The Wilderness Is a Great Place to Hide
Jacqueline Rivers manages a Pony Express station in 1860 Utah territory after her father’s death. There are daily stresses placed on her in this unconventional role—and now a government official is asking her to sniff out counterfeiters. When Elijah Johnson passes through on the stage while on an exhausting quest to find his boss’s heir, he doesn’t want to leave the beguiling station manager. In fact, he may never leave when caught in the crossfire of the territory’s criminal activities. Jackie can’t decide if Elijah is friend or foe. Can she remain strong when secrets of the past and present are finally unearthed?
Join the adventure as the Daughters of the Mayflower series continues with The Express Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse.
My review:
This is the 9th book in this series, but I'll admit this is only the 4th one I have read of the nine. This series involves books by different authors, and no offense intended to the others, but Woodhouse is a favorite author of mine, so of course I'd read hers. I'll also admit when I first saw the title, I thought it was about a woman who got married really fast...express....
And I'll admit my eyes watered at the ending, and a couple of other times during the book.
The book is actually about the Pony Express, something that has always intrigued me and that I enjoy reading about. From what I know of it, Woodhouse did a great job on the setting and on describing the workings of a Pony Express station.
Characters can make or break a story, and this one had plenty to like. There's Jacqueline, running the Pony Express station, cooking, taking care of her 14 year old adopted brother, and overseeing several other teenage boys who are the riders. Elijah is the hero of the story, and is a very likable hero. Michael, the adopted brother is also a great character, and reminded me a bit of Thomas in the Heart of Alaska series.
Then there is Charles Vines, very bad guy turned good, showing God can indeed redeem and save anyone.
The Express Bride had more suspense and mystery in it than the previous books in this series, with a counterfeiting ring going on, which made me like the book even more.
No book of this kind would be complete without the romance. I avoided romance novels for years, except romantic suspense...I could stand it as long as someone was trying to kill someone.....but I actually blame (or credit?) this author with me reading romance again and liking it. In these books, you know the hero and heroine are going to end up together, but it is fun seeing how it happens....and in this book, it happens amid the goings on of the Pony Express station, a counterfeiting ring, and a search for a missing daughter.
Something I appreciate in Woodhouse's books: she usually, maybe always, has the characters focus on some passage of Scripture and brings out some truths about it. She said in an online video about her last release with Tracie Peterson that it is usually something she has been studying herself. In this book, the passage was Daniel, and she did bring out some interesting thoughts about it through her fictional characters, one with a really cool name.......Mark.... :)
Prior to this book, the Patriot Bride was my favorite book in this series. The Express Bride has pushed the Patriot Bride to second place. Woodhouse will have a hard time topping this one if there is more to come from her in this series.
I did enjoy this book a lot, and especially enjoyed reading about the Pony Express. It makes me wish I hadn't sold my Young Rider's DVDs... a show about the Pony Express.
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.
About the author:
Kimberley Woodhouse is the best-selling author of more than twenty books who loves the JOY of story. A lover of history and research, she often gets sucked into the past and then her husband has to lure her out with chocolate. She's spoken to more than 800,000 people at more than 2,000 venues and has taught the craft of writing around the country. Married to the love of her life for twenty-five plus years, she makes her home in Montana. You can connect with Kimberley at: www.kimberleywoodhouse.com www.facebook.com/KimberleyWoodhouseAuthor
The Express Bride, and the rest of the series, is available from Barbour Publishing.
More in the Daughters of the Mayflower series:
The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1620 Atlantic Ocean (February 2018)
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo – set 1725 New Orleans (April 2018)
The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep – set 1760 during the French and Indian War (June 2018)
The Patriot Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1774 Philadelphia (August 2018)
The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear – set 1794 on the Wilderness Road (October 2018)
The Liberty Bride by MaryLu Tyndall – set 1814 Baltimore (December 2018)
The Alamo Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo – set 1836 Texas (February 2019)
The Golden Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1849 San Francisco (April 2019)
The Express Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1860 Utah territory (July 2019)
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