Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble

Title:         Lonestar Angel Publisher:  Thomas Nelson Pub Date:  November 08, 2011 ISBN:       9781595542694 Author:     Colleen Coble Eden’s hope is rekindled when Clay delivers astounding news: their baby girl has been found. Five years ago Eden and Clay Larson’s baby was stolen. When they went to pay the ransom, what happened changed their lives forever—the kidnapper’s car with Baby Brianna inside sunk deep into the river. Eden blamed herself, Clay lost himself in work. Their young and rocky marriage ended. Or so Eden thought. Now Eden’s moved to a new town. She’s found faith and is trying to rebuild her life. She’s even dating again—a sweet guy named Kent who plans to marry her. But then Clay arrives out of the blue and delivers shocking news: he never signed their divorce papers, so they’re still married. What’s more, Clay has been searching for Brianna all this time.  And he believes he’s found her: their daughter is in Bluebird, Texas, at a youth ranch. All five little girls there are the right age—he’s just not sure which one is Brianna. Or how she survived. To uncover the truth, Eden and Clay sign on as counselors at Bluebird Ranch. They move into small quarters in the bunkhouse and oversee the kids as they try to find out more. Working together, they rediscover their love for each other. But danger is closing in—Eden, Clay, and all their young charges are in jeopardy. As they fight to save their family, Eden realizes that God has been fighting for them all along. And His plans are for a more abundant life than they’d ever hoped.

I always love Christian fiction and this is another good read. It is a very touching story. A father who refused to give up hope searching on his child; a husband who refused to sign the divorce paper as he still loves his wife. And yet the wife did not know about this, until 5 years later. Actually both Clay and Eden love each other. However due to their shotgun marriage, and the nature of Clay's job required him to travel around the places, they didn't spend enough time with each other to understand each other well. Spending their time in Bluebird ranch now give them a very good chance to know more about each other. I'm really glad that at that important moment, Clay told Eden about his feeling.

I like the pace of the story; it is not too fast and yet not too slow. We are able to see the interactions between Clay and Eden, and their interactions with the 5 children, and the constant guessing which girl actually is their daughter. I was captivated by the story right from page 1 and besides guessing who's Brianna, I also keep on thinking who could be the kidnapper. There are few twists which adding more suspense to the story, and making things more complicated. As usual, I could not get my guesses right and the answers are revealed at the end.

I enjoy reading this book very much and I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.



Note: I receive the digital ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Gallery. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.