Review - The Shadow Catcher's Daughter by Carla Olson Gade

Eliana has secrets. Daring Eliana Van Horn aims to make her mark by joining her father as his photography assistant--disguised as a young man--on a survey expedition to the remote Four Corners.

Living in the shadows of his native heritage, trail guide Yiska Wilcox is thrown off course when the shadow catcher's daughter opens up the uncharted territory of his heart. As they travel through dangerous terrain in the mountains and deserts of Colorado and New Mexico, Eliana and Yiska must learn to overcome the barriers of culture, faith, and ideals to discover common ground.

Though they are worlds apart, will they stake a chance on love?

I got The Shadow Catcher's Daughter by Carla Olson Gade, book 1 in the Love in Four Corners series, when it first debuted... but lost it for a while after I'd started reading it. For a long while. I actually found it just a couple of months ago searching through my mom's house in a pile of books she'd taken off my old shelves and from various corner's of the house. I'm really glad it found its way back to me.

Eliana is the daughter of a photographer. She's accompanying him on a professional trip but she's disguised as a boy, both to keep herself safe and to try and avoid issues with the team. Before leaving on the expedition she meets Yiska. A "halfbreed" who's both a trail guide and a wonderfully poetic writer. They both become enamored with each other immediately.

Along the journey Yiska proves an incredible asset to the team, saving Eli several times and protecting the team from attack on more than one occasion. The trip is not without tragedy though... but along with the tragedy comes hope.

I liked this story. It was WAY too short if you ask me. I wish it had gone on for at least another 100 pages. Yiska was brave and selfless. And as I said before, an incredibly poetic writer. He was a man with dreams that, it seemed, he wasn't sure he'd be able to realize. Until he came across Eliana and her father. Two people who treated him like a human being and not like an animal like it seemed so many others believed him to be.

Eliana was a very determined young woman. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to let the fact that she was female stop her from achieving the goals she'd set for herself. She was also extremely kind and so full of faith. A faith that rubbed off on her trail guide eventually.

Her father was wonderful. He was protective but not overbearing. He was stern but he was kind and he was generous. Not quick to jump to conclusions or to accuse. He let Eliana be who she wanted to be and accepted Yiska almost as a part of the family, trusting him to take care of his daughter should anything happen to him on their journey. Or even after.

There wasn't necessarily one defining moment in this story. A peak, so to speak. It was full of mountains and valleys and action scattered all throughout. I love period pieces, especially set in or around this time. The descriptions of their travels and Yiska's stories and journal writings were absolutely lovely. Due to the characters in this story it was not without the issues of prejudice and finding faith. And as I said before, it was not without its tragedy.

But there was a joy as well. Every cloud has a silver lining right? Yiska was Eliana's every bit as much as she was his. And I thought that ended the book fantastically. I just wish it had been longer. I really do. That is the ONLY bone I have to pick with this story.

If you like period pieces as much as I do then this is a wonderful story to read. If you like Christian fiction (mixed in with some actual history!) then this is the book for you. If you're interested in reading at ALL then I suggest picking it up. It's an easy book to breeze through and it's such a wonderful story. Carla is a fantastic writer (I've also reviewed her novel A Pattern for Romance HERE) and a fantastic person as well and I'm glad that I was able to finally get this story reviewed!

Review - Emily's Chance (The Callahans of Texas #2) by Sharon Gillenwater

Emily Rose may be in the tiny West Texas town of Callahan Crossing for the moment, but it's just a rung on her ladder to success. Her work at the Callahan Crossing historical society will look good on her ever-growing resume as she attempts to break into the prestigious world of a big city museum curator. Little does she know cowboy and contractor Chance Callahan has decided that he can convince her to stay--both with the town and with him. As he helps Emily restore the town's history after a devastating fire, he also helps her uncover her own hidden worth and the value of love.

The second book in THE CALLAHANS OF TEXAS series, Emily's Chance is a heartwarming story of letting love take the lead. Readers will come away wishing they lived in Callahan Crossing.

Emily's Chance by Sharon Gillenwater was a gift given to me by the Easter Bunny this year (thanks mom!). I think I was overdue for a cowboy romance novel. This was a good one.

Much of the town has been ravaged by fire and Emily's trying to figure out what the point in staying is. Since her purpose of vising Callahan Crossing was to help get its small museum off the ground. Chance is hoping to give her a reason to stay, perhaps permanently. He fell in love with her the moment he saw her and it would just break his heart if she left so quickly.

Chance donates a building to the historical society to use for their museum and Emily and Chance's family/friends get on the ball finding donations for the museum since much was lost in the fire. Emily finds that the more time she spends with Chance and the people he loves the more she doesn't want to leave them. Sure, her DREAM job is head curator in a large museum, but what if her dream job comes at the expense of the man she doesn't want to admit she's falling for?

Chance. ::sigh:: Christian. Gallant and chivalrous and kind and gentle and.... I could probably go on and on about him. He's a loving son and a doting uncle. He works hard and does everything he possibly can to help everyone in need. He cares fiercely for his family and is bound and determined to sweep Emily off of her feet and have her join the family.

Emily is lovely and kind and stubborn as an ox. I guess the same could be said about Chance as well... they make a great pair. She's a new-ish Christian with a somewhat questionable past and definitely questionable people as parents. She thinks her life is leading her on one specific path and refuses to believe that maybe her path can change. At first. But she grows to love Callahan Crossing and the people in it. She starts to see them as family, not just a town she's working for. This little country town is a breath of fresh air compared to the big city life she's known before, and she comes to find out that maybe she doesn't really want to go back. The fact that one of the most eligible bachelors is in love with her doesn't hurt her decision making process. But she takes her sweet time realizing she loves him back.

This was a great story. I loved the history of the town and Chance's family. I loved their strong Christian roots and the way everyone was family to them, even out of town yuppies like Emily. I loved that they were all so amazing to each other in spite of struggles that they faced and that the whole community was so close-knit. It was great to see that everyone banded together to rebuild the town after a completely devastating fire that big wigs in the city thought they'd never recover from.

Books like this make me long for small town life like that. Where everyone knows everyone and even if you're different, and sometimes nosey, you're friends. Or at least cordial and able to get along. It makes me long for the country and the fresh air and the kind of community where you have spaghetti dinners and everyone shows up. Or if you need a place to stay no one is uncomfortable offering a couch or a room for as long as you need it. It's the kind of place where you make friends when you're little and they're still friends 30-40 years down the line.

I loved this book. I'd recommend it to anyone. The Easter Bunny definitely did a good job picking this one out for me.