Along the Rio Grande by Tracie Peterson

Along the Rio Grande
by Tracie Peterson

ISBN-13: 9780764237294
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: March 1st 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Recently widowed Susanna Jenkins has decided to follow her family to the booming town of San Marcial, New Mexico, for a fresh start and to aid in her family's sudden change in fortune. They are tasked with managing her uncle's new Grand Hotel, and it takes all her patience to try to help her parents see the good of their circumstances and relinquish their sense of entitlement.

Owen Turner works as a boilermaker for the Santa Fe's train shops in San Marcial. He's immediately attracted to Susanna upon meeting her, but he hesitates to risk opening his heart again. Especially as painful memories are stirred up of his own late sibling when Susanna's brother is assigned to work under him.

When misguided choices put Susanna's family in an even more precarious situation. But if Owen can't face the past, he'll miss out on his greatest chance at love.


My Review:
Along the Rio Grande is a Christian romance set in 1899 in New Mexico. Susanna's father is addicted to gambling and high risk investments, but he has poor judgment and lost his fortune. Her mother gets her way by throwing temper tantrums. Her brother resents their father and wants to earn his own way rather than work at the hotel they're supposed to run. Susanna has money of her own, but she sweetly does the hard labor at the hotel and makes new friends. She struggles to stand up to her mother's whining and so enables her parents to resist learning that they're not entitled to money and respect. Owen helps her brother find a job he's good at and helps her look beyond her parent's expectations that she support them.

Owen and Susanna respected and built each other up. They're kind, hard-working people. Together, they grew beyond the emotional legacies passed down to them by their families. Historical details about the job, place, and people were woven into the story, bringing it alive in my imagination. Susanna prayed that God would cause her parents to see the truth about themselves and their situation (and He did through a series of events that forced them to take a hard look at their behavior). There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical with an enjoyable romance.


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.