Book one in the collection. I was easily hooked at the beginning of the book. Told in first person switching characters as it goes, a great group of Christian people. What I like in a wagon train story, it makes you feel like you're on the journey with them going from Tennessee to Texas. They'd been swindled on their collective land and farm in Tennessee so they headed to Texas for the free land there that you could get for homesteading it. Interesting journey and it's nice that you get to see them arrive and get settled as things fall into place.

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#GoneToTexas #NetGalley #CarylMcAdoo #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #BooksGoSocial #ChristianHistoricalFiction #FiveStarHistorical ( )

Gone to Texas Author: Caryl McAdoo Genre: Historical Romance Release date: September 6, 2018 Can beauty truly come from ashes? Deception drives seventeen souls to hard choices. Either stay on the land they thought they’d bought or heed the lure of free land in the faraway wilderness of a new Republic. Rife with peril and hardship, three families knit together by blood and friendship head out with a widowed man, daughter, and his slave, gambling everything they own on the prospect of land ownership and working it together. Does friendship pave a way to marriage? Can puppy-love survive through a harrowing journey to blossom into a forever lover? With duress at every turn, can the clan stay together all the way to Texas and accomplish their goals?





My Thoughts:


This is an interesting story about a homesteading for seventeen people to find new land. As with many who ventured out on these journeys there were many hardships, but some blessings. It took courage and trust to make these treks.


I believe that Caryl McAdoo has caught all this in her newest novel "Gone to Texas". In this story, you find a lot of hard work, some deception, love and one close-knit clan of people.


This is a story of trust, of forgiveness and love. We learn that we must trust God's timing in everything, as we see with Alicia and Flynn. Alicia learns that forgiveness and mercy goes a long way in friendship. This was a good story with many good issues covered.



I do believe that readers will enjoy Caryl McAdoo's newest series.

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I believe that this is my favorite book by Caryl McAdoo that I have read. This one has a great flow to the story and I love the characters. I love the adults and the children. I love the storylines that are there for each family. I look forward to the next book in the series and more of Caryl’s books. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will. ( )

Book One in the Thanksgiving Books & Blessings Collection is a story so powerfully written, I felt swept back to the late 1800s and joined in the journey as if I was part of the story. I loved the story and how vivid the details were. What stuck in my mind as I read the story was how much it reminded me of my granddad. He traveled by covered wagon in the 1800s to homestead his land in Oklahoma. Much like the people in the story, he had many obstacles to overcome along the way.

I think in those days everyone wanted a place to call their own. I can see how easy it was for the families to trust someone only to find that they had been cheated out of land they worked hard on. Day after day they worked the cotton fields and were exhausted at night. They didn't have fancy machines to pick for them and I could feel their aches and pain as they picked the cotton by hand. It was a shock to learn that three families working side by side would soon lose all they had worked for due to a mean spirited greedy man. It made me so angry to read how he had swindled them. What I really liked was how they all came together to make decisions. I could feel the excitement as they decided that Texas was their new destination.

The story is well written and depicts the old west beautifully. Riding in wagons for long periods of time was hard and miserable. Can you image what it was like in a wagon with the sun beaming down on you as you trudge along on terrain that was rough? I was so impressed with the way the author told the story of these seventeen people and how much faith they had in God providing them a new place to settle. A lot of the story at the beginning features Alicia. She has her heart set on marrying Flynn. She sure does pester him a lot about becoming husband and wife. At times she got on my nerves because she almost seemed selfish. What I came to realize was this young girl so much wanted to be loved and her heart was hurting to be loved by Flynn. There are some good talks between Flynn and Alicia's father that really showed how much Flynn respected Alicia. Will they get married before they reach Texas?

Another character I really liked was Gabby. She was the outcast at times and seemed to have a somewhat shady past. Gabby wanted to have a best friend but Alicia didn't really trust her. I loved the theme in the story about trust and forgiveness. Several characters have secrets and feel ashamed. Gabby is one of those who has been hurt in the past, and done some things that she can't forgive herself for. Alicia has a chance to forgive Gabby for something, but will she give her mercy or turn her back on her?

As I read the story I could see the struggles the families endured and how easy it was to become jealous of another. They experience loss that will affect everyone as they travel to Texas. It is a realistic account of how the settlers find their new home and the trials they encountered along the way. Except surprises, mistrust, doubt and a story rich in faith. There is a part in the story that had me crying as I witnessed miracles and redemption. I have always loved the authors gifted way of writing that captures the characters deep emotions. This is one story you won't be able to put down. Be sure and grab a copy and get ready for an adventure on the open range with characters that will feel like family at the end of the story.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion. ( )

“The truth would be the right answer of course. But the truth... it was so hard.” This could have been the statement of any of the half-dozen or so of the travelers whose lives we see in Caryl McAdoo’s Gone to Texas novel.

Having been sold land in Tennessee by a shyster, a close-knit group of three families decides to reject the idea of sharecropping and head for the wide-open, cheap land of Texas. What starts out as a party atmosphere of friends and relatives becomes a journey of growth and change for many of the group.

While the immediate focus is the young love between Alicia and Flynn, we are treated to see other, more mature loves, as well as familial loves and friendship, loves. Trust has to be both earned and given, and characters are shown both in their best light and at their worst. Forgiveness and mercy are huge themes replayed many times. How sweet it is to see them displayed, especially with certain people we might say don’t deserve those kindnesses. The gospel is clearly laid out.

I liked the support and pride especially one character showed in her loved one’s dreams and plans. I think that kind of support glorifies God and enables the spouse to do great things.

I found the novel hard to enter into at first because the colloquialism was so thick and used without a break for a while. As I kept reading, this improved, and I was able to better enjoy the book. At one other point, there were numerous typos to the point I had to reread sentences and put in my own pronouns to make sense of what was really happening.

Bottom line: I enjoyed this book and will recommend it to others. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and Celebrate Lit. This in no way affects my opinions and I was not required to leave a positive review. ( )