read any of Julie's books. 

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Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
(1920's Historical Romance, First Person, Bethany House)

This was such a touching story written from first person perspective about a young woman finding her true place in the world.   

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Against The Tide by Elizabeth Camden
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Translating foreign codes for the Navy, bringing down drug rings, and going undercover at a secluded, palatial mansion. Oh, and Alexander Banebridge. Lydia Pallas's heart never had a chance. 
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The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
(Regency Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Oh, how I love a good, sigh-worthy Regency! And this one had it all! A Country House, masters and servants--and everyone in between, the sea-weathered cliffs and bluffs off of the coast of Cornwall, and a brooding hero who saves the heroine from certain death! (yes, I love the melodramatic...)
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I hope you enjoyed my list and will look these titles up in the coming months! I'd love to hear what you thought of them!
  

A Writer's Review of “The Trouble With Cowboys" by Denise Hunter

{My Review}

Well, I read The Trouble with Cowboys in less than two days. Actually, it was more like I devoured it. And I knew it would end up with my doing so. Denise Hunter’s writing always does that to me. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will be ALL IN once I start one of her books. 

The Trouble with Cowboys is the third book in her latest series called Big Sky Romance. I’ve had the fortune to read and review each of these books as they’ve come out in the last year or so. I’m not one to necessarily pick up a contemporary romance in the first place—as historical romance is more my addiction—so it’s something to say that Denise Hunter’s stellar writing and story-telling makes me turn from the norm time and time again. 

The Trouble with Cowboys was a ride and a half. I adored the main characters, the minor characters and their subplots. I loved how everything is so intricately related, and how the reader is able to draw some important conclusions along the way from the strategically placed hints throughout the book. But holy cow, it doesn’t matter what or how many conclusions you might gather as you read, your jaw is still dropped when you discover the truth. And that is why I LOVE Denise Hunter’s books! 

Life is messy, and she has a way of taking the messy lives of her characters, revealing God’s truth to them, pointing them in the right direction and then giving them the deepest desires and dreams of their hearts—the one’s they didn’t think they’d ever deserve.

I was given a paperback copy of this book by Thomas Nelson in order to read and give my honest review. I give Denise Hunter’s The Trouble with Cowboys 5 Stars. 

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{About The Trouble with Cowboys}

Only one pair of boots—and the cowboy wearing them—can get Annie out of the mess she’s in.

Annie Wilkerson is Moose Creek’s premiere horse trainer and equine columnist for Montana Living. Money is tight as she tries to put her kid-sister through college and provide for her young nephew. When Annie’s column is cancelled, she’s given first shot at a new lovelorn column—and she can’t afford to turn it down. Only problem is . . . Annie’s never been in love.

Always resourceful, she reluctantly strikes a deal with the town’s smooth-talking ladies’ man Dylan Taylor: She’ll work with his ailing horse, Braveheart, if he’ll help her answer the reader letters.

Working closely with Dylan is harder than Annie imagined, and she quickly realizes she may have misjudged him. But her unwavering conviction that cowboys are nothing but trouble has kept her heart safe for years. And she can’t risk getting hurt now.

The more Annie tries to control things, the more they fall apart. Her feelings are spinning out of control, and her sister’s antics are making life increasingly more difficult. Annie knows she needs to turn the reins over to God, but surrender has never come easily.

When Dylan reveals his feelings for her, Annie doesn’t know what to trust—her head or her heart. The trouble with this cowboy is that he might just be exactly what she needs. 

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{Meet Denise Hunter}

Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, and her husband Kevin says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

Find out more about Denise at http://www.denisehunterbooks.com/ 

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A Writer's Review of “The Accidental Bride" by Denise Hunter

My favorite books are always ones in which the characters go through struggles to get their happy endings. Well, not really just struggles... but intense, heart-breaking, emotional pain. And this is why I am addicted to Denise Hunter’s writing. 

