Yankee Bride and Rebel Bride (Brides of Montclair, Book 5)

Description

Against the turbulent backdrop of the Civil War, two beautiful women of strength and spirit struggle for the survival of their ideals, dreams, principles, and love. Their antagonism enacts the spiritual crisis of their time.

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Customer Reviews

One of the best in the series!
I just purchased this book along with books 1-9 (because I already owned books 10, 11, & 12; and need to buy books 13-15) and was a little disappointed at the story lines of the first few books, because the stores were sooo predictable. But this book is WONDERFUL! It is a little more realistic, as far as the love story goes, than some of the others. The drama was great and I couldn't put it down!! Can't wait to read book 6, hope it is just as good!

2010-06-29 | mrslady (Lynchburg, VA USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Good follow-up books of the series
I have read all of the books of this series and this was as wonderful as the first ones. Author has a great way with words which makes the book come alive.

2009-05-29 (marshall texas) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Yankee Bride and Rebel Bride
It did remind me of Gone with the Wind, but that is part of what makes this story so enticing. The war between the Union and Confederates showed that no family was left unscathed by the war for freedom. While I was enthralled with Rose, Garnet seemed to out shine her in the end. Rose is remembered through this tragedy while Garnet suffers from the wish she made years earlier. It was not a fairy tale ending like those so-far. In the end, it is well thought out and practical.

2005-07-11 | DBursch (Seattle, WA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Do Your Research!
One of my greatest pet peeves in historical fiction is coming across facts that are blatantly wrong. If you can't take the time to make sure your facts are correct then don't write historical fiction. The prime example in this book comes when the author states that Stonewall Jackson was killed at Gettysburg. Even amateur Civil War historians know this is incorrect.

Aside from the accuracy issues, I did enjoy this book.

2005-04-24 | History Lover (Seattle, WA USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 3

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Heart Wrenching
In this book Peart conveys bawdy flirtation and titillating suspense in an age of Civil War. The insufferable Garnet in her blind love for Malcolm Montrose--wreaks havoc for Malcolm's bride Rose Montrose. She then proves her ruthlessness when after poor Rose dies--she dreams of a life with Malcolm. I was glad when he returned home years later, with a new bride! But, I had to pity Rose, since her ruthless rival outlives her!

2004-12-19 | jolliedd (NY) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Shadow Bride (Brides of Montclair, Book 7)

Description

Book 7 of the Brides of Montclair series is the continuing story of Blythe Dorman, the wife of Malcolm Montrose. As Blythe struggles to pick up the pieces of her life, she must meet challenges and make choices as the woman she has become. This is a Lightning Source, Inc. print-on-demand title and can be ordered only from Spring Arbor Distributors by calling 800-395-5599. International Customers please call 615-793-5000 ext. 24882 or fax at 615-213-5720.

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Customer Reviews

Why all the suspense?
Out of all the brides in the Montclair series, Blythe is one of my favorites. I am so glad there is finally a happy ending for her when she marries Rod. I wish they could have found each other sooner. I wanted to see what marriage was like for the two of them.

This is the book that really marks the difference in how Peart narrates before and after Gallant Bride. Before the seventh book, she really tries to focus on one bride, but in this book, she focuses on Garnet, Rod, and Blythe. I think it's interesting to see all the different viewpoints but I liked it better when she focused more on one character.

As abrasive and harsh Garnet is, I still like her character very much. I understand her frustration with Blythe--and sometimes I even got frustrated with Blythe myself. Blythe should have stayed in one place. I think one of the reasons Jeff became such a horrible recluse in the end is because he didn't really stay in one place as a child. He didn't really have a home except at Avalon. I'm not blaming it on Blythe, but I wish she had stayed or let Rod know what was going on. I wish she had let Sara and Clayborn know they had a grandson sooner.

It was a great read, but there was a little too much suspense in the end.

2009-09-23 | Bookworm (Oklahoma City, OK USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Hope After Tragedy?
Is it fair that poor Blythe is left to pick up the pieces after her alcoholic husband Malcolm dies? And why does she have to find love YEARS later with his best friend? There is no redemption in that. But, the worst tragedy is that the reader must endure Garnet Cameron Montrose Devlin for several more books in this series! Thumbs down for Jane Peart!

