Review: The Rancher's Promise by Jillian Hart

The Rancher's Promise
by Jillian Hart

Genre: Inspirational Romance (Contemporary)
Publisher: Harlequin
Cost: $4.40

What I Liked:
I've been on a Love Inspired kick recently and have pretty much enjoyed everything I've read. Or I thought I had, until I read The Rancher's Promise. Because if that's what it is to enjoy a book, then everything else has just been time wasters.

Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic. But this was just such a fantastic book.

I'm always a little skeptical when I see "Recommended Read" stickered on the cover of a book. To me, that means "please buy this", and I'm very uninterested in marketing. But I loved the picture. It reminded me of home. And I've been on an LI kick, so I figured, "why not?"

So thankful I bought this book in the end. By the time I got to the "please subscribe" postcard in the middle, I was in can't-put-this-down mode. And I finished it all right there (but not before stopping to fill out the please-subscribe card, haha). I thought, "if this is the indication of the quality of Love Inspired books now, I need to subscribe immediately." And I did.

The story. Aaah, the story. Well, first of all, Jillian Hart created a superb story here. The characters felt real, they had real things at stake. Their relationship made sense to me, but also the reasons they couldn't be together made a lot of sense. It was very interesting to see two strong Christians in a story together for once, and in a way that wasn't annoying or preachy. I really enjoyed it.

But the best part, by far, was the hero. He was fantastic. He's the kind of guy we all hope is really out there somewhere. A guy with standards, a strong constitution, (a great body, hello, but that's not even really important when the rest of it is there with this guy), a soft heart, and a little bit of woundedness. Oh, boy. This one is a keeper. No library shelf for this one. I'm gonna read this again someday, and I want to have it around to inspire me later.

Book Blurb:
Rancher Justin Granger hasn't seen his high school sweetheart since she rode out of town with his heart. Now, "too good for this small town" Rori Cornell stands on his doorstep, seeking a job as his cook and housekeeper. He can't turn her away, not with the sadness and worry in her cornflower-blue eyes. He'll just have to avoid her between meals. But when Justin discovers that Rori's big dream has always been him, he finds his heart softening. And an old promise yearning to be kept.