romance

My Review of CLAIMING HIS HEART by Tanya Hanson

/ Dora Hiers
Claiming His Heart
Purchase Link

About the book: Caught between a noose and a gold mine cave-in, Tulsa Sanderson must do anything within his power to prove his outlaw brother’s innocence…even if it means marrying a gold miner’s daughter he just met. Tulsa needs every nugget and flake he can pull from beautiful Charmlee’s worn-out claim, but he sure doesn’t need a wife! Charlotte Amalie lost her heart, her virtue, and her money to the last disreputable outsider who passed through her peaceful California valley months ago. She has no desire and no choice but to wed the handsome stranger who arrives, bearing a mysterious letter that will change both their lives forever. Charmlee and Tull each have plans of their own. He’s set on raising quick money to save his brother’s life—a secret he isn’t going to share. She’s determined to leave the valley to find a new life for herself and medical treatment for her own brother. Marriage would put an end to the plans they’ve each worked so hard for, but is there a bigger dream for the future ahead that they can’t see? Trusting comes hard for them both, but Charmlee realizes it’s the only way to stake her claim on what’s really important— CLAIMING HIS HEART.

Sharing my thoughts:

“Something warm and soft touched Tull head to toe. Like somebody had dripped honey down his back. This picture of friends helping out when they had tasks and busy days of their own was no mirage at all. After tending Reno for who knew how long, Miz Trudy still remained to help Charmlee even as Zeal expected a large shipment. And Miz Maudie, herself a new bride, had a homestead and husband out at the Pine Tree mine.

Yet, here they were. True community…A fine little town of good folks, this Spiggleville, this out-of-the-way settlement long used up, but not used up at all.”

Claiming His Heart transports you back to the gold rush days in California, to a tight-knit mining community called Spiggleville. Neighborly folks all come together to help each other out when times get tough, and believe me, things get plenty rough in this story. You’ll be drawn in and won’t want to leave!

Tull’s pa named all his kids after places like Tulsa, Bronx, Reno and Charlotte. Yep. You read that correctly. A twist I didn’t see coming, and it’s not what you’re thinking. You’ll have to read the book to figure that one out. 🙂 

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, 
in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”
“Since then, Tull did fear. Never trusted. Never prayed.”
Both Tull and Charmlee reminisce on this verse as the tragedies keep piling up. Hanson does a great job keeping you furiously flipping pages, ramping up the conflict, leaving you wondering if Charm and Tull will ever cast aside their past hurts and finally open up and trust God and each other. Claiming His Heart kept me reading through all the busyness of the Christmas season. It’s the perfect book to curl up with in front of a crackling fire, a sweet romance with enough kindling to warm you more than the fire. But when summer rolls around, it should also be the first book you pack to take to the beach!

Disclaimer: Sending a big thank you to the author, Tanya Hanson, and Prairie Rose Publications for providing me with a review copy of Claiming His Heart. The opinions expressed here are my own, and I received no compensation.

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Relaxing!

/ Dora Hiers
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Sugarplum Homecoming
by Linda Goodnight

Nothing relaxes me more after a stressful day than curling up in front of a glowing fireplace with a great book. Sugarplum Homecoming by Linda Goodnight fit the bill this week. Check it out…


About the book:
Widower Davis Turner doesn’t need to hear his children’s whispered wishes for a new mom to recognize that new neighbor Lana Ross is a beautiful woman. But he worries that his feelings for the former bad girl could put his family at risk for small-town scandal. Lana knows she should steer clear of Davis. Yet she can’t resist spending time with the handsome single dad, even if the truth might soon tear them apart. Though Lana has turned over a new leaf, her secrets have followed her to Whisper Falls. Secrets that could destroy her hope for a future with Davis.


My thoughts:

“The jig was up. She’d prayed to get settled before her tainted past charged in with all guns blazing. Apparently, God, Who’d brought her this far, expected her to face her fears head-on.”

Sugarplum Homecoming features a reformed bad girl, and I enjoyed the twist from the typical bad-boy hero in most inspy’s. Lana has returned to Whisper Falls hoping to give Sydney a stable home, but she worries that the small town won’t let the past stay there. And Davis? Considering his children’s welfare, the single dad’s not all that happy Lana moved into his neighborhood. And he definitely doesn’t welcome the tug of attraction to the beautiful singer, the one that left his small town, hoping to make it big in Nashville. But she’s changed.


