LONESTAR ANGEL by Colleen Coble

I read on the cover of this book that Colleen Coble is a "master storyteller" and I would wholeheartedly agree. This story grabbed my attention from the very first scene in the book, where Eden is approached by what she thought was her divorced husband of 5 years, Clay, at a restaurant, where she is in the middle of a proposal of marriage by her new boyfriend. She suddenly discovers 1) that her divorse was never finalized and 2) the child they had that had been kidnapped and killed over 5 years ago is really alive!. Quite a way to start a book, and let me tell you, it doesn't slow down much after that.

Eden and Clay set out for Buelbird, Texas to work at a youth ranch and try to figure out which little girl is theirs at the ranch and who has contacted them about their girl being at this ranch.

There are very few books that I have read that I have not been able to figure out the ending fairly quickly, but in this story I was never totally sure of who the "bad guys" were in this story until the very end. There was alot of mystery, intrigue, suspense, and danger in this story. But there was also alot of learning to love and trust going on between Eden and Clay. Eden had to learn that life is hard for everyone and everyone has different challenges. She needed to let those hardships strengthen her faith and to rely on God's grace through her trials. As one of the characters in this story so adequately stated, "We can choose to trust and let His love shine out of us, or we can let bitterness and disappointment steal our joy. It's your choice." Eden had a hard time with the trust issue, something we at one time or another all deal with, which makes her someone we can all relate to.

You will learn to love all the little girls at this ranch and love the way Clay and Eden responded to them all, and the way they learn to respond to each other. I really had a good time reading this story and had a hard time putting it down until I was finished. I want to thank BookSneeze for sending me this Thomas Nelson book to review. This story, as well as the 3 other Lonestar stories in this series, will be well worth the time you take to read them.