Her book The Accidental Bride was excellent. I was so exited to see that it was about Shay Brandenberger, a character from Denise Hunter’s first book in the Big Sky Romances series, A Cowboy’s Touch. She was referred to in the first book as a brokenhearted single-mom who was unable to get over her first love, Travis McCoy, who’d left her at the altar fourteen years ago.

Denise Hunter weaves an amazing story between these two—a story that had my heart hurting for both of them continually throughout the book. But don’t think it’s a downer of a book—it certainly is not. It is a book about a deep, undying love between seemingly star-crossed soul-mates. It’s about a love that wins in the end despite Shay and Travis’ very real fears and apprehensions caused by their past experiences—a love that wins despite everything standing in its way.  

This book is part of Denise Hunter’s Big Sky Romances series, but can also be read on its own or even in reverse order. 

NetGalley (with permission from Thomas Nelson Publishing) supplied me with an electronic version of this book as an Advanced Reader’s Edition (which means it was an uncorrected proof and not the final interior of the novel) in return for my honest opinion of the book. I give The Accidental Bride 5 stars. 

If I had this book in paper form I would pass it around to everyone I know and insist that they read it.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Accidental Bride right now, click here.

A Writer's Review of “A Cowboy's Touch" by Denise Hunter

I went to the American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference last September. The main reason I did this was because my friends from church who'd read the rough draft of the book I'd written insisted that I needed to find out what other writers and people in the book industry thought of my voice, idea and writing in general. They all raved about these things themselves—but they were my friends. They were supposed to.

Well, even though I was scared to death—I went. And not only did I receive all the confirmation that my friends thought I would, but I also saw just about all of my favorite authors there. Julie Lessman, Julie Klassen, Ruth Axtell Morren, Tamera Alexander, Colleen Coble… and Denise Hunter.

Of course, I didn’t go up and speak to ANY of them. Didn’t have my picture taken with ANY of them. Hardly wanted to look like I noticed they were there at all. I don’t know why I’m like this—I just am. I regret it now—especially when I see Casey Herringshaw’s endless fan photos on her blog—though I still don’t know if that will change my behavior at the conference next year… Seriously, even if Gerard Butler was standing in front of me—I would completely ignore his existence.

Well, speaking of Gerard Butler… let me get to what this post is supposed to be all about. I think he would be a rather good fit for what the rodeo cowboy in Denise Hunter’s A Cowboy’s Touch would look like… and do to a girl on the inside—except with a Texas accent instead of a Scottish one.

Denise Hunter is pretty much the only contemporary romance author that I read. I write historical romance myself, so I usually try to completely inundate myself with books that are similar to what I want to produce. But I just cannot stop reading Denise Hunter’s books! Who knows maybe this fascination I have with her talent will even spur me on to write my own contemporary romance someday. I’ve already started thinking more about writing a Regency romance too—thanks to Jamie Carie!

A Cowboy’s Touch. I get why this is the name of the book—and I know which specific (amazing) scene it comes from too. But really, the title and the cover are the only things I didn’t like about this book. In my opinion, the content of the book went much deeper than the title and cover portrayed to any would-be reader.


But again, and with great skill, Denise Hunter brings her antagonist (journalist, Abigail Jones) and her protagonist (ex-rodeo cowboy, J.W. Ryan) together while they each struggle through their emotional and spiritual bondage that threatens to keep them apart. I almost expected more complexities—but that is probably because of my recent ventures into two of Denise Hunter’s other books, Surrender Bay and Driftwood Lane.

I give A Cowboy’s Touch 4 stars.

 I'm reading Denise Hunter's second book in this "Big Sky Romance" series (The Accidental Bride) right now (on my new Kindle!!! Yay!!!). I'm about 68% of the way through it and am LOVING it so far!!!

   

A Writer's Review of “Surrender Bay" by Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter's books are blowing me away one book at a time. First I read A Convenient Groom years ago. I loved it, but I have always been more into historical fiction, so regrettably, I did not look the rest of her books up.

