Twice A Bride by Mona Hodgson ~ review

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307730328
• ISBN-13: 978-0307730329

This book is also available as an e-book.

Love lost doesn’t mean love lost forever. 
Can unexpected romance deliver a second chance for two deserving widows?

Full of resolve, young widow Willow Peterson decides to pursue her dreams to be an artist as she settles into a new life in the growing mountain town of Cripple Creek.  When she lands a job working as a portrait painter with handsome entrepreneur and photographer Trenton Van Der Veer, the road before Willow seems to be taking a better-than-anticipated turn.  

With questions tugging at several hearts in town, including the Sinclair Sisters’ beloved Miss Hattie, change is traveling down the tracks as several unexpected visitors make their way out West.  Will the new arrivals threaten the deep family bonds of the Sinclair sisters and the roots of love that are just taking hold for Willow?     

Filled with the resonating questions that all women face, this romance awakens hope against grief, love against loss, and dreams against life’s unexpected turns. 

My take on this book:

The year is 1898 and Willow Peterson had a tough time after the death of her husband Sam, and her father even had her committed to an asylum, where she felt she had wasted two years of her life. When her father dies she is determined to be strong. She decides she will settle in Cripple Creek close to her brother Tucker  and pursue her dreams of becoming an artist. When a newspaper ad leads her to a job being offered by the new photography studio in town she wonders if her luck might be changing. Trenton Van Der Veer has just opened his studio and needs someone to paint portraits of the pictures he has taken, and Willow Peterson seems to fit the bill. Thing is once they start working together each start to have feelings for the other, but neither act upon their feelings because of issues they are carrying from their past. Will Trenton and Willow allow God to help them get past their issues so that they can have a future together?

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, so I was excited to read this one. While it was a bit predictable, I knew that the main characters would get together, I was interested in reading how they finally find their way to their happily ever after. The historical aspect of the novel was quite appealing, the time period came to life and it was easy to imagine the town of Cripple Creek. I enjoyed the characters but my favorite character had to be Miss Hattie the owner of the boarding house in Cripple Creek.I loved the road the way her life turned out. While this is the fourth book in The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series it can easily be read as a stand alone work, the author provides enough background information so that it is easy to understand the characters. Overall, I found this story to be a bit predictable, but still a very worthwhile read.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review. 

4/5