“The Accidental Guardian” by Mary Connealy – Review

Welcome to the blog tour and giveaway for The Accidental Guardian by Mary Connealy, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Accidental Guardian
Series: High Sierra Sweethearts, Book 1 Author: Mary Connealy

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: April 3, 2018
Genre: Historical Romance / Western
+To Read: Goodreads

She’s the Only Witness to a Wagon Train Attack. Keeping Her Safe, Though, Means His World Is about to be Turned Upside Down.

When Trace Riley finds the smoldering ruins of a small wagon train, he recognizes an attack by the same group who left him as sole survivor years ago. Living off the wilderness since then, he’s finally carved out a home and started a herd–while serving as a self-appointed guardian of the trail. He’d hoped the days of driving off dangerous men were over, but the latest attack shows otherwise.

Deborah Harkness saved her younger sister and two toddlers during the attack, and now finds herself at the mercy of her rescuer. Trace becomes an accidental guardian when he offers the only shelter for miles around and agrees to take them in until they can safely continue their journey. His simple bachelor existence never anticipated kids and women in the picture and their arrival is unsettling–yet enticing.

Trace and Deborah find themselves drawing ever closer as they work together to bring justice to the trail and help the group survive the winter–but every day closer to spring means a day closer to leaving the mountains forever.

Mary Connealy’s newest book The Accidental Guardian will keep you guessing as the suspense rises and the action swirls faster than the coming winter blizzards onto Trace’s mountain ranch!  I absolutely loved the way that Connealy introduces the characters in the first chapter.  She starts the action with a bang and keeps it going throughout the whole book!  

Trace and Deborah hit it off, too.  For the most part, I enjoyed their growing relationship, though sometimes it felt a bit too fast and convenient.  Trace, though, was a stellar character.  He reminded me of someone from Blue Lagoon in the best kind of way – his total isolation as a teen and adult had left him a complete innocent in the ways of relationships between adults.  That is the kind of character one doesn’t read about every day, and it made every small interaction between Trace and Deborah extra exciting.

While I’ve enjoyed several of Connealy’s stories in the past and know that she writes Christian fiction, I was pleasantly surprised by the spiritual lessons she built into The Accidental Guardian.  I felt as if many of them came from unexpected sources, and that made them even sweeter.  

I didn’t want to put The Accidental Guardian down.  If you enjoy historical fiction with unusual twists, give The Accidental Guardian a read – you’ll love it!

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The next book in the series, THE RELUCTANT WARRIOR will be released later this year in October, 2018!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Connealy writes “romantic comedies with cowboys” and is celebrated for her fun, zany, action-packed style. She has more than half a million books in print. She is the author of the popular series Wild at Heart, Kincaid Brides, Trouble in Texas, Lassoed in Texas, Sophie’s Daughters, and many other books. Mary lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her very own romantic cowboy hero.
CONNECT WITH MARY: website, facebook, twitter, instagram

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GIVEAWAY

(1) Winner will win:

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For the full tour schedule for more giveaway entries, head to JustRead’s Launch Page HERE (or click on the Tour Banner below).