A Lone Star Hero's Love Story Book Series by Shelley Shepard Gray {Book Review and GIVEAWAY!!}

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Do you like Christian Fiction? Do you like Historical fiction? Do you like stories of Civil War and deep friendships of brothers in arms? If you do, I highly recommend the A Lone Star Hero's Love Story series by New York Times Bestselling Author Shelley Shepard Gray! Read my review and get entered to win the complete series in paperback!

Book Summary

This three book series takes place during and after the Civil War and follows four men--four Confederate soldiers who fought together, were captured, and survived Johnson's Island--a Confederate States of America Officers POW camp. These band made a pack while prisoners to always have each others backs no matter what. The book series follows the lives of the four men POST Civil War and explores their lives as move forward to pick up the pieces and finding love in a war torn land--and how their friends will ALWAYS come to help when they are needed.

The first book in the series is The Loyal Heart and follows former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer Robert Traux. Robert heads to Galveston, TX to make good on a promise he made to a fellow officer in the POW Camp at Johnson's Island, OH upon his death. But promising to take care of Phillip's beloved wife Miranda is harder than it seems--for when Robert arrives, he finds Phillip's gorgeous wife dealing with local citizens believing Phillip was a traitor and she is being treated as an outcast. Determined not to leave until he protects Miranda and reverses her reputation, he also promises to find a way to make her smile again.But that may be harder than planned, for there are people determined to strip Miranda of everything she has and will go to any means to do it! Looking after a friend's widow from a distance becomes infinitely more challenging when you fall in love with her yourself.

An Uncommon Protector is book two in the A Lone Star Hero's Love Story series. It's not every day that you take a chance and buy the freedom of a prisoner from the local jail, but when you are overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running a Texas ranch on your own like Laurel Tracey is, you tend to take risks. By agreeing to offer him room and board for one year, he will have to work for her to pay off his debt--and she definitely has enough work on the two hundred acre ranch. Former soldier Thomas Baker knows he's in trouble when he gets jailed after not being able to pay a couple fines--especially when you are deliberately mistreated and singled out by the men in charge. So he agrees to take up Laurel's offer as his ticket out. He is determined to count the days until he's free again, work hard on her behalf, and remain detached from the fact she's everything he's ever dreamed about in a woman. But, cattle start dying and Laurel's life is threatened. This changes everything and Thomas determines to lay it all on the line to keep her safe.

The final book in the series is Love Held Captive. This book follows the lives of Major Ethan Kelly and former Captain Devin Monroe--two men who discover that the women of their dreams have both been caused pained by their former colonel, Adam Bushnell due to actions he committed during the Civil War. Calling on their former fellow soldiers Robert Traux and Thomas Baker, the men band together to hunt him down and bring him to justice for the pain he's caused the women they love so they can heal.

My Thoughts on the Books and Series

I quickly fell in love with the men in this series right from the get go. These books are set in one of my most favorite times in history to read about, and take place in one of my most favorite settings--wild Texas! I love that you get to meet ALL the men in the first book, and then slowly explore more about each one in the subsequent books as their history BEFORE the war, during the war, and during their time in the POW camp is revealed. It really isn't possible to jump to books two or three without having read them in sequence, for book 2 picks up right after book one and book three right after book two. You don't get the "whole picture" unless you have been able to piece it together in order.

I actually preferred the men in these books to the women, however the women WERE strong characters. None of them were pansies and each woman in the series was dealing with the hand life had dealt them, and were trying to rise above it all. There were great messages about letting God have control in your life--especially when things are out of control--throughout the book. Book three really engaged me as a reader the most as it dealt with thoughts on dealing with the aftermath of rape and prostitution (now reformed)--and how the women involved were able to move forward in their lives. Also in how it was possible for the men to love them in spite of their tragic pasts--even if the men first had to come to grips with it. Great messages of forgiveness and spiritual renewal.

Of the three books, I think I enjoyed book two the best overall, because I just enjoyed Laurel and Thomas' story the most. These books really promote an incredible message of friends who are closer than brothers and friends who willingly will lay down their lives for you. It was so cool the way that in each book, the four men came together to help one another no matter the situation.

I give A Lone Star Hero's Love Story Series 4.5 ★

As a whole, I give the A Lone Star Hero's Love Story series by Shelley Shepard Gray a 4.5 rating. It kept me engaged and I felt the characters were well developed. Even though a back story was carried through THREE books, it was never lost in the shuffle. The topics were meaningful and the writing great. I eagerly awaited each subsequent book in the series and was sad to say goodbye to them. I highly recommend this series to my friends and readers who enjoy Historical (Western) Christian Fiction! I am so thankful I was able to receive these books to review by The Fiction Guild!

Check out more of Shelley Gray's work in my review of Whispers in the Reading Room as well as these other novels!

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★★BOOK GIVEAWAY★★

I am thrilled to be able to offer one lucky person a set of the COMPLETE A Lone Star Hero's Love Story series in PAPERBACK! I am not going to make it complicated--simply fill out this little nifty gadget below to get entered to win! The only MANDATORY entry is a blog comment answering: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE TO READ?

Giveaway open to US residents only. Ends 1/9/2018 @11:59pm EST. 

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