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23 November 2011

Diana's Corner - Book Review Bandit's Hope by Marcia Gruver




Bandit's Hope 
by Marcia Gruver 
(Backwoods Brides-Book Two)


Review by Diana Flowers

5 stars~*****

Historical Fiction At Its Finest!

Marcia Gruver has crafted another masterpiece of a book in Bandit's Hope; a tale of love, forgiveness, greed, and deceit in 19th century Mississippi  Mariah Bell is a beautiful half Choctaw woman, and owner and proprietess of Bell's Inn, a place that she has promised her deceased mother to never give up. In keeping that promise, Mariah becomes a harborer of a very dark secret, that if revealed, threatens her very relationship with those she loves. Tiller McRae lands on the doorstep of Bell's Inn in need of shelter for a few days, and Mariah hires him as a handyman to perform long overdue repairs on the inn.

Tiller, a product of an unjust childhood, ran away from home ten years ago with his friend, Nate, and ends up in more trouble than he can handle; a life of an outlaw and a swindler, but a life that he is tired of and willing to give up for the beautiful Mariah. But if she finds out his secret, will she have him?...especially when two very handsome Choctaw Indian braves, and a childhood friend are all vying for Mariah's hand as well. And when a severely injured Otis Gooch is brought to the inn to be nursed back to health, what secret does he hold, that terrifies Tiller to the core, should the elderly man ever regain his memory and reveal it? And who steals Mariah away and why, and will the men reach her before it is too late?

I absolutely loved this tale, with its wonderful characters, twists and turns, and page turning excitement! Marcia Gruver is a master storyteller, who laces her novels with rich Southern humor (I loved Otis Gooch!) to offset the dark times her characters face. With a strong spiritual thread of love and forgiveness throughout, this book is a must read! Although Raider's Heart is the first book in the Backwoods Brides Series, Ms. Gruver does a good job of recapping so that it may be read as a stand alone, although I highly recommend them both. Nicely done!

This book was sent to me by Barbour Publishing and I was not required to write a positive review. My opinions are my own.


Giveaway:  Marcia is generously giving away a copy of Raider's Heart this week.  We at Overcoming Through Time - With God's Help are also doing a giveaway of beaded jewelry made by Carrie - a backwoods woman herself, although not a backwoods bride!  Leave a comment and your email address to enter for both giveaways.  

27 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Your Book sounds awesome and I would love to win it, please add me to your contest
    Blessings

    ingrids62448@yahoo.com

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  3. Diana thank you for another marvelous review, this is another book for the to be read stack.
    Can't wait to see who wins the book and jewelry by Carrie. (me!me!me!) LOL!
    tsmathews61@gmail.com

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  4. Please enter me...would love to win this.Thanks...jackie_tessnair@yahoo.com

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  5. Good morning, Ingrid. It's nice to wake up to your lovely cybervoice this morming! lol You are officially entered. ~Blessings to you today!

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  6. Teresa! Teresa has been up to something while the rest of us "normal" people were asleep, and I'm sooo proud of her. Teresa has started a new blog and I'm her first follower!

    Teresa, if you would, tell everyone the name of your blog and give the link so that peeps can follow you and read your encouraging thoughts for this day.

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  7. Jackie, you are such a sweetie. Hoping for a win for you! ~Extra blessings to you today!

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Thanks Diana for the kind words. I hope someone will be blessed by the scriptures I put on there. :)
    Here's the address for the blog; http://tsmathews.blogspot.com
    I'm still new at it so I haven't figured out how to make the link! (that's why I deleted the previous comment) LOL!

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  10. This looks like a good book.
    Thanks for offering it.
    wsmarple/at/gmail/dot/com

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  11. Thanks for stopping by today, Wendy! Throwing your name in the proverbial hat!

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  12. These sound like such great books, would love to win.

    wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
    wrensthoughts.blogspot.com

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  13. I would love for you to win, too, wfnren! I wish I had a book for everyone, b/c I just want everyone to win a copy! LOL!

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  14. Please enter me :)
    Sounds like a great book!

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  15. Diana, thank you for the wonderful review! After reading your fabulous description of the plot and characters I wanted to win a copy too. Except I've already read it.
    ...wink...

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  16. You're welcome, Marcia! See folks, I told you she was full of Southern humor!:) Ya'll will LOVE Otis Gooch!

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  17. Hey to Marian up there and across the waves! Entering you, gf!

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  18. how generous ladies...thank you for this fabulous giveaway :)

    karenk
    kmkuka at yahoo dot com

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  19. It's nice to "see" you, Karen! Lots of luck in the giveaway!

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  20. That cover is gorgeous! I know we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but let me tell you, I'd pick this one up in a hurry. Now, after having read your thoughts on it, and that it includes very handsome men, yep. That clinches it. I'm going to have to read it!
    Thanks for the fun, ladies!

    amanda38401 at gmail dot com

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  21. LOL, Amanda! When Marcia first let us take a peek at this cover, I said, "Yowzah!" and some other stuff that it's just as well I don't remember. haha I remember Marcia got a big kick out of it though!:) All of her covers are great...wait until you see the one on her next book!

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  22. Debbie, thank you so much for coming over and visiting with us today! You are definitely included!

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  23. This sounds right up my alley!! Please include me in the giveaway thank you so much


    mrslippo@hotmail.com

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  24. Thank you for coming by, Julie! Here's to a win!

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  25. Random.org has Jackie Tessnair as the winner. congrats and I will be sending you an email! You win a copy of Marcia Gruver's newest release! Blessings!

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  26. Congrats, Jackie! Happy Reading! Thanks to all who left such encouraging comments! Come back tomorrow for another great interview with another great author!

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  27. Thank you so much....I can't wait to read it.

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