Ride Your Stallion Into the Barren Desert and Flush Your Cheeks With Passion's Warmth
Written: Mar 20 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Enjoy breathtaking scenery, unique love stories, edge-of-your-seat suspense and inspiring faith.
Cons: Not for foes of Christian romance filled with characters of strong faith.
The Bottom Line: Desert beauty, strong, unique characters, love, suspense and longing make this book a must-read for fans of Christian romance.
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| sandyfl's Full Review: Nancy J. Farrier - Tucson: Sonoran Sunrise |
If you’ve read some of my latest reviews, you know me to be a total romance novel fanatic. I especially love Christian romance novels that fan the fires of both my passionate soul and my faith, with inspirational and uplifting stories. I got all that and more with “Tucson,” Nancy L. Farrier’s offering to Barbour Publishing’s 4-in-one romance novella series. Each book features four stories that are interconnected with characters that are somehow related or associated to each other and often (as in this book), common locations as well. Thus far, I’ve read five of these books, and although I’ve thoroughly enjoyed four of the five, I’d rate this one at the top of them. Nancy L. Farrier’s unbelievable creativity, refreshingly unique characters and her talent for timing romantic scenes perfectly make her work unquestionably worthy of a few hours of your time. Nancy also shows mastery in the skill of changing points of view and making smells and sensations an integral part of all her romantic scenes. If you decide to plunge into the dry, sandy warmth of the 476 pages of “Tucson,” the stories outlined below will take you for a whirlwind ride.
Jostling and bumping in a wagon train along a sandy, dusty path to Camp MacDowell, Arizona Territory, you’ll arrive at the first page and find yourself transported back to the 1870’s for the first story, “Sonoran Sunrise.” Enter the Captain’s office with a fiery redhead, Glorianna Wilton, a somewhat spoiled Bostonian girl on the threshold of womanhood. As she rants and raves at her father, Captain Richard Wilton, about her need to return to Boston before someone else snags the boy she wants to marry, from the corner of the room a handsome young lieutenant, Conlon Sullivan, enjoys the lovely view. From the beginning, Conlon is certain that Glory is the answer to his oft-voiced prayer for a wife. Glory, still with her cap set for the adventurous, dashing Kendrick Hanford, has other plans for her life. But even when Conlon’s morning glory blue eyes, black hair and tanned face, not to mention his undeniable charm and his knack for rescuing her from certain danger begin to win her heart, Glorianna must work to overcome a scheming blonde bombshell and her mother, along with a dangerous sexual predator. The company blacksmith, Josiah Washington, and the married next door neighbor, Fayth Holwell, were some of my favorite supporting characters in this book; Josiah for his faith and humor, and Fayth for her insight and strength. Want to hear the best part? This story’s great, but in my opinion is also the least creative of the four. They only get better from here.
Kathleen O’Connor, Glorianna’s cousin from back east, arrives on a stagecoach at the beginning of the second story, “Sonoran Star.” Quinn Kirby, Tucson’s dashing young deputy, is watching and waiting when she arrives. He’s on the prowl for the Widow, a criminal who’s been preying on many well-to-do gentlemen all across the nation. Kathleen’s black veil and black riding habit arouse Quinn’s suspicions, and soon he’s hauling her down the dusty street, ready to toss the bewildered Kathleen into jail. A bit of miscalculated struggle sends her hat and veil into the dirt, giving Quinn his first glimpse of Kathleen’s magnificent hazel eyes and the star-shaped birthmark on her cheek. All her life, Kathleen has been hidden, believing her mark to be a disgrace and embarrassment to her family. Her trip to visit her cousin in Arizona (Glorianna now lives in Tucson) was meant to be solely for the chances to escape Kathleen’s oppressive mother and to help Glory with her soon-due baby. But Quinn has other plans. Between the secrets of Quinn’s past and family, his lack of faith in God, the threat of a dangerous criminal who still remains at large, and Kathleen’s fear of unmasking herself, plus her determination to remain single, this couple has plenty of things standing between them and eternal bliss. I found that Kathleen’s damaged psyche, Quinn’s deceptions and Kathleen’s continual attempts to set Quinn up with other women, added even more to the already unique nature of this fascinating tale. As far as faith goes, this story contains the salvation message and some deeper challenges as well.
