–Synopsis–

Naomi Wyatt has finally given up on the man who once promised to love her for the rest of his life—then disappeared after a business trip, never responding to her letters. She’s now alone with a beautiful baby to provide for, a daughter whose red hair reminds her daily of the man she gave her heart to. She has to move on, though, and she did, going west with her sister. When Jonah Coulter asks for her hand in marriage, she knows she would be hard-pressed to find a better father for her sweet child. He’s a Coulter, after all, and he’s proven to be a good friend during her darkest hours.

Eric LaGrange thought he’d lost Naomi forever. But when he finally gets word that she’s in the Montana Territory, he drops everything to go after her…and their daughter? How could Naomi have kept their beautiful child from him? And how could she move on so quickly that she’s already engaged to another man? He loves Naomi so much that he’ll accept whatever choice is best for her, but is that him…or this settled rancher who clearly cares for them? No matter what, he’s determined to know his daughter and become the father he always wanted to be.

With Eric’s sudden appearance, Naomi’s heart is shredded once again. She barely has time to catch her breath before a new threat appears on the horizon. This time she has far more at stake than her heart, and only a Divine hand can turn this disaster for their good.

–Review–

*Trigger Warning* There are talks of a previous event of rape. It does not go into detail, in fact, it is discussed in an appropriate and “Christian” manner if you will. Just be aware if any (if slight) SA talk is a trigger for you.

Being the fourth installment of the Brothers of Sapphire Ranch series, this was unfortunately my least favorite installment so far. The main reasons behind that thought include the tropes that make appearances as well as the lack of romantic buildup that I am accustomed to in the other books.

The tropes that I struggle to get through regardless of the media, is the love triangle one and the “everything was a misunderstanding” one. I dislike love triangles because it seems to be used as a crutch for a main character that has commitment issues, or it is sometimes used as an open door for characters to cheat. The misunderstanding trope can be quite infuriating to read, particularly when you realize the chaos that arises could have been avoided by a simple honest conversation. While this book did not veer into the more toxic or headache-inducing traits, I found myself tense at times due to the preconceived expectations in my head.

The story immediately picks up where the previous book ended: Naomi had written Eric, telling him about Mary Ellen and where they had been staying the last year and a half. Eric had just met the group at the nearest town where he had just landed from the boat. This book begins with the group almost arriving at the Coulter Ranch. It follows the pattern of a dual POV following both Naomi and Eric.

Naomi is the female protagonist this time around. She is Dinah’s sister from the very first book, so it was interesting to see her finally have the spotlight. She comes off as somebody who enjoys motherhood as she is always watching her daughter like a hawk and attending to her every need when they arise. However, she still has her struggles with being a single mom including both religious and practical reasons. These worries cause her to second guess her ability to give her daughter the life she needs. I enjoyed seeing these vulnerable sides to her as they came off as very realistic and genuine, making her very relatable to women who may have found themselves in similar situations. Her relationship with the two male love interests come second to that of her daughter, with God being the only one who trumps even that. Her priority for Mary is what initially spawned Naomi to write Eric to begin with.

Jonah is the Coulter brother who is interested in stepping up for both Naomi and Mary Ellen. His devotion feels less out of love than his awareness that Naomi needs a husband and Mary needs a father figure. At one point, he even admits to Eric that he did not even love Naomi in that way when he first brought up marriage (this is why I do not fully tack on the love triangle trope to this book). This shows both his deep loyalty as well as a bit of recklessness as clearly you should marry mainly out of love. That being said, he still struggles with Naomi’s relationship with Eric, which is understandable. There is a moment of weakness both the men show at the beginning in which they get physical with each other but other than that, he remains passive and understanding of the situation, accepting Naomi’s decisions about the matter.

Eric LaGrange is the missing lover and Mary’s actual father in the story. As soon as he gets Naomi’s letter and learns he is a father, he immediately hops on the first boat he can find and heads out to reach his family. He is understandably flabbergasted at this revelation especially after not hearing from Naomi for over a year. He is very cautious and feels very much like a stranger at first, but he immediately falls in love with Mary and starts slowly stepping into his father role. Knowing about Naomi’s relationship with Jonah led to some tense moments but he keeps his head level for the most part. He follows all the rules set out for him when it comes to him being at the ranch and is willing to travel two hours each and every day to see and visit with his daughter. He is a devoted and loving person who has found himself in a difficult situation that would cause the best of us to run away, but he decides to man-up for the woman he loves and his daughter.

Naomi and Eric’s relationship was where the misunderstanding trope stems from. They both believed the other person did not care about them anymore, due to them never receiving any form of communication after Eric went off to work with his dad after Mary was conceived. As it turns out, they had both written each other multiple times but the letters and telegrams never arrived. This belief the love was gone, led to tension between the two of them at the beginning of the story. When they become aware of that truth, they begin to come to terms with their current feelings for each other. There is another issue that arises in which Naomi should have come clean about a particular character and an event that transpired between them around the time Eric went away. It would have alleviated the overly dramatic scene in the final portion of the story.

The romance felt flat and less exciting to me since Naomi and Jonah never felt romantic with each other and Naomi’s relationship with Eric was already established so I missed the exciting butterflies in the stomach feeling the previous books brought. It felt lackluster comparatively.

All in all, this book felt slower than the previous with the lack of romantic tension and excitement. Some of the decisions felt irrational to me which caused parts to drag on. However, I enjoyed seeing the more dramatic and realistic characteristics of the main protagonists where the previous books felt a bit too much like a fairytale, if that makes sense.

I do plan on reading the fifth book as it follows Jonah once again. Hopefully he is able to find his happy ever after at last.

-About the Author-

Misty M. Beller is a USA Today bestselling author of romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

Raised on a farm and surrounded by family, Misty developed her love for horses, history, and adventure. These days, her husband and children provide fresh adventure every day, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

Misty’s passion is to create inspiring Christian fiction infused with the grandeur of the mountains, writing historical romance that displays God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Sharing her stories with readers is a dream come true for Misty. She writes from her country home in South Carolina and escapes to the mountains any chance she gets.

Learn more at http://www.MistyMBeller.com.