Into the Starlight by Amanda Cabot

Into the Starlight
by Amanda Cabot

ISBN-13: 9780800740665
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: July 16, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
After more than a year in Europe, Joanna Vaughn returns to Sweetwater Crossing, her dreams of becoming a concert pianist shattered. As if that weren't enough, her husband, whom she married after a whirlwind courtship, has died. The thing sustaining her on the journey back to Texas was the thought of her childhood home. But to Joanna's dismay, everything has changed so much that the place she once loved no longer feels like home.

After his fiancée married his partner and both blamed him for a patient's death, Dr. Burke Finley believes it's time for a change. A quick trip with his almost-aunt Della Samuels to Sweetwater Crossing turns into an extended stay to discover what happened to his uncle and her would-be husband. But the beautiful and musical Joanna makes it more than bearable.


My Review:
Into the Starlight is a Christian romance set in 1883 in Texas. It's the 3rd novel in a series but can work as a standalone. Frankly, while the main characters were likable, everything seemed a little melodramatic. Joanna got seriously ill with pneumonia while in Europe, destroying her ability to endure a concert pianists' schedule. She married a widower while recovering, only he and her grandmother died soon after. She returned home, pregnant and a widow, only to find everything had changed. Then bad news arrived from her husband's sister, making her insist that she must tell everyone of her shame (though she did nothing wrong and didn't need to tell anyone). This made Burke feel like he need to rescue her by marrying her. Marriage wouldn't change the past, but both acted like it fixed the problem. But he can't both marry and follow his dream, Joanna doesn't want to stand in the way of his dream, so he must decide what is more important to him.

The mysteries were pretty guessable. After we're told what happened to cause Burke to leave his medical practice, I immediately knew what had really happened and wondered why no one else suspected it. Partway through the book (and partly based on scenes from a previous book), I thought, "we'll find out that this person killed and buried Clive Finley here." However, since nearly every single woman who met Clive was insanely infatuated with him, there were some clues that had to be sorted out that pointed to other people. Burke and Joanna spent a lot of time together trying to solve the mystery. They became close friends who admired each other, which deepened into love. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this 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.