The Element of Love by Mary Connealy ~ Book Review

 

About the Book

Book: The Element of Love

Author: Mary Connealy

Series: The Lumber Baron's Daughter, Book 1

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Publisher: Bethany House Publisher

Release Date: March 1, 2022

With their sharp engineering minds, Laura Stiles and her two sisters have been able to deal with their mother's unfortunate choice in husband, until they discover his plans to marry each of them off to his lecherous friends. Now they must run away--far and fast--to find better matches to legally claim their portion of their father's lumber dynasty and seize control from their stepfather.

When Laura befriends a mission group heading to serve the poor in California during their escape, she quickly volunteers herself and her sisters to join their efforts. Despite the settlement being in miserable condition, the sisters are excited by the opportunity to put their skills to good use. Laura also sees potential in Caleb, the local minister, to help with gaining her inheritance. But when secrets buried in Caleb's past and in the land around them come to light, it'll take all the smarts the sisters have to keep trouble at bay.

 My Thoughts 

It has been a while since I had read a Mary Connealy book and I am glad I picked this one up. This is the start of her new series and I thought it started out well. The story centers around three sisters running away at the insistence of their mother to escape their abusive step father. The story is told in multiple point of views as you are getting to know these sisters but I think Ms. Connealy did a great job at keeping things straight and easy to understand. The setting of the story was good as well. I enjoyed the Western setting and the historical parts on the gold rush. 

At times it felt like the story was rushed and it was hard to connect to the characters because there was just so many of them with their own storylines. I also thought more could've been done with the storyline between the mother and stepfather and perhaps it will be in the following books. While this one lacked a bit for me I think it was because it is the first book and she introduced quite a bit in this first book. 

Overall I thought it was a good book and I am looking forward to reading the others on the series and finding out what happens to these sisters. If you enjoy Historical Christian Romance you may just enjoy this new book!

My Rating: 3 Stars/ Liked it

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

About the Author

Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys always with a strong suspense thread. She is a two time Carol Award winner, and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader's Choice finalist.

She is the bestselling author of 65 books and novellas.
Her most recent three book series are: Braced for Love, A Man with a Past and Love on the Range for Bethany House Publishing. She’s also written four other series for Barbour Publishing and many novellas and several stand-alone books for multiple publishers.
Mary will be a published author for ten years in 2017 with nearly a million books in print. She has a degree in broadcast communications with an emphasis in journalism and has worked at her local newspaper.

Find Mary online at:
My Website