My Review of High Desert Haven

Here's a description of the book from the author's website:

"Is Jason Jordan really who he says he is?

Everything in Nicki’s life depends on the answer.
 
Oregon Territory, 1887

When her husband dies in a mysterious riding accident, Nicki Trent is left with a toddler and a rundown ranch. Determined to bring her ranch back from the brink of death, Nicki hires handsome Jason Jordan to help. But when William, her neighbor, starts pressing for her hand in marriage, the bank calls in a loan she didn’t even know about, bullets start flying, and a burlap dummy with a knife in its chest shows up on her doorstep, Nicki wonders if this ranch is worth all the trouble.

To make matters worse, terrible things keep happening to her neighbors. When her friend’s homestead is burned to the ground and William lays the blame at Jason’s feet, Nicki wonders how well she knows her new hand…and her own heart.

A desperate need. Malicious adversaries. Enticing love.
Step into a day when outlaws ran free, the land was wild, and guns blazed at the drop of a hat.

Read an excerpt of High Desert Haven."

My Rating

Spring

My Review

For a well-rounded Christian historical romance novel, High Desert Haven has it all: a caring and cared-for heroine, a charming and God-fearing hero, great secondary characters, and a rather well-paced plot. The elements that really shine are those secondary characters and the plot riddled with tension and dilemmas.

Nicki is a bit typical in her feisty damsel-in-distress role. Jason helps her find the gumption to keep persevering through her ranch's endless problems, and ultimately she does an adequate job at holding the reader's sympathy, although she does lack a certain something to make her stand out and inspire the reader.

Jason really does fit the bill as a great cowboy-hero. He respects and loves his family, takes on tasks wholeheartedly, never ceases to try to save the day for Nicki, and is man enough to work off the land and still play with a little boy. He's quite likeable, although he does seem to be portrayed as too perfect in some ways.

The emphasis on the secondary characters admittedly came across as a hindrance for me initially. After all, this is Nicki and Jason's story, right? And I can be impatient when there are distractions from the budding romance! But the quirks and mannerisms and heart of those secondary characters won me over, perhaps even more so than Nicki and Jason for the most part. Even one of the villains quite intrigued me with his disastrous marriage.

It is evident that High Desert Haven is only one book in a series, because characters from a previous novel (Rocky Mountain Oasis), as well as characters promised to star in their own future books, share the spotlight on occasion in this installment. But the story stands on its own. Some of the attitudes and words of the characters come across as more "modern" at times, and the faith element is kind of forceful. Still, High Desert Haven is a story that holds one's interest and contains a cast of interesting characters.

*With thanks to the author for providing me with an e-copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.*