Leigh Bale

This was a great viking era tale. Kerstin is a healer but she is known to everyone as the 'Witch of Moere' because she uses herbs. She is betrothed to one she loves but the King commands she marry Jonas, the Beast of Hawkscliffe, to ensure peace between their families so they may fight a common enemy. Though she greatly opposes the marriage she finally agrees. There is a strong attraction between Jonas and Kerstin but they don't trust each other. Kerstin believes he is cruel and wants to see show more her dead and Jonas believes Kerstin poisoned and killed his brother. Slowly but surely they begin to see each other in a different light. Jonas is kind when he could be cruel and Kerstin is helping his people. But there is a traitor in the group. When Kerstin finds out who it is she sets out to warn Jonas. But will she make it in time? and will they ever find peace in their marriage?

The Heart's Warrior was very engaging and kept me reading from start to finish. The characters were very well drawn and seemed natural to the story. I liked both Jonas and Kerstin. Jonas was a hulk of a man yet had a tender heart. Kerstin had fire and grit yet in her heart she really did want peace. There was a mystery concerning who killed Jonas' brother that you don't find out until the end. There is also a spot in the end that sucked the breath out of me. I loved it because it was unexpected. This would not be considered 'Christian Fiction' but it is what I would call "clean with an edge" (with the exception of a few words). show less

Runaway Amish bride, well kind of, but not quite, especially as you quickly turn the pages, and not all is as it appears.
The author touches on some tough subjects here, and we meet them head on with putting faces to how people deal with grief, especially children. One little boy was naughty, but you will chuckle on how this young fellow deals with what he perceives as a threat to his deceased mom. Poor Abby!
We also put a face to abuse, both physical and mental, and how to deal with someone show more that has had that happened to them, all the while wondering how such evil could exist in supposedly Godly people?
Will warn you that once you turn the first page you will not be able to put the book down, it is a real compelling read.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review. show less

I bought this story because I have a soft spot for banged-up soldiers. As a suspense writer, the author holds great promise. During the scenes set in a war zone and, later, when the bad guys come around, I always felt as though I was in Mac's head. His loss of faith, his PTSD, and his guilt over the loss of his friend always felt real. I was less enthralled with Toni. I understood this was a 'christian' romance when I bought it (i.e., no sex) and was in the mood for a little dose of faith, show more but it always felt like Toni was bludgeoning me over the head with it. Faith is meant to be the view from your picture window ... there ... but it's not something you can replicate by repeating 'look at that view' a million times. Toni also obsessed about Mac breaking off their engagement way too much. It really detracted from the story. Show ... not tell. I am giving this 4-stars as a suspense novel, but as a romance it only rates a 2. I'm giving it the higher rating anyways because there's nothing wrong with this book a good edit couldn't fix and ... dang ... the suspense really had me on the edge of my seat a few times! show less

From the title, you can probably guess that this book is about firefighters. For this type of book, it is decently done--and it is a clean romance, which for me is a plus. It's not as well done as some in that I didn't really connect with the characters.

Megan Rocklin is a widow whose husband was killed during a wildfire. She's vowed to never again love someone whose career is in a dangerous profession. I can certainly understand the pain Megan has at losing a husband she loved and in not show more wanting to repeat that if she can avoid it. Thankfully, Megan inherited a diner from her husband's side of the family (I think before the husband died) . In fact, she's the only restaurant in the small town of Minoa.

For this reason, the new forest manager, Jared Marshall, seeks her out to provide food on site for crews brought in to fight forest fires.

Megan's kids, June and Caleb, were the characters who resonated most with me. I could identify with June's standoffish-ness when it came to a new man in her mom's life, but I was also glad to see that she could accept it for the right man. Both kids had the bluntness and honesty of young children which led to some awkward moments in the plot.

But I grew tired of the tired-and-true genre plot device of denying the attraction because of some reason from the past. Megan brings up the "I don't want to marry a firefighter" over and over again both to herself and to others--so much so that I was ready to throw the book at her if I could--I mean it's obvious that they are going to get together by the end--I'm just sorry it took a time of such extreme danger for Megan to realize her true feelings for Jared. show less