CrossReads Short Takes
Love the Lord Your God with all your heart
(The Cooper Family Book 1)
by Anne Perreault
Not everything is as it would seem.
AJ Carter has grown up with a horrible secret to hide. On the outside, her parents are model citizens, outstanding Christians. What goes on behind doors has left her with deep scars, not trusting anyone – especially God. Her only ray of sunlight is time spent with her horse, Midnight. When an opportunity arises to finally move out of her parent’s home and away from the evil, she is more than happy to jump at the opportunity.
Mac Cooper has worked with AJ and is thoroughly impressed with her ability as a horsewoman. He wonders what the shy woman is hiding. In a brilliant move, he offers her a job at his stable as head trainer. It doesn’t take long for him to discover the horror she’s been living with her whole life. Longing to protect her, he hopes to become instrumental in showing her that God is there for her in all things. To do so, he must battle his own demons first.
Will God help him earn her trust? And perhaps her love?
A Christmas Snow for Sadie
Mail-Order Brides’ First Christmas, Book 19
by Janice Cole Hopkins
When Sadie Alexander’s employer dies, she knows she’ll need to leave the household. Mrs. Ludlow’s son had already made improper advances, and now it would be hard to avoid him. Desperate, she sees an ad in a newspaper for a bride, so she mails a hastily written letter and travels to California on a wagon train. Being an orphan, she has no family to turn to. If the offer isn’t still open or the man looks unsuitable, she’ll try to find a job there. However, when she arrives, Mr. Laird is away with his construction business, and his older friend has been left to meet her.
Sawyer Laird couldn’t believe that he finally got a response from his advertisement for a bride after all this time, and it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. He still has construction contracts he needs to fulfill in Placerville, a gold-mining town that was no place for a lady. Well, she would just have to wait a while. He sure hoped she’d be the understanding sort.
Getting off to a rocky start at their first meeting, they both begin to see the other’s point of view, agree to call a truce, and decide to start over. However, Sadie is still leery of this man who puts his business above his potential wife. She’s not sure she wants to live that kind of life