MEN MAKE MISTAKES. GOD WILL FORGIVE THEM. WILL THEIR WOMEN?
Charles McIntyre built the lawless, godless mining town of Defiance practically with his bare hands … and without any remorse for the lives he destroyed along the way. Then a glimpse of true love, both earthly and heavenly, changed him. The question is, how much? Naomi Miller is a beautiful, decent woman. She says she loves McIntyre, … McIntyre, that God does, too, and the past is behind them now. But McIntyre struggles to believe he’s worth saving … worth loving. Unfortunately, the temptations in Defiance only reinforce his doubts.
Billy Page abandoned Hannah Frink when he discovered she was going to have his baby … and now he can’t live with himself. Or without her. Determined to prove his love, he leaves his family and fortune behind and journeys to Defiance. Will Hannah take Billy back or give him what he deserves for the betrayal?
Gritty and realistic, this is the story of real life and real faith in Defiance.
~~ The sequel to the highly acclaimed, best-selling western romance A Lady in Defiance! ~~
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I’ve read five books by Heather Blanton, including the first two in this series, and I think this is, by far, her best book in content and writing style. There are so many things I admired and loved about this book. I admired that she took a difficult segment of America’s history for Christian or secular romantic fiction (cathouses/prostitution in the mining towns that littered the expansion of the West) and drew a credible picture of the hard life of the miners, outlaws, women, and other people who made a desperate choice to make a living and a place for themselves in this Westward Expansion. I appreciated that she wrote a fair, albeit very limited, assessment of the sometimes brutal and vicious conflict between the white man and the native American Indians and the squashing of their culture and lifestyle, as we see in its ending. I loved that she deftly wove three separate romances together with depth and emotion in one book without diminishing any. I also loved that she wrote a leading character with a very dark and carnal past who experienced the redeeming work of Christ and who slowly, deliberately, painfully allowed God to change him from the inside out – no miraculous, overnight change, but a heart change and a woman that compelled him to change. And, finally, I truly appreciated the spiritual depth and tone of the book without being trite, touching on some serious topics of prayer and our Ancient Enemy. An absolutely satisfying read.
4 star
This book wasn’t as good as book 1 in this series but it still was good. It at times had places where I couldn’t keep my mind on the story and she introduced to many ‘new’ characters all at once for my taste but the storyline and the writing was still there and was good. I have been battling fatigue as well so haven’t been able to read it like I usually do. But yes, I would read it again and yes I will continue with book 3. The only reason I didn’t finish this one was I had to return it to our library since I had already gotten one extension on the return date. But this is a very nice ‘clean’ story following several characters through life finding who they are after life threw them a bad hand. You don’t have to read book 1 to understand what is going on in this book; as the author gives you enough back story to understand but yet not so much that you are bored with it (if you’ve already read book 1) Now with that said you would enjoy the emotions involved in this story more if you read book 1 but if it’s not available and this one is don’t let this one get past you
Loved this book!!! I especially love that Charles is continuing to grow and change the longer he walks with God. I like that Naomi, too, is growing and becoming the woman God would have her to be.
Fabulous Story
I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
Beautiful story with historical details portrayed so vividly. I absolutely loved it – it’s an emotional read full of hope, showing the wonder of God’s redemption.
The narration is fabulous – I relived through the story!
I received an audio copy of this book; I was not required to write a favorable review. All opinions in this review are my own.