Review: Rocky Mountain Redemption by Lisa J. Flickinger

My rating: 2 stars / It was okay

Synopsis

A Rocky Mountain logging camp may be just the place to find herself.

To escape the devastation caused by the breaking of her wedding engagement, Isabelle Franklin joins her aunt in the Rocky Mountains to feed a camp of lumberjacks cutting on the slopes of Cougar Ridge. If only she could out run the lingering nightmares.

Charles Bailey, camp foreman and Stony Creek's itinerant pastor, develops a reputation to match his new nickname — Preach. However, an inner battle ensues when the details of his rough history threaten to overcome the beliefs of his young faith.

Amid the hazards of camp life, the unlikely friendship growing between the two surprises Isabelle. She's drawn to Preach's brute strength and gentle nature as he leads the ragtag crew toiling for Pollitt's Lumber. But when the ghosts from her past return to haunt her, the choices she will make change the course of her life forever—and that of the man she's come to love.

My Review

I usually love the setting of a lumber camp for a good romance, but sadly this one fell flat for me. It has a promising start with the characters, and Isabelle's hidden presence at the camp began the story with a sense of intrigue. The friendship between Preach and Isabelle doesn't have much time to develop before the angst and drama sets in and hijacks the plot. So much of the story involves the aftermath of Isabelle's rape and how she was unprepared to handle it, leading to poor decisions and bad blood between her and her family. Preach was also unprepared to handle the news of the "tainted" past of the girl he puts on a pedestal in his mind. He has a past himself full of carousing, so his quick judgement felt hypocritical, especially when he jumped to conclusions and didn't even consider there might be more to the story. I don't expect the characters to be without flaws, but it prevented me from trusting his sincerity for the rest of the book. The conflict of the story was propelled forward by assumptions, and by the middle of the book I didn't find it enjoyable to read.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)