"The Jewel of His Heart" by Maggie Brendan

My first impression of this book is that it is too simple.  The writing reminds me (at times - mainly during the dialogue) of an elementary writer: He asked, "How are you?"  I said, "Fine."  (My example, not from the actual book.)  I felt at times like rolling my eyes at some of the writing.  To be honest, it was a lot like reading a movie script.

But, that stated, the storyline wasn't all bad, and the farther I got into the book, the more I found myself enjoying it.  While the story was a fairly "predictable" western love story with a bit of Christian values and principles thrown in, it was a semi-original storyline.

From the back cover: Juliana Brady is alone in an 1890s Montana mining town, with few prospects for making a living.  But she is determined not to be dependent on the charity of others... Josh McBride is trying to scrape a living from his sheep herd while he builds his ranch.  But when he discovers some rare stones on his property, he's tempted by the prospect of fast money... When their paths cross, Juliana and Josh must make a choice - the world's riches and promises, or the eternal value of love.

I'm not really sure I would have summarized the book in quite the same way, but in order to avoid any "spoilers", I'll leave you with what's there.

Thanks to Revell for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.  This book is available October 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group