2004-12-19 | jolliedd (NY) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Long awaited sequel
This is the long awaited sequel to the Gallant Bride. This particular book brings together the union of Blythe and Rod. This book is wonderful at showing us how absence in deed makes the heart grow fonder. It also explores faith and how God sometimes seems to make no sense.

The only draw back with this particular book, is that Jane Peart tends to draw out the reunion a little too long. The two charactors live within miles of each other, yet don't meet for years. This does add to the story but is too "edge of your seat" for my taste. This is by far one of my favorites in the Montclair Brides series, however I love them all.

2001-03-07 | forgivenbycross (Wichita, KS USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Shadow Bride
This on of the best bride books that Jane Peart has written Blyth finds a new life and happiness with her new life and what comes.

2001-03-06 | kari_miss_cool (Fortuna, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Daring Bride (Brides of Montclair #13)

Description

With the Depression clouding the present and World War II looming on the horizon, Aunt Garnet's ninetieth birthday is a reunion time for the Montrose and Cameron families. Kitty Traherne, pretty niece to Aunt Garnet and WWI field nurse, tries to warn the nation of the terrors of war through a book she struggles to publish.

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Customer Reviews

Least Favorite of the Entire Montclair Series
So far, this is my least favorite of the entire Montclair series. I did not like that there were 3 separate storylines spread out over 8 years in less than 250 pages. It was most obvious that Ms. Peart was trying to wrap up this series considering there are 2 more books to go.

2010-01-10 | southernsassygirl (Cordova, TN) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Great women characters--but what happened to the romance?
I loved the story of Bryanne and Evalee. However, I thought all of the romantic stories of the three heroines were rather abrupt and bleak. Kitty, who I used to love, I didn't even find likable. It wasn't necessarily her antiwar sentiments that I didn't like but it was her intolerance of anybody that disagreed with her. She just wasn't herself in this book. I actually ended up liking Care more.

I loved Bryanne and felt for her especially when it came to her father, Jeff. In this book, you really see how incapable Jeff is about caring for his own family. You see the self-absorbed monster he really is. However, I thought that Bryanne's story was awfully short.

Evalee shown the most in this book. I loved how she transformed her life with her shop. She became more than the self-absorbed brat everyone thought she was. I just wish they had given her a better struggle that working for that horrible man!

2009-09-23 | Bookworm (Oklahoma City, OK USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Second chances at love
Daring Bride picks up the stories of several Cameron/Montrose females from the earlier books. Kitty has a hard time forgetting the horrors she saw in the Great War and the love of her life whom she lost as a direct result of that War. Her bitterness creates a deep chasm between her and twin sister Cara that lasts for many years. In a cathartic measure, Kitty writes a book about the devastation of the Great War and meets a loving, caring book editor in the process. Could this be her second chance at love? Likewise, Evalee has lost her own great love and returns to Virginia widowed and penniless with a young daughter to raise. As she builds a business from the ground up, Evalee meets two men who love her and want her to spend their lives with them, one for whom money is no object and one for whom a love of books and teaching children is his main objective. Can one of these men be Evalee's second chance? Finally, Bryanne goes to Italy at the expense of her grandmother Garnet to get over losing her first love in a fatal accident. Will Bryanne, too, finally meet someone and get another chance at love? This is a great entry in the Montclair series, and my only criticism is that Peart needs to put a family tree in each book to keep me straight on the rather complicated family relationships.

2001-01-01 | bevreader (Mississippi) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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Courageous Bride (Brides of Montclair, Book 14)

Description

Niki had come to France to seek her true identity and to experience the richness of her French heritage. But what begins as a romantic, carefree summer holiday for Niki, her stepbrother Luc Montrose, and their friend Paul Duval, ends with the outbreak of war, changing their lives forever. Caught up in the firestorm of world conflict, this courageous young woman with an unknown past faces an uncertain future, with only her newfound faith to sustain her.

