I was sent this to review from Tell Harlequin. I tried to read it but I am not really a person who enjoys Christian Fiction. I read the first half and skimmed the last. The story line was just average. I pretty much knew exactly what was going to happen. There was nothing new and surprising.

At the very beginning of the book the heroine is lost in a snow storm with her 2 month old baby. She is praying for God to help her and thinks she will do anything to save the baby yet when a man looms up in the storm, she tries to run from him. Really? You just said you'd do anything. You're stranded on the prairie in a blizzard and you run from help? Not likely. I'd take the help and worry later. The man might or might not hurt you, the storm will definitely kill you. That's just poor writing/plotting.

Then at the end, she goes to admit her sin of having sex before marriage to the whole church because that's the 'right' way to do things. That's the sort of thing that makes me not like general Christian fiction. I would never have read past the praying on the first page if I hadn't needed to read it for review. ( )

Not at all the typical Harlequin novel. This is from their Inspirational/Historical line, no between the sheets scenes at all. My only qualm with the book was the transformation in one of the characters seemed to be rushed & should have been handled differently. Other than that I loved this book, I cried at least once, possibly twice, and couldn't put it down. ( )

I got the book from Harlequin's We Hear You survey site. Well - it ended better than it began. First, this is a "Christian romance" - which apparently means that at every setback the characters talk about praying. It does get better later on - they think for themselves, drawing on Bible verses and their understanding of God to help them decide what to do, which is far more accurate as well as less off-putting to non-Christians. But in the beginning, the heroine seems to constantly be looking for a man to solve all her problems - and when no human male is available, she whines to God. Not to mention that if she really thinks that Wayne will welcome her and Joshua, she must have (being polite here) led a very _sheltered_ life... Unfortunately, to my eyes, the first few chapters of the story cater to a lot of the poor stereotypes of Christians - she's visibly stupid, has made a bunch of bad choices, and expects God to solve all her problems; meanwhile, all the characters talk constantly about God - evangelism by beating the reader over the head. I am a Christian, and if I'd picked this up in a store and read the first chapter or so I would not have gotten it. As I said above, it does get better; by the end of the story I really liked Billy and Vivian was quite decent. The obstacles were strong and reasonable, not arbitrary, the solution was similarly not arbitrary, and it really worked - but it did take those several chapters to develop from simplistic morality tale to a good story. One oddity that persisted - every once in a while a character would use archaic - Biblical - phrasing for no reason I could see - "She knew not what to do." Very odd. ( )

My opinion: I received this book the other day because I signed up for tellharlequin.com. I got this in the mail and though "Hmmm...it's a historical, but it actually sounds pretty good". And it was! We first meet Vivian Halliday who is stuck out in a snowstorm with nowhere else to go, her 2 month old baby in her arms. Luckily, Billy Black happens to come along and get her to the safety of his cabin. She is fearful at first; she remembered him from her childhood, and while she was always nice to him, everyone was afraid of him and his mother. Everyone thinks the mother is crazy (she was kidnapped by Indians and held for six years). She soon comes to decide that Billy won't ever hurt her, but she remains afraid of his mom, who keeps insisting that she go away; after being abducted, she can't handle being around strangers. Vivian soon decides the best thing to do would be to find her son, Joshua's, father (Wayne) and marry him, which would have been the proper thing to do in the 1800s. Wayne is the son of one of the most influential men in the town, so she knows she and her baby will be well cared for. Billy takes her into town, but they learn that Wayne has left town for an undetermined amount of time. She has no choice but to return to Billy's house, despite his mother's protests. As time goes on though, Vivian can't help but fall for Billy's gentle demeanor; he is kind, caring, and thinks the world of her son. She finds that she loves Billy, but the proper thing to do would be to marry Wayne. Will she do what's right for her son and still manage to be happy?

I liked the characters in this book. Vivian had been through a lot, being stuck in an orphanage after her parents died. Then she had a baby with Wayne, who she thought loved her. She had no idea how to care for a new baby, but she knew she couldn't live without him, and that shows a lot of courage. It was obvious she would do whatever she had to for her son. Billy was great, he welcomed her with open arms and instantly bonded with her son. Even though is mother protested, he refused to cast Vivian away since she was in need. And then later he wouldn't because he loved her. The mother was definitely getting on my last nerve after awhile; I get that she was taken by Indians and I can't even imagine how traumatic that would be, to be away from your family for 6 years and everything that happened to her. But wow, she did act a bit crazy, yelling all of the time and about having panic attacks any time Vivian came close to her. Her actions do make a bit more sense later on in the book, especially her extreme reactions when Joshua would cry. It was a very heartwarming-book, and I actually teared up at one point. The only thing that lost me quite a few times were all of the religious references and Bible passages. I am not religious myself; I am not opposed to those that are, and I don't mind when characters mention God or anything like that. But it inhabited a LOT of this book, which made it a little tough for me to read at some points. However, the story line was good and I was really able to connect with the characters. You could see their relationship progress and how much they cared about each other.

My rating: 4/5 stars ( )