CFBA: Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

Song Stuck on the Brain: Goin' Courtin' from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:  Short-Straw BrideBethany House Publishers (June 1, 2012) by  Karen Witemeyer 

MY TAKE:

I have yet to read a Karen Witemeyer book that didn't crack me up right out loud. Maybe because I identify a little too well with her sweet but independent and sometimes downright headstrong females. They always follow their hearts with the best of intentions. Sometimes that leads them into trouble, but lucky for them it also leads to a big, strong, handsome man that may wan't to strangle them but rescues them instead.

*sigh* Why can't real life be more like fiction?

Short Straw Bride reminded me a lot of my favorite musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The tone and settings were a little reminiscent. The Archers and the Pontaby brothers could have given each other a few tips. :) But the book stands on it's own feet, just like Millie's stew. It was entertaining, romantic and very funny. It also had just the right tone to share a very important message about letting God take control and finding service in loving your neighbor.

Great book, highly recommended.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk.

Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again.

if you would like to read the first chapter of Short-Straw Bride, go HERE.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Karen Witemeyer is a deacon's wife and mother of three who believes the world needs more happily-ever-afters. To that end, she combines her love of bygone eras with her passion for helping women mature in Christ to craft historical romance novels that lift the spirit and nurture the soul.

After growing up in California, Karen moved to Texas to attend Abilene Christian University where she earned bachelor and master's degrees in Psychology. It was also there that she met and married her own Texas hero. He roped her in good, for she has lived in Texas ever since. In fact, she fell so in love with this rugged land of sweeping sunsets and enduring pioneer spirit, that she incorporates it into the pages of her novels, setting her stories in the small towns of a state that burgeoned into greatness in the mid- to late1800s.

Karen is living her dream by writing Christian historical romance novels for Bethany House.