Review: Amanda's Beau by Shirley Raye Redmond


Amanda's BeauAmanda's Beau
by Shirley Raye Redmond
Christian Historical Romance
Kindle Edition, 221 Pages
October 21st 2013 by Astraea Press                  

Summary

The year is 1905. It is autumn in the village of Aztec in New Mexico territory. Amanda Dale is burdened with the responsibility of caring for her widowed sister—an invalid----and Ella’s two children—one a premature infant. But Amanda wants a husband and children of her own and despairs that God does not care about her plight. Schoolteacher Gil Gladney is handsome, intelligent, and God-fearing. He is drawn to Amanda, but feels he cannot propose marriage until he is able to purchase the ranch he has been saving for.

When Gil and his pupils discover the relics of an ancient culture among the ruins outside the village, Gil contacts an old college friend. The possibility of an archaeologist excavation excites the community of cash-strapped farmers, eager to earn extra money working on the site.

Gil is delighted when Nate Phillips comes to Aztec to take up the challenge. When a rabid skunk reels through the excavation site, threatening the lives of Amanda and her nephew Rex, Gil realizes that life is short and the possibility of true happiness can be fleeting. In the end, Amanda learns to trust God to provide the happily-ever-after ending she’s been praying for.

 

My Review

Amanda has always cared for others. First it was her ailing mother, then her father, and now her sister and premature niece. She's pretty much given up on ever finding a life of her own with a husband and kids to care for. She doesn't really know what she could have done differently in the past. There was a need and her heart wouldn't have let her do anything other than help. I loved that Amanda is caring and through that caring and her hardships, she has become strong. She definitely deserved her own happily-ever-after. It just might not have ever happened. Then entered two men that Amanda could possibly find love with.

I loved Gil from the beginning (besides the fact that he has Gilbert's nickname from Anne of Green Gables, which pretty much wins me over right there, and he's a teacher). he was kind, intelligent, humble, handsome, and wise (for the most part). He treated Amanda with utmost respect and tried to keep his attraction held in just in case she didn't feel the same towards him. I liked that he was passionate about teaching at the school. Nate, on the other hand, is very flashy. He's a lady's man and Amanda had a tough time not being flattered when she wasn't sure if he was being sincere.

I really enjoyed the historical setting. The ruins and archaeological digging was an interesting facet of the story. They live in a small town and I enjoyed the side characters that mixed things up a little. I especially loved Amanda's nephew, Rex, who played a large role and added some humor and heart to the story. I enjoyed that this was an inspirational romance, but it wasn't preachy at all. It just felt like that was how these characters would act and the things they would say under the circumstances. This would definitely work in the general historical romance genre as well because of that.

I do wish that the story would have started from the time Amanda arrives in town. I would have liked a scene from her and Gil meeting for the first time. I think it would have driven the story more in that way.

I would recommend Amanda's Beau to Christian and General Historical Romance readers and, really, to anyone who is looking for a sweet and heartfelt story.

Content: Clean
Source: I would like to thank the author, Shirley Raye Redmond, for my review copy, which did not affect my review in any way.


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36 comments

  1. Great cover!

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  2. Wow you have a great list of ARCs there, I wish you well in your challenge! I can't wait to see what you think about most of these. I want to read a lot of them as well. :)

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  3. I am so excited for you that you got to meet so many great authors, that is just awesome!!
    Great giveaway, thanks for it!!

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  4. I love a good historical every now and then and I will keep this one in mind, it sounds like my kind of read. :)


    Have a nice weekend Tressa!

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  5. Laurie Larsen5/2/14, 11:54 AM

    Tressa, thanks so much for helping get the word out today about my brand new book!
    Laurie

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  6. You do so many fun things Tressa :)! Thanks for the giveaway :)

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  7. I think I am just going to declare myself the winner...does that work...hehehe! Thanks for the giveaway

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  8. HOLY COW! That's a lot of books. You really are superwoman. I must up my game. I get anxious if I have more than 5 review books...hehehehe! Obviously I am not worthy of such awesomeness :)

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  9. I love the cover. The excerpt was awesome. Thanks for sharing :)

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  10. This sounds so good. Great review :)

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  11. I loved Anne of Green Gables too Tressa, and Gil made me think of Gilbert :) This sounds quite good and I love the setting and time period!

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  12. looking forward to reading your reviews.I really want to know what you think of Fair Play.

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  13. Awesome and fun giveaway! The cover for Rebel Belle is amazing and it's one I've been wanting to read. I've wanted to read Hex Hall for a while now, too.

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  14. Lol! Too bad it doesn't work that way. ;)

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  15. You're welcome, Laurie! It sounds really great! I'd love a review copy, if you still need reviewers.

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  16. Thanks! It was really sweet. Just a comfortable, relaxing read.

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  17. I think Gil was my first book crush. How could I resist? ;)

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  18. It was so much fun!!! I'm looking forward to meeting a couple more this month.

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  19. Sure. These were really fun, but sometimes you never know. It helps that I am only 5 minutes from the book store too.

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  20. I loved Hex Hall! I'm almost finished with Rebel Belle and so far I'm really enjoying it.

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  21. This one looks great! I love historical romances. They are some of my favorites :)

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  22. I have to say, the cover is adorable. This sounds like a great book!

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  23. SOOOOOO many books! I wish you luck on your challenge! It looks like you have some great novels ahead of you!

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  24. I got to meet Soman Chainani at a book signing when the first book in the series came out. If you want a real treat you should listen to the audiobooks narrated by Polly Lee...amazing.

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  25. F "Jun" Ismarianto5/13/14, 8:02 AM

    simple cover that my girl friend will be like :))

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  26. It was a nice and sweet story and I really liked the characters.

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  27. I've gotten to the ones I have to get to so far, but I really want to get some of these others read too. Hopefully soon!

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  28. 5 is a great number! That's definitely manageable. I'm kind of at the unmanageable stage... ;)

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  29. I'm sure I'll love Fair Play since I pretty much love all her books, but I'll know soon.

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  30. I'll have to check them out. They are basically written to be narrated since he's planning on a movie.

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  31. I'll be reviewing it in the next couple of months, so I hope it is. :)

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