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2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge







Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Well-Balanced Plot Makes LDS Historical Romance A Charmer
7:34 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
After breaking her engagement to her righteous, but utterly predictable, fiancee, 27-year-old Julia Darling knows she needs to get out of the Salt Lake Valley. Longing for adventure, she answers a newspaper ad written by a "desperate rancher" in Wyoming looking for a "chef of mature years" to cook for him and his ranch hands. A graduate of Boston's most renowned cooking school, Julia certainly knows her way around a kitchen. She ignores the "mature years" bit and accepts the position.

Before reading Borrowed Light, a historical romance by Carla Kelly, I'd never heard of the author, let alone read one of her books. Which is a darn shame because, frankly, I loved this one. It's one of those novels that has everything—adventure, mystery, romance, humor, even spirituality. Don't be turned off by that last one because the religious aspect of the story is interwoven so well with everything else that it doesn't come off as didactic or heavy-handed. In fact, it's that balance between all of the different story elements that make Borrowed Light so enchanting, so compelling and so thoroughly enjoyable. It might be a little far-fetched (Would a single LDS woman in 1909 really have been comfortable—not to mention safe—living out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of men? Would her conservative, protective parents really have given her their blessing to do so?), but I don't care, I loved this book. And, believe you me, it won't be the last Kelly novel I read.
(Readalikes: Captive Heart by Michele Paige Holmes; the Sarah Prine novels [These Is My Words; Sarah's Quilt and The Star Garden] by Nancy E. Turner; Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner; and a little like Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson)
Grade: B+
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for scenes of peril and mild sexual innuendo
To the FTC, with love: I received a PDF of Borrowed Light from the generous folks at Bonneville Books (an imprint of Cedar Fort) via the Whitney Awards Committee. Thank you!
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Reading
Murder Off the Books by Tamara Berry

Listening
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country in the World by Sarah Smarsh



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I just went to this authors blog. She sounds feisty....I like that. For some reason my library has the sequel to this book but not the first? Weird. Hoping I can talk them into buying the first one.
ReplyDeleteHi I really like your book reviews, especially the idea of giving them grades. If you have the time could you please take a look at my blog and leave me any feedback in the comments section www.em2109.blogspot.com I also write book reviews so you might even find some new books to read.
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