“You’re not Lana Ross, the drunk party girl. You’re Lana Ross, child of the Most High, cleansed by a sacrifice far greater than singing in front of hundreds of people.”

Don’t you just love that? You see, Lana suffered from stage fright, believing that the only way she’d been able to sing on stage in front of an audience was after downing a bottle of gin. When an opportunity arises to raise money for a surgery that Davis’s nephew needs, she must decide if God is bigger than her fears.


Sugarplum Homecoming is a fast read, the perfect size to curl up with on a lazy evening after holiday shopping or a stressful day on the job. The plot’s not too complicated, and the gentle message warms you all the way to your tummy. In one word, relaxing. 🙂

Disclaimer: Sending a big thank you to Harlequin Love Inspired and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of Sugarplum Homecoming. The opinions expressed here are my own, and I received no compensation.


What about you? How do you relax during the holidays?
What book have you relaxed with recently?
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Have you read THE HOUSE ON MAIN STREET by Shirlee McCoy?

/ Dora Hiers
The House on Main Street
Purchase Link
Just a heads up that this review isn’t for an inspy romance, even though it was written by Shirlee McCoy, one of my favorite Love Inspired Suspense authors. The House on Main Street is her first contemporary romance with Kensington Books.

About the book~
In Apple Valley, Washington, friends are always near, neighbors have no secrets—even if they’d like to—and long-held wishes have a way of coming true…
Interior designer Tessa McKenzie has built a good life far from her Washington hometown. She intends to get back to it—as soon as she sells the cluttered Victorian house and antiques shop she inherited from her sister, Emily. But leaving Apple Valley a second time won’t be so easy. There’s her grieving nephew, Alex, to consider. And there’s Sheriff Cade Cunningham, the adolescent crush who could easily break her heart again if she let him.
To Cade, Tessa was simply his high school sweetheart’s kid sister. But now there’s no denying she’s a beautiful and caring grown woman, one he’d like to get to know. Except that Tessa is determined to leave again. If Cade wants to change her mind, he’ll have to show her that small-town life has its lovable side—and that he does too. Most of all, he’ll have to convince Tess they’re good together, and that every step has led her right where she was always meant to be…

Sharing my thoughts~
Tessa’s secret crush on Cade led her to bolt for the East Coast when Cade announced he was marrying her sister. Although that marriage never materialized, Tessa stuck it out in Annapolis and created a new life while Cade stayed in Apple Valley and became the sheriff he’d always said he was going to be. Back in town only to clear out the house after her sister’s death, Tessa’s now the guardian of her special needs nephew and a crazy aunt. I liked the quirkiness of all the characters, especially Aunt Gertrude. 

“Perched on a rickety stool a couple of feet away, a cigarette dangling from between her fingers and a Santa hat on her head, she looked like an ancient Christmas elf with an attitude.”


McCoy does a fantastic job creating the setting and small town drama of Apple Valley. I felt as if I trudged beside Tessa and Cade down a snow kissed Main Street. I could hear the hush fall over the tiny chapel as Alex poured out his heart on the piano, and then the sniffles of all the blue-headed ladies. I could even imagine the junky yard that separated Tess from her neighbor’s. Apple Valley seems to grow on Tessa, too.

“People sniffed and sobbed, and Tess was pretty sure someone snapped a photo. No doubt they’d be on the front page of the morning newspaper, but she didn’t mind. In Apple Valley people cared about the little things, the quiet things, the things that were easy to miss if one didn’t look carefully enough.”


Initially, Tessa was angry that her sister had left her another mess to clean up. Tessa worked through the whole range of emotions, from anger to grief, and finally to acceptance of her new family unit. I appreciate how this story prompted me to delve deeper into relationships, specifically within my own family. And why does it take someone dying to make us realize how special they are? To yearn for one more day?

I’m a long-time fan of Shirlee McCoy’s Love Inspired Suspense books, so when I found out she was writing a series for Kensington Books, I was curious about how her writing style would vary. 

I would have enjoyed this book more without the colorful language. I appreciated that it didn’t contain any graphic bedroom scenes and that the “heat” level didn’t require a loss of clothes. Actually, the higher intensity made the characters and the story seem much more realistic to me. 🙂

Overall, if you’re looking for an emotional journey with a satisfying ending, McCoy delivers big time!

Disclaimer: Sending a big thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of The House on Main Street. The opinions expressed here are my own, and I received no compensation.

What heat level do you prefer in your romance reads?
Do you drop a book because of the foul language?

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