Book Review: Redeeming Lilly (Mail Order Brides of Hickory Stick Book 6) - Patricia PacJac Carroll
Synopsis:
Lilly kept her eyes forward, her chin up, and her heart encased in stone as the 'good' sheriff led her to the train station. She'd been run out of more saloons and towns than she had fingers to count. Didn't matter. She'd find another town. Another saloon. Another chance. She glanced at the shining sun and hoped the next town would be different.
A Christian Novella
**Lilly wasn't looking for love. Then Love found her. See what happens when a saloon girl comes to Hickory Stick and finds redemption.
My Thoughts:
This book is not a typical “sweet historical romance”. It is more of an inspirational book.
Like the previous books in the series, Lilly goes to Hickory Stick looking for a new life and hoping to find companionship and love. Throughout the story there are hints of Lilly and Hank hitting it off and sparks between them. Lilly even puts her life on the line for Hank. You see the painful past of the doctor’s past and get some history on his background which leads to him leaning to booze to get through the day.
The downside to this book is that there was no romance between Lilly and Hank or any man. The book was an inspirational book that talked of Lilly finding God and wanting to tell everybody about it. The author could have spun the book with the romance between Hank and Lilly and having Lilly influence Hank about God. The story does not end this way at all. This was very disappointing as each book in the series has focused on a couple getting their happily ever after. I feel this book does not really fit in with the series in the “romance” aspect. The author did make a note in the back of the book that the book was romance due to the love that Lilly found with the Lord. I don’t feel that makes it a romance.
In addition to no romance, I found the theatrics of Lilly unrealistic. New Christians typically are excited and want to tell others about God however I felt that it was overly exaggerated in the way Lilly acted and the things that she did. At first I liked her character and thought she would bring some nice change to the town and maybe help Hank get through his past demons however as the story went on I found her to be unreal and the story seemed to take a turn.
I think the book would have been much better if Lilly ended up with Hank, as was suggested throughout the whole book, while she found God and helped Hank get back right with God. It would have kept the story on point with the other books in the series and taught a lesson of God’s love and presented how a new believer wants to spread the word and tell everyone they know about the new found peace.
Even with not liking how this story was written, I can’t wait to read more from this author and see what happens with the rest of the Hickory Stick characters. Hopefully we can find out what happens with Hank and the doctor as they deserve their happily ever after.