A Tender Hope {A Book Review} #ATenderHope

**Book received for consideration. Post contains affiliate links. All thoughts are 100% my own.

As far as Thea Michener is concerned, it's time for a change. With her husband murdered and her much-anticipated baby stillborn, there is nothing left for her in Ladreville. Having accepted a position as Cimarron Creek's midwife, she has no intention of remarrying and trying for another child. So when a handsome Texas Ranger appears on her doorstep with an abandoned baby, Thea isn't sure her heart can take it.

Ranger Jackson Guthrie isn't concerned only with the baby's welfare. He's been looking for Thea, convinced that her late husband was part of the gang that killed his brother. But it soon becomes clear that the situation is far more complicated than he anticipated--and he'll need Thea's help if he's ever to find the justice he seeks.

Amanda Cabot invites readers back to Cimarron Creek for a tender story of loss, betrayal, and love in the majestic Texas Hill Country.

With both parents avid readers, it's no surprise that Amanda Cabot learned to read at an early age. From there it was only a small step to deciding to become a writer. Of course, deciding and becoming are two different things, as she soon discovered. Fortunately for the world, her first attempts at fiction, which included a play for her fifth grade class entitled "All About Thermometers," were not published, but she did meet her goal of selling a novel by her thirtieth birthday. Since then she's sold more than thirty-five novels under a variety of pseudonyms. When she's not writing, Amanda enjoys sewing, cooking and - of course - reading.

First and foremost, it should be noted that this is book three in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy by Amanda Cabot. While I knew this going in and had NOT read the previous two books in the series, I thought the premise behind this story sounded very interesting, and so I decided to give it a read anyway, knowing that I might need to play a little catch up.However, I found that this book really stood on it's own quite well. I do not know which characters were introduced in the previous books, and the complete backstory given there, but enough information was given that I didn't feel like I was missing anything at all. In fact, had I not known that this were part of a trilogy already, I never would have suspected such. Of course, I DO love reading a series in its entirety so I'd still recommend reading them all, but you really don't HAVE to to enjoy the book.

And enjoy it I did. In the past, I really can't say that I've been much of a fan of historical romance. Recently however, I'm certainly starting to change my mind on that and it's books like this one that are making me do so. It had just the right blend of mystery, drama and romance to keep me turning the pages wondering what would happen next. In fact, I read the whole book in less than a day because I just couldn't put it down. The characters were really captivating and I couldn't help but want to see how their story would come together.

I've also found that I really do enjoy the old-fashioned romance... the innocence is quite refreshing when compared to so many other romances on the shelves today! While I cannot say that historical romance is going to be the FIRST genre I'm going to reach for, but this book and others like it have certainly opened up my eyes to more reading possibilities.

Looking for your next good read, this is another great book to add to your reading list!