A Murder Mystery, Best Friends Marry Sisters Christian Historical Cowboy Romance set in Prescott, Arizona Territory in 1893. Deacon Colter was happy in his job as the stockyard vet. But when his best friend asks him to work as a livestock inspector, he must confront his own obsessive-compulsive nature to support his friend. Even though he hopes for a family of his own one day, he believes that no woman will see past his quirks. Will he find a woman who can overlook his behavior to see his true heart? Grady Thatcher has waited six long years for justice for his parents’ murder. When a strange twist of fate puts him in a position to find the killers, he must decide if he will sacrifice his budding romance with one of the Harper sisters to pursue justice. Will he choose love over justice? Lilian and Justine Harper were two sisters who moved to Prescott to escape the abusive men their father tried to pair them with. When Lilian meets Deacon Colter, she wonders if he could ever love someone with her past. Justine falls hard for Grady Thatcher. Yet she doubts if he truly loves her or if he befriended her only to get information about the men who killed his parents. Will Lilian and Justine find true happiness with the men they love?
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I really struggled with how to rate The Resourceful Stockman, so I purposefully broke this review into sections. I don't delight in giving a less-than-perfect review, but here are my thoughts, in all honesty.
Characters: The story featured four viewpoints–Deacon and Lillian as a couple, and Grady and Justine as a couple. Deacon! He was so unconventional, yet in a way that only made him more endearing. He simply couldn't keep himself from rearranging rooms when he was upset. Lillian was the perfect complement to him, and their romance felt genuine.
Grady and Justine–well, not so much. Justine was a flirt, and while Grady was pretty good, he had a couple flaws that didn't settle well with me.
Romance: Too much kissing. Way too much. I love a very clean romance, and I didn't feel clean after reading through all the kissing.
Faith Content: Some, but not much. I would have preferred more.
Plot: The plot moved forward nicely, and I do love a good bring-the-bad-guy-to-justice story. I enjoyed that aspect of the story.
Other Issues: I kept forgetting this was a historical. It had too much of a contemporary flavor to it–and for me, that's a downside.
At one point, a main character got drunk–not on purpose, and at least he was sorry. At another time, another character got drunk on purpose. No repentance after that. It made me uncomfortable, to say the least.
So there you have it, and you can take my thoughts or leave them. I appreciate the work Karen put into this story, even if it's not a book I would personally reread. And others may have a different opinion.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my review, but my thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
Featured Series
2 primary booksColter Sons is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2023 with contributions by Karen Baney.
