Summer Moon

By: Jill Marie Landis

Narrated by: Kathy Garver

The tender tale of a woman without choices who risks everything for one last chance at happiness.

"Rancher Seeking Wife" - for Kate Whittington, the modest words in a newspaper ad are the answer to her desperate prayers. Daughter of a dockside harlot and raised in a bleak orphanage, she has no prospects in the unforgiving Maine village of her birth. Correspondence from the lonely Texas widower looking for a mail order bride sparks tempting dreams of a house, a family and a future in a land filled with possibilities.

Kate arrives at the magnificent Lone Star Ranch eager to meet her new husband. Instead she is greeted by the news that Reed Benton has been wounded during a raid on a Comanche village and has returned with a prisoner - a wild-looking boy who may be his long lost son. Even more shattering, however, is the fact that Reed has never heard of Kate, never wrote the letters that charmed her soul.

Reed Benton doesn''t want a wife. But he does need someone to look after the boy - a bitter reminder of a past ravaged by lies and betrayal. It will take a miracle to heal these two damaged souls . . . Or the faith of one woman with nothing left to lose but her heart.

©2002 Jill Marie Landis (P)2005 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Enjoyable read - not too sweet

I liked this book ... I confess to enjoying a good mail order bride story but it's difficult to find one that strays from the typical plot sequence along the way to HEA. I knew the direction this one was heading but I wouldn't call it predictable. It wasn't too spicy but it had a couple intimate scenes that were integral to the storyline rather than gratuitous. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a spicy romance and I am not a fan of the 'sweet' and 'inspirational' versions that seem to be overrunning the western historical romance genre that I love. But, I don't really enjoy stories that seem to be structured around a plot that reads like 'insert bedroom scene here'. I've noted in prior reviews my disappointment in some of the inaccurate classifications offered by Audible. I've found a number of historical romances classified as 'contemporary' and now that Audible has their steam factor rating system, I am finding issues there too. I would not call this 'sweet' and I probably would have passed it by entirely were it not for the review of another listener who lamented the existence of scenes that I prefer authors to include.

Summer Moon

Jill Marie Landis is a wonderful author and her story line is so unique. I read a couple of her other books prior to this one and loved them. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the story and the author's writting style I was disapointed in the use of bad language and I felt the description of intimate acts were too explicit. As a christian I felt uncomfortable at certain times and therefore I will not purchase or listen to her other books. I am certain with her talent this author could provide more inspirational stories without the use of offensive details. I would have given this book five stars except for this. I am so disapointed.