Read how it all started at Three Rivers Ranch in this bonus prequel novel that features Frank Ackerman and Heidi Duffin.Heidi Duffin has been dreaming about opening her own bakery since she was thirteen years old. She scrimped and saved for years to afford baking and pastry school in San Francisco. And now she only has one year left before she’s a certified pastry chef. She’s home for the summer … home for the summer when she goes to Three Rivers with her sister–and meets Frank Ackerman.
Frank’s father has recently retired, and he’s taken over the largest cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle. A horseman through and through, he’s also nearing thirty-one and looking for someone to bring love and joy to a homestead that’s been dominated by men for a decade.
Since the death of his mother, Frank doesn’t feel like Three Rivers Ranch is a home. But when he convinces Heidi to come clean the cowboy cabins, she changes all that. With her culinary skills, she brings the cowboys together in ways Frank can only imagine. She builds what he’s always wanted for the ranch–a family.
But the siren’s call of a bakery is still loud in Heidi’s ears, even if she’s also seeing a future with Frank. Can she rely on her faith in ways she’s never had to before or will their relationship end when summer does?
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This book was my first introduction to Liz Isaacson’s sweet western romances and I’m hooked! It was really fun to read a story set back just a couple decades ago when there were still rotary telephones. It made for an interesting courtship when Heidi and Frank were getting to know each other.
I loved Heidi’s character. She was a bit flighty and unsure of the next steps to take and it made it more believable for Frank to sweep her off her feet. The setting was well-written and it was fun to daydream about what it might be like to live on a working ranch. For Heidi, baking for lots of cowboys turns out to be quite the job and it sets off a chain of events that will change her life.
This is a fun, sweet read and although it is book 8 in the series, I read it first.
This was so beautifully written and such a heartwarming story!! I was completely engrossed in this story. Becky Doughty does a marvelous job bringing the characters to life in her narration.
Story: 5 stars
*I received this audiobook in exchange for my honest review*
I loved Frank and Heidi’s story! It takes place in the 1980’s and the occasional mention of Heidi’s clothes and the fact that everyone had to communicate with wall-phones and letters was a blast from the past!
This is probably my favorite of the books. I’m not sure why, but it was kind of magical. Heidi brought the whole ranch together with her cooking and that made them a family.
Her relationship with her sister is also a sweet touch to the book. I like that both Frank and Heidi rely on prayer to see them through hard times, but also answers as to the path they should take.
Narration: 4.5
Ms Doughty does an excellent job, as always. I do have a hard time telling the difference between her cowboy-accented voice and her non-cowboy-accented voice. But really, she has a wonderful voice and I love listening to her narrate!
*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special
I’ve been meaning to read this series for months and it just kept getting pushed off until I just decided to force it! I knew that there were two entry points to this series, but I’ve always been one for chronological order, so I knew I had to start with this one, even if it was written later. I was not disappointed. I loved the characters and the feel of being back just a tad in time. I’m super pumped to see the connections in the series. I started my journey with Isaacson with reading the Seven Sons series, which spins off from this one. I do wish I had read this series first, but if it hadn’t been for the other, I may never have discovered Isaacson. All this to say that I love this author and these Christian cowboys finding love and forever.
Believing
Heidi is home for the summer, goes with her sister to a dance at Three Rivers to meet Maggie’s new beau. Little did she know she would meet Frank, get a summer job and fall in love.
You won’t regret your purchase
“The First Lady of Three Rivers Ranch” is the eighth novel in this series and is a wonderful story of home time goes backward and we read about the love story that began everything! Frank and Heidi have a story that stands strong through the ages, and I am so happy that Ms. Isaacson decided to go back and provide us with this wonderful tale.
I love Liz Isaacson, her novels are truly wonderful! It is hard to find an author who can distinguish between a Christian Romance Novel and a Contemporary Romance Novel, but Ms. Isaacson does it and she does it well! I highly recommend every novel that I have read, and I hope that every novel I plan to read in the future is of the same quality!
I would just like to say that there is over 10 books in this series, and I am not normally a fan of series that run this long (unless they really hold your attention); however, Mrs. Isaacson grabs your attention with the multiple characters throughout the many novels and manages to keep them all tied together without having to repeat herself a multitude of times throughout each story. Wonderful job, if you enjoy one, you will enjoy all of them.
This was a good little read…
Sweet. An easy read.
Great writer, great story, will stand the test of time.