Carol Moncado

Sixty Acres and a Bride by Regina Jennings

 

With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to Texas and the family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have only three months to pay. 

Though facing eviction, Rosa can’t keep herself from falling in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. Learning the American customs is not easy, however, and this beautiful young widow can’t help but catch wandering eyes. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, to what lengths will Rosa go to save her future?

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Regina a bit and knew this was a book I wanted to get my hands on. When she asked if I wanted to be an influencer, I jumped on it!

This is an adaptation of the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. Set a few years after the Civil War in Texas, Rosa travels to Texas with her mother-in-law, Louise. Louise and her husband, along with their son, moved to Mexico a decade earlier but with their passing, Louise decided it was time to head home. With nothing to keep her in Mexico, Rosa goes with her, determined to make sure her mother-in-law is well taken care of.

The problem?

The renter of their land abandoned it and the property taxes are several years behind. If they don’t come up with the money in 90 days, they’ll lose it all.

Enter Weston. Nephew of Louisa and a fairly well off rancher, he has heartache in his past, but also the means to pay the taxes. Will he help? And what strings will be attached? Someone else in town has offered his help, but the strings? Well, they’re not ones Rosa wants anything to do with.

I loved this book. I read it in one sitting. I’d had a very rough day following a rough week and needed to escape, just for a bit. This book did that for me. I laughed, I cried, I was immersed in the world Regina created. I loved strong, cowboy Weston. He reminded me to a degree of my favorite hero, Mary Connealy’s Tom Linscott. That, my friends, says quite a lot. I love Tom so much as a character that I stole his last name for a character of my own. Comparing Weston to him says something about Regina’s ability to craft a wonderful character. I can’t say that Weston supplanted ol’ Tom, but he’s up there on my list of favorite 1800s heroes.

I loved Rosa. Her spunk. Her determination to do what she had to do to protect herself, her mother-in-law, her land. I sympathized with her when others looked at her, talked about her behind her back, and tried to take advantage of her and her lack of knowledge about the way things work in America.

I loved the supporting characters. The cast of family and friends surrounding the Garner family were wonderful, especially Eliza and Jake. Wonderful characters, so much so that I wish they had their own book [though it would have to be a prequel as they’re already married… at least in a typical romance fashion, but hey, I’ll take a sequel with them :D]. I should have asked Regina if this is a series because I’m not sure, but I hope she revisits these characters – there are several singletons who would work well as a second and third book.

There was enough of the ‘after’ to make me happy as well. I’m not always crazy about endings where he proposes and they have their first kiss on the last page. They don’t have to go through some big thing together as a couple, but I do like it if we see a bit of the HEA and we get that here.

A couple of things sort of niggled at me as I read, that bugged me just a bit, but even though I finished the book early [very early!] this morning, I already don’t remember what they were specifically so they couldn’t have been that big ;). Nothing that stood out too much.

So, Regina, great job! Now… when’s the next one? 😉

Overall rating: 9.5 out of 10 stars

I was provided with a free influencer copy of the book by the publisher.