Love's Mountain Quest by Misty M. Beller

Love's Mountain Quest by Misty M. Beller ISBN-13: 9780764233470 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Bethany House Released: June 30th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Young widow Joanna Watson is struggling to make a new home for her five-year-old son, Samuel, in the little mountain town of Settler's Fort. When she returns home from work to find Samuel and the woman watching him missing, with no lawman in town, she enlists a friendly man who has enough experience in this rugged country to help.

Isaac Bowen wants nothing more than a quiet, invisible life in these mountains, far away from the bad decisions of his past. But he has a strong suspicion of who's behind the kidnapping, and if he's right, he knows all too well the evil they're chasing.

As they press on against the elements, Joanna fights to hold on to hope, while Isaac knows a reckoning is coming. They find encouragement in the tentative trust that grows between them, but whether they can survive the danger and coming confrontation is far from certain in this wild, unpredictable land.


My Review:
Love's Mountain Quest is a romance set in 1867 in Montana territory. It's the second book in the series. The two main characters in this one apparently met in the previous book, but you can understand this book without reading the previous one. This book really is one very long chase scene. The bad guys kidnap a young woman and Joanna's son. Joanna and Isaac set out after them just hours after the kidnapping, but they can't catch up due to accidents and mishaps. After a few days, they seemed more focused on how attractive the other was (despite injuries, lack of baths, etc.) and in intensely kissing each other. Personally, I found the viewpoint of the kidnapped Laura to be more interesting and suspenseful.

The characters had very modern sensibilities, though. For example, at the end, the women were busy feeling guilty that a bad guy (who was going to hang for murder) had been shot dead in self-defense rather than feeling elated that this very evil character would never harm anyone again. None of the viewpoint characters were willing to shoot to kill, even if it meant they or someone else might die because of that decision. In another case, the bad guys made it clear that they planned to rape Laura and kill all of the hostages soon. Yet when a bad guy was injured along with a horse, the hostages didn't take this opportunity to escape but instead stayed to help the horse. I love horses, but really? Let the bad guys deal with their injured horse.

The characters made a lot of baffling decisions, like one hostage managed to get a gun and could have used it but instead hid it where the bad guys might, maybe, take Laura to use the bathroom in hopes that she might find and use it. Or a horse lost a horseshoe, and Isaac used a rock to pound two bent nails in to secure the horseshoe (cringe) along with a leather strap to somehow tie the shoe on. The horse didn't really need horseshoes, so it would make much more sense to remove the other shoes rather than chance laming the horse with his method. And what is it with men knocking armed women to the ground to "protect" them rather than helping by attacking the threat?

Anyway, the Christian theme was Isaac struggling to accept that he is a new creation in Christ. He had accepted Christ but still felt guilty about poor choices in his past. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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