One of my favorite characters from the first story returns for the third one, “Sonoran Sweetheart.” Josiah Washington has moved from Camp MacDowell and set up his own blacksmith smithy in Tucson. While slinging his heavy hammer with his enormous, muscled, ebony arms, Josiah prays that if God means for him to marry, He’ll show him who his future wife will be. Enter Lavette Johnson, a former slave girl who, a few years after the Civil War, still finds herself in a form of bondage. Instant attraction to Josiah and a blood-chilling meeting with a detestable man who shows up at the smithy right after she does, send Lavette hurrying for home with heels flying. Long ago, Lavette gave up on ever having a family of her own, and her bitterness toward God along with nightmares from a haunted past fill Lavette with a deep, painful aching that Josiah is all too eager and able to ease. But holding Lavette and Josiah apart are their differences in faith, Lavette’s feelings of unworthiness, and a conniving scoundrel named Bertrand Mead, who’s bent on using Lavette’s heavenly singing voice and rare beauty to profit his irreputable business establishment. Conlon, Glorianna, Quinn and Kathleen add their familiar personas to this inspiring, unique and passionate story. The author builds the tension between characters skillfully and uses temptation, desire and longing to make each scene sweeter and fuller, with all of the elements of a great romance and none of the smut that cheapens the love stories in many secular romantic fiction works.
Close to the end of the third story, the hero of the final one, “Sonoran Secret,” is introduced briefly. At the beginning of “Sonoran Secret,” Eduardo Villegas is preparing to settle a debt with the long-time thorn in his side and next-door neighbor, Diego Garcia. The lonely Eduardo has agreed to marry Diego’s eldest daughter, Teresa, as a settlement of Diego’s tremendous debt to him. But a bit of deception on Diego’s part pairs Eduardo with Fealdad Garcia, a tiny wisp of a thing whose beautiful face is, at first, hidden beneath a huge tangled mass of dark hair, and who comes to Eduardo with the tattered, ragged clothes on her back as her only possession. Eduardo’s expansive horse ranch and loyal employees, along with the new horse that is his pride and joy, are enough to keep him more than occupied, but Eduardo is determined to make the best of the situation, and tries to get acquainted with his new bride. Soon, it becomes apparent to Eduardo that Fealdad (whose name means “ugliness,” which prompts Eduardo to rename her “Chiquita,” which means “tiny”) is not only unable to speak, but also is nearly incapable of trust, due to a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her parents and sisters. To make matters worse, Chiquita cannot read or write, so her only means of communication is body language. Eduardo, drawing on strength from his relationship with God, does his best to teach Chiquita about kindness and trust, as well as how to read and write, but his fiery temper and an unseen attacker who keeps trying to kill her make the difficulty of his missions increase greatly. Thankfully, we get a chance to see things from Chiquita’s perspective as well, which is both a frightening and enlightening experience. All of the characters from the first three stories either show up or are at least mentioned in this one, lending their familiar warmth to an already thrilling tale. I guarantee you this is different from what you’ve read before, and you’ll be caught up in the suspense as well as the passion of the story, should you indulge in the pleasure of reading it.
Whether you delight most in witnessing glorious desert sunrises with Glory and Conlon, whirling around a dance floor with Kathleen and Quinn, blending your voice with Lavette’s soprano and Josiah’s bass in soul-lifting hymns or swimming in a cold spring with Chiquita and Eduardo, if your forte is Christian romance and you enjoy rugged southwestern charm, you’ll find “Tucson” irresistible.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sandyfl
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Member: Valetta
Location: Sheldon, MO USA
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Truck driver's wife, full-time mom, part-time librarian, Christian, aspiring novelist, missionary kid.
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