Regrettably, being the key word.

A while back I was chatting online with a few fellow writer friends from ACFW. The topic was my use of a prologue instead of flashbacks in the book I am writing. In this discussion, my friend Sheri Salatin mentioned Denise Hunter's use of flashbacks was amazing. So, I went straight to the library and borrowed her book, Driftwood Lane... Which I loved and reviewed on this blog in June.

The last book I read was her book called Surrender Bay. I have to admit, I started it in June and it took me a while to finish... which was the first clue that I loved it. I had to put it down just to dwell on what the characters were going through. Such turmoil! Such conflictions! Such love! And such an ending!

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you... It's a love story about the past, present and future of Samantha Owens and Landon Reed. It has tension, passion and mystery. With every page, you find out more about the reasons Samantha is bound up so tight.

Then it all comes out. Your jaw drops. You might even scream - or at the very least gasp. You put the book down, "It's over. The love story is over. He won't love her now. Not now."

But then you pick the book back up... Believing.

He must. He must!

And that's all I'm going to say.

Except for that even with all the reading I've done in the last few years, I just haven't come across many books using flashbacks in a way that seemed completely natural... Until now. I don't remember there being any in A Convenient Groom, but they are a fundamental part of both Surrender Bay and Driftwood Lane.

Thank you, Denise Hunter, for using your God-given talent to create such amazing books. And thank you for showing me, by example, how the use of flashbacks can enhance a story.

I borrowed this book from my local Allen County Public Library. I give it 5 STARS and will consider it one of my favorite books for the rest of my life.

Dawn

A Writer's Review of “Driftwood Lane" by Denise Hunter

I don’t usually read much Contemporary Christian fiction. But that might change now that I’ve come across Denise Hunter’s books. I read The Convenient Groom a few years ago – and I loved it. But because I write Christian Historical Fiction, that is usually what I end up trying to read. I should actually expound on this... as I have come to the realization that there are two very distinct kinds of Christian Historical Fiction. I like deeply emotional and complex characters in a plot that is both believable and makes sense. 

With that said, now I can tell you – I LOVED Denise Hunter’s book Driftwood Lane. Her characters jump off the page... her plots are both complex and believable, and her style of writing is perfect. I even just messaged her on facebook a while ago thanking her for putting so much time into her writing. I liked the over-all experience of reading her book THAT much.

The book Driftwood Lane is about Meridith Ward – a young woman who has perfect control of her life. The perfect job focused on keeping order and maintaining obedience... the perfect house... and the perfectly emotionally-detached fiancé. What more could she ask for? 

Enter a few circumstances beyond her control and we have a character that has no idea what to do with herself. Ah, my favorite kind. Now, if you must know more about the book, I will tell you a little… but I hate rehashing through all the ins and outs of a book in a review. I want you to go read the book and find out for yourself!

Meridith pretty much doesn’t have a choice but to fly from her home in Saint Louis, Missouri all the way to Nantucket, Massachusetts to provide guardianship for her estranged father’s three other children, who have just been orphaned. Upon arriving, her only goals are to have the Bed and Breakfast the children live in repaired and up to code so she can sell it… and wait for the children’s irresponsible uncle to return to relinquish guardianship to him.

Only he never shows up, never emails and never calls. Does he even know his sister was dead and that the children needed him?  The more she learns to love the children – she comes to the realization that she doesn’t want their Uncle Jay to have guardianship. What kind of life would they have being raised by such a vagabond?

Meridith’s life takes some drastic turns while living in Nantucket with the children, helping them grieve their parents and fixing up the house. And oh, did I forget to mention Jake Walker, the hot guy who is fixing up the house for her?  He has quite an important role in how the story goes… and also in how enjoyable the story reads.

I borrowed this book from the Fort Wayne/Allen County Library and am happy to give it 5 STARS.

Dawn