Love In Lone Creek, by Mary Manners
Reviewed by: Lara M. Van Hulzen
Genre: Christian Romance/Novella
Publisher: White Rose Publishing
Publication Date: 2012

Tanner Merrill returns to Lone Creek after serving in Afghanistan. He brings home with him physical scars as well as emotional ones. Believing that no one will be able to see past the visual signs of all he endured at war, he holes up at his family’s ranch and secludes himself from the world.

When Baylee Cameron discovers Tanner at the river one day while on a horseback ride, she meets a cold and prickly version of him rather than the loveable guy his family claims him to be. Working on the ranch, she knows his family well and has anticipated Tanner’s homecoming as much as the town that adores him as their hometown hero. But now she wonders if what Tanner experienced has made him a different man.

As Tanner’s brothers nudge him towards Baylee, knowing she’d be good for him, he discovers that Baylee guards a secret of her own and runs from a painful past, just like him. Finding comfort in one another and a connection because of their pain, they discover God’s grace is sufficient and forgiveness is possible.

Love in Lone Creek is a sweet story of love found in the midst of intense pain. As a novella, it is a quick read and one that would easily satisfy a lazy summer afternoon. The fourth book in a series, the story gives background on Tanner’s brothers but focuses on Tanner and his life.

Rated G

Book provided by the publisher. Thank you!