Doctor in Petticoats by Mary Connealy

From the back cover:

When nurse Beth McClellan survives a stage coach accident, she soon realizes the derelict traveling alongside her is a doctor, and she forces him to help tend the injured. Alex Buchanan, army deserter, finds he can only care for the patients as long as Beth is right beside him, giving him courage...by yelling at him.

Beth thinks he's a lunatic when he proposes that they marry and work together in her hometown. But there's no denying his skill, and she can see the emotional price Alex pays to help hurting people. Besides, the owes the guy for saving her own sister.

So she agrees to marry him.

And that's when the real trouble begins. A murderous bounty hunter is on Alex's trail. Alex only has to live long enough to turn himself in, and then he may face a firing squad. Not exactly the honeymoon of Beth's dreams.

Alex may find the faith he lost while surrounded by the horrors of war, but will doing the right hing by facing his past cost him his wife...and his life?


My review:

This was my first book by Mary Connealy, and I can say beyond any doubt, it will not be my last. I absolutely could not put Doctor in Petticoats down from the first chapter. It's quite possibly one of the funniest books I've read all year.

Doctor in Petticoats is filled with color characters. The voice that Beth has is just marvelous. I loved her sisters and parents (and have since learned one of Ms. Connealy's earlier books tells the story of Beth's parents, I will definitely be borrowing that one from the library.) I'm looking forward to reading Sally and Mandy's stories as well.

While reading Doctor in Petticoats, I couldn't help but think of how much my stepdad would enjoy a movie version of the book. He loves westerns, and I could clearly imagine his reactions to the last third of the book.

Doctor in Petticoats is a book I highly recommend.

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn

From the back cover:

A husband, a family, a comfortable life: Theodora Lestrange lives in terror of it all.

With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh — and a disappointed suitor — far behind. She is bound for Roumania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence.

She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle's master, Count Andrei Dragulescu.

Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora's imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute — Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway.

Before her sojourn is ended — or her novel completed — Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal...and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire.


My review:

I loved Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia series when I read it this winter. I also enjoyed reading The Dead Travel Fast.

It reminded me a lot of Victoria Holt's novels. Specifically, it reminded me of The Devil on Horseback, which just happens to be my favorite Holt novel.

The book begins with the death of Theodora's grandfather, in the opening pages Theodora's brother-in-law wonders what is to be done with her. That question is answered when she receives a letter from her school friend Cosmina, inviting Theodora to visit her in Transylvania. So Theodora travels from modern western Europe to feudal eastern Europe. She enters a world completely foreign from her own.

The Dead Travel Fast is a very atmospheric novel. I could see the dense woods, and hear the howls of the wolves as I was reading. I could easily visualize the decaying castle at the top of the mountain. It was a wonderful book to escape into.

Hillsong United - Hosanna - With Subtitles/Lyrics

Sunday Worship: Hosanna by Hillsong United

Above you will find a video of one of my favorite worship songs, Hosanna by Hillsong United. It's one we sing often at church, in fact it was our closing song this weekend. Enjoy!