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Pages: 64
Goes Well With: tuna casserole and a nice hot coffee
There’s an intriguing history between Jessica and Carson in the opening scene of Mary Manners’s Lost in Lone Creek. It’s based on long and deep affection, but something happened in the past to tear them apart. Now Jessica’s back on the ranch—high heels, designer sunglasses, and all. And Carson, warning her not to let his favorite horse escape, just wishes she’d stayed away.
Beautiful scenery weaves its magic, as does a timeless way of life and a love for horses. Pitch-perfect dialogue is built into evocative descriptions of Lone Creek Ranch and the lonely hearts that live there. And the past is slowly revealed with timing as powerful to the reader as to the characters.
There are no cardboard cut-out feelings or people here—not even when the Bible appears. But there are real problems with real solutions, as well as lives whose rising gives meaning to the depths where they previously fell. Faith is nicely woven into the tale, the touch of love as gentle as the touch of God, and Bible quotes are kept to a well-chosen minimum—enough to welcome and intrigue the reader without making it seem like a test.
The first book in a new series, Lost in Lone Creek introduces pleasing characters with just enough side characters on the edge of the tale to invite the reader back. What about the brother who never lives up to responsibility, or the one in the army? What about the woman and child? There’s fuel for plenty more stories here, and the author’s well-balanced writing invites this reader back. Lone Creek has more to offer, and this e-book had more to offer me than I expected.
No, the world doesn’t have to fall apart just because everything’s broken. Sometimes, that last straw has to hit the camel’s back before healing starts. And, sometimes, a good book can tell the tale over lunch.
