Karen Kirst

I picked up this book from the local Y's book exchange shelf with the idea that I'd probably pass it on to a friend whose mother likes these for evening reading after I'd read it. This book is book 2 in the sub-series and I did not read the first book. I would say it is not necessary to read book 1 to read this book, but if you had read book 1, you might better understand the characters.

I have to admit that the Love Inspired Historical line was not my favorite of the Love Inspired line, show more though I will say that the titles in the historical line do seem to delve a bit more into the Christian faith than the ones set in contemporary times, and I do like that.

When I read the first chapter I did not have high hopes for this book. Be assured, it gets better.

WARNING: SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW. READ ON AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

The Thornton family apparently went north during the Civil War and escaped some of the repercussions that the Montgomery Family faced. As a result the parents of the two families passed their animosity about the other family on to their children--what this book deems a feud.

Both the main characters married their late spouses for the wrong reasons and ended up in marriages that made them now doubt their suitability to be a spouse to anyone.

I see another reviewer mentioned that she felt sorry for anyone who'd marry any of the Montgomery brothers. I'm inclined to agree--though I'm hoping that the events in this book start at least one of them rethinking their position(s). show less

Caleb O'Malley witnesses the murder of a friend and is badly wounded in the process. He escapes but the cold and his wound is taking its toll. Rebecca Thurston is alerted by her dog that something is in the woods. When she investigates, she discovers it's Caleb. He was once a close childhood friend but Rebecca blames him for the accident that changed her life. She knows she must help him or he'll die, but she has no idea what helping him will mean to her future. Caleb has been plagued with show more guilt about the accident that changed the lives of his two best friends. Now he has brought trouble to Rebecca once again. Because they have been alone together (except for Rebecca's younger sister) for more than a week while she nursed him back to health, the town is demanding that they marry. Neither one wants to do that but Caleb doesn't want Rebecca or her sister to be the topic of gossip and he wants to somehow make up for the past by taking care of her now. The more time they spend together, the more they realize how much each of them has changed. Have they changed enough to forge out a future together or will they settle for only keeping the terms of their agreement?

Married by Christmas is an excellent story! Karen Kirst really has a remarkable talent for writing a heartwarming story, loaded with lots of romantic tension, lively characters and even some edge-of-your-seat moments. I read the first book in the Smokey Mountain Series (The Reluctant Outlaw) awhile ago and just loved it. When I saw this was up for review, I knew it was a must read. I can only say that I absolutely loved it! Caleb is a tortured hero who is haunted by past mistakes. His kind and gentle ways made him completely swoon-worthy! Rebecca was a woman of great strength and spunk, yet she really had a soft and tender heart. Together they were pure magic! I loved the whole theme of forgiveness and second chances running through the story. We know that the Lord forgives us, but sometimes it's hard for us to let our mistakes go. The verse listed in the beginning of the story was Lamentations 3:22-23 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." That really fits the story well. I also enjoyed the element of danger in the story and thought it was nicely played. The O'Malley's are a great group and I now want to go back and read the ones I missed. Married by Christmas is a story with Christmas in it but can be enjoyed any time of the year. It's one I highly recommend and one I would definitely read again.

*This complimentary copy was provided by Harlequin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *

Series: Love Inspired HistoricalSmoky Mountain Matches
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired (October 7, 2014)
ISBN-10: 0373282834
ISBN-13: 978-0373282838

For more information about this book or other books by this author, I recommend you visit her website at http://www.karenkirst.com/ show less

I am going to have to get the rest of the books in this series, because I like the way this author writes. There is a delightful romance going on in each story, plus a good spiritual lesson that can be learned too.

This story is about Caleb O'Malley who finds himself wounded and passed out in the middle of a snowstorm. Rebecca Thurston will eventually find him and take him to her cabin she shares with her little sister. Caleb and Rebecca were once good friends until an accident that ended show more Rebecca's engagement and destroyed her life (or so she thinks). As Rebecca nurses Caleb back to health they will both find that their reputations are on the line unless they decide to marry. It will make for an interesting marriage as these two fight battles within themselves of forgiveness and letting go of the past.

This series has been great and I look forward to getting the rest in the series and reading them. These stories are keepers. show less

3.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on review site). I found this on the sale shelf at the library and plan to pass it on to a friend whose mother likes these. A friend would probably say this belongs in a sub-genre of Law Enforcement related fiction.

The suspense part is almost non-stop: archery, guns, bombs, car wrecks. (There is a bit of suspension of belief that two people could go through so many events and come out relatively unscathed.)

I usually feel that it's hard for an author show more to do justice to both a romance and suspense in the page count of a Love Inspired Suspense book. The times often get compacted, and I do wonder if the adrenaline of the events plus the infatuation stage of a romance would survive the real world after the events conclude.

In this book, the author attempts to get around that by having the two main characters (Lindsey and Silver) know each other and work together for a year prior to the events of this book. There's a friendship and a respect of each other already in place (though some events in this book affect that). So even without the "come to Jesus" moment where Silver realizes he doesn't want to live without Lindsey, I think if the two of them had continued on with their friendship/working relationship they would have eventually gotten to the same result.

I also like that the author only has them getting engaged at the end of this book rather than having them getting married--though in this case, given the time they'd already known each other, I could have seen them wanting to get married within the following year. show less