Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Claiming Mariah by Pam Hillman

Welcome to my stop for Litfuse's tour for Claiming Mariah by Pam Hillman!
You can check out my 4-star review below along with all the giveaway info, but first about the book...

Claiming MariahClaiming Mariah
by Pam Hillman
Christian Historical Romance
January 17th 2014 by Tyndale House Publishers

Summary

After her father’s death, Mariah Malone sends a letter that will forever alter the lives of her family. When Slade Donovan, strong willed and eager for vengeance, shows up on her front porch, Mariah is not ready to hear his truths: her father’s farm, the only home she’s ever known, was bought with stolen gold. With Slade ready to collect his father’s rightful claim and force Mariah and her family out on the streets, Mariah must turn to God for guidance. Though Mr. Frederick Cooper, a local landowner, promises to answer her financial woes if she agrees to be his bride, Mariah finds herself drawn instead to the angry young man demanding her home.

With the ranch now under Slade’s careful eye, he unearths more than he ever imagined as a devious plot of thievery, betrayal, and murder threatens the well-being of the ranch, endangering those who hold it dear. As the days dwindle until the rest of the Donovan clan arrives at the Lazy M ranch, Mariah and Slade must rise above the resentment of their fathers and see their true feelings before greed changes their futures forever.

You can read the first chapter here.

   


My Review

This book starts off in a heartbreaking way. Mariah loses her only home and her family's ranch to a stranger, Slade Donnovan, whose deceased father was cheated by Mariah's deceased father. She is supporting her aging grandmother and younger sister and has nowhere to go. Slade wants to be hardhearted about the whole affair. After all the land is rightfully his and he's looking forward to finally being able to provide for his mother and two sisters. Both Slade and Mariah are thrown together by convenience and necessity for a few weeks while Slade waits for his family to come. Neither expect much from each other, especially any kind of friendship or love.

I just love reading books set in this time period! Love the rugged, hardworking, honest (mostly, except for the villains) men and the hardworking and gentile women. I love the courtesy, the tipping of hats, the handing down from wagons, the "ma'am's" and "mister's." I love that life was so much simpler in so many ways, but also harder. I think it makes the sweet moments sweeter. This is the setting in Claiming Mariah. We're in Wyoming in the late 1800's. I felt like the author did a fabulous job with her research. Everything seemed realistic, from the clothing, language, preacher and church meetings, gatherings, social calls, etc. It was nice to step into that time period and feel immersed in the story.

Mariah was a feisty little thing, but also sweet, hardworking, and loyal. I loved how tenderhearted she was with those around her, both people and animals. She is also very strong in her faith. Slade is quite rugged, handsome, hardworking, determined, and a gentleman. He tries to appear aloof and hard, but really he has such a soft heart. He has a rough background and doesn't trust in God. It was fun to see how these two characters interacted, their initial impressions, and then how those impressions and their relationship changed. What was also great was how much the other characters added to the story. I loved Mariah's grandmother, Slade's brother Buck, and little Jim. There were a few decent villains as well.

The message of this story was clear: trusting in God and forgiveness. There were some inspirational parts that were borderline preachy to me, but nothing that didn't work. The message was a good one and I could see how important it was in these characters' lives.

I would recommend Claiming Mariah to those who enjoy Christian Romance or Historical Romance. This was a very enjoyable read!

Content: Clean

Source: I want to thank LitFuse Publicity Group and the publisher, Tyndale House Publishers, for my free review copy, which did not affect my opinion in any way.


About the Author
Pam Hillman
Pam Hillman was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove the Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of!



Tour-Wide Giveaway

Click on the image to take you to Pam's website where she's hosting the giveaway. 

PHpromo

18 comments

  1. I love all those things too which is also why I love this time period and those set in the 19th century as well when men knew how to treat woman like ladies.


    Great review!

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  2. I love the period and premise, despite the preachy parts I think I would adore this, thanks Tressa :)

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  3. Definitely. I love that the men were mostly all hard working too.

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  4. I do agree that books with a preachy message work less for me than ones where the message works seamlessly into the story. This one does sound good though!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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  5. Lol! It definitely happens. Overall, I am amazed I don't feel burned out right now because I was trying to read all those books to judge and now the deadline has passed and I have all these other books to read that I've put on hold, but I am loving what I'm reading and the interviews and tours and posts... :)

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  6. This one almost made me tired, but honestly, it's a fun week ahead. I'm going to see Rachel Hawkins tomorrow night at Changing Hands. Have you read any of hers?

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  7. I'm glad you love it, Jaime! I do do it for me because I love books and authors and challenging myself through blogging (it's the only thing I really do just for me, not for the kids or the husband or anyone else), but I also do it for my followers. It wouldn't be worth it without you guys! And thank you. I tried to separate that a little in the beginning, but it is who I am and it affects how I perceive books sometimes and I don't think there is anything wrong with that - just as it would be for anyone else with whatever their background is.

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  8. It was good, but yes, I like it when it's just natural - a part of their lives and who they are and not in any kind of preachy way. This one wasn't over the top though. It was just present in a few places, if you know what I mean.

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  9. Busy days, plenty books shared, that's good ! Have a great reading week ;)

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  10. I have not. Thanks for introducing her to me ;). Enjoy! I hope you have a great time :)

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  11. That's awesome Tressa! :)

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  12. My Faith has a lot of bearing on my ultimate feelings towards books, and everything else in my life. I am proud that I know Jesus, and it makes me proud to see others who aren't afraid to shout it from the blog tops! I genuinely love it, more than I can begin to explain

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  13. Lol! Love your enthusiasm! :)

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  14. :) Thank you, Tressa!

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  15. I love books set in this time period also! The cover is great and this book sounds amazing! Thanks for the review.

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  16. It was really good! I'd definitely recommend it.

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I love comments! I try to read and reply to them all. Feel free to agree or disagree and generally share your thoughts with me.