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Customer Reviews

The Montrose family enters WWII
Courageous bride is the story of the next generation of Montroses, Luc and his adopted sister Nikki, and their roles in WWII. Nikki goes to France searching for her natural mother and stays in Europe to enter service in the WRENS. Quite by accident, she meets a Scottish Montrose cousin, and events unfold that keep the two meeting each other at Garnet's English home at different times throughout the war. Luc, who follows in his father's footsteps to become a fighter pilot, also finds love in Garnet's home, as have so many young people before him. But before any of these young people can fulfill their happiness, the war must come to an end. What will happen to Luc, who is reported missing in action, and to Nikki, who has been chosen to fulfill a dangerous assignment on the front in France? Peart has again woven a story of young people searching for fulfillment of God's plan for their lives, and has successfully found a fitting way to remove the matriarch Garnet Cameron Montrose Devlin from the series. Once again, my only criticism is that Peart needs to put a detailed family tree in each book, as the cousins, half-cousins, in-laws, and other members of the Camerson/Montrose families continue to grow and get more confusing in each book.

2001-01-01 | bevreader (Mississippi) | Helpful Votes: 6 | Rating: 5

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Another fantastic book in the series!!
I really enjoyed reading this book. I have read all of the previous 13 books in the series and I loved them all. "The Brides of Montclair" series is probably one of my most favorite of all time. The history and heritage in each of the books is brought to life in the mind of the reader. It has really been neat reading each book and following the Montrose and Cameron families as they continue to grow. I would definitly recommend this book to anyone, but it really helps if you have read all of the other books because they are refered to quite often. I anxiously await another book in this series.

1999-02-11 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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A Distant Dawn (Westward Dreams, Book 4)

Description

Following the death of their parents, twenty-four-year-old Sunniva Lyndall and her younger brother, Tracy, leave the comforts and safety of their Ohio Valley home to travel west to California. But unplanned adventure awaits Sunny with the greatest challenge of her young life. Will her strong spirit be enough to see her through -- or is the happiness that California promised a dream that will never be fulfilled?

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Customer Reviews

A Distant Third
Jane Peart's books are ideal for curling up with in a knitted coverlet and a cup of tea. I've also found them great for reading aloud to the elderly.

Of course, sex and violence are never troublesome, and a current of quiet Christian faith underlies every story. The heroines turn to the Bible at a crisis, but the books are never preachy.

These novels are engaging for several reasons: (1) The heroine is characterized immediately, without lots of history and detail, so the audience can sympathize and identify with her right away. (2) The action of the plot begins so quickly that an audience more interested in action and romance than in character is also captured without delay. (3) Generally, the swift opening is fulfilled by an equally swift progress so that Peart's books, like any good page-turners, can provide hours of uninterrupted entertainment.

A Distant Dawn is fourth in the Westward Dreams series and not nearly so good as the others. There is the usual conflict between one love interest with impeccable clothes and manners and another with rough ways--but the attraction to either one isn't very strong in this novel. The story drags, and the most exciting scene doesn't happen until chapter 22 of the 23-chapter book. The heroine's character is never fully developed, and her negative attitude persists for too long throughout the story. One 98-year-old listener called her "hateful"!

Jane Peart's Westward Dreams series captivates the reader with spirited heroines who find adventure, challenge and possible love in a fascinating (and rather historically accurate) time of U.S. history. To enjoy them at their best, however, you should start with another title, perhaps Promise of the Valley. Others in the series include Runaway Heart, Where Tomorrow Waits and Undaunted Sprirt.

2004-05-29 | reereeder (Atlanta, GA USA) | Helpful Votes: 4 | Rating: 2

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Undaunted Spirit (Westward Dreams, Book 5)

Description

An ambitious Eastern girl, Mindy McClaren leaves her comfortable home to become the editor of a newspaper in a rugged silver-mining town in the mountains of Colorado. This is a true-West adventure and romance.

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Customer Reviews

One of the Best Books I Ever Read
The characters in this book are great. I like a woman who is trying something new, which is what the heroine does in this book. I highly recommend this book.

2000-01-03 (Northern California) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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