{"id":18140,"date":"2014-12-18T21:58:45","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T02:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=18140"},"modified":"2014-12-18T21:58:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T02:58:45","slug":"the-snowbound-bride-by-davalynn-spenser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=18140","title":{"rendered":"The Snowbound Bride by Davalynn Spenser"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The end of The 12 Brides of Christmas is fast approaching with bride number eleven “The Snowbound Bride”. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series thus far and hate to see it come to an end with the next novella. I would be hard pressed to choose my favorite among them but once again the latest installment has taken that place – at least temporarily.<\/p>\n

I loved the story about an orphaned city girl who has been raised by an uncle and grandmother with all the comforts and privilege of wealth but love has been missing from the equation. Ara has fled the city to accept a position in Colorado to avoid marrying the man her uncle has chosen for her. Complications find her hiding in the back of a wagon in the midst of a snowstorm and eventually snowed in on a remote ranch with Nate and his mother. With a match-making dog and mother, how can Ara and Nate avoid romance?<\/p>\n

“The Snowbound Bride” was entertaining with a sweet romance, a bit of drama, and a touch of humor. My only complaint is that it ended much too soon. Loved the characters and the dog Beetle. Do yourself a favor and pick up “The Snowbound Bride” and others from this new Christmas series.<\/p>\n

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This book was provided for review by Shiloh Run Studios.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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On the run from a heartless uncle, Arabella Taube hides in Nate Horne\u2019s farm wagon just as a harsh winter storm sweeps into Colorado. Despite Ara\u2019s mysterious background, Nate\u2019s mother thinks she is the answer to a prayer and the hope for his future.<\/div>\n
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More About The Snowbound Bride\u00a0<\/em>with Davalynn Spencer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Davalynn Spencer\u2019s\u00a0The Snowbound Bride<\/em>\u00a0feels very close to home.\u00a0Her home in\u00a0Colorado, that is, where she loves seeing the snow come down every Christmas!<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my childhood, Christmas was always about\u00a0Jesus, and I have continued with that joyous celebration in my home as an adult. Scent plays a part as well\u2014the tree, clove-studded oranges, hot cider, cinnamon bread. Christmas always smells good.”<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I married, I moved to Colorado and discovered snow! Of course there is snow elsewhere, but its crystalline beauty here against our blue Colorado skies is breathtaking. I wanted to express the contrasting power and beauty of a snowy holiday in my book, as well as the simple joy of receiving the\u00a0Christ child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set on a ranch not far from where Davalynn currently lives, The Snowbound Bride<\/em>\u00a0tells the tale of a woman fleeing a vicious relative, only to wind up snowbound with total strangers for more than the holidays.<\/p>\n

The plot originally came to her as a contemporary story, but she wondered what the situation would look like in the 1880s. \u201cOnce I began exploring the differences, the characters took on color and ran off with the tale!\u201d<\/p>\n

Davalynn\u2019s paternal family came west, one uncle served as the doctor on a wagon train, long ago. She used some of that experience in her research, coupled with investigations she made from a recently released trilogy of western stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy characters in\u00a0The Snowbound Bride\u00a0<\/em>are working ranchers trying to make a living off the land and their horses in the 1880s.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike many families of that time, they don\u2019t have a lot of money for baubles and store-bought trinkets, so decorations as well as gifts are homemade. Dried berries and popcorn adorn the freshly cut tree, and hand-made cookie cutters fashioned from empty tins are used to make star-shaped cookies tied on the tree with yarn. One character is particularly talented, and carves a\u00a0nativity scene\u00a0from willow branches.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unexpected character turned up\u00a0while she wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cBeetle the dog surprised me. Almost as suddenly as he surprises Ara! He stepped out of my heart and onto the page without any planning, and established himself as an important background character. I love animals, and all my stories have dogs or cats or horses\u2014sometimes all three.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theme of The Snowbound Bride<\/em> is simple and yet important:<\/p>\n

\u201cTrusting God\u2019s leading is key in my life, and I believe it is for others as well. However, I still want to see where I\u2019m going and it doesn\u2019t always work that way. That\u2019s where the trust comes in. The Lord has this incredible way of using things that we think are failures or mistakes or disasters, and often those very things become our greatest blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is Davalynn Spencer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DavaLynnNovelist and speaker Davalynn Spencer is an award-winning journalist whose background spans the city crime beat and the national rodeo circuit. She\u2019s both the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters. When she\u2019s not writing inspirational romance or teaching as an adjunct professor, she enjoys speaking and leading worship at women\u2019s retreats. She makes her home in Colorado where she continues to be amazed by God\u2019s creative splendor.<\/p>\n

For more information about Davalynn, visit her webpage:\u00a0http:\/\/davalynnspencer.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

In social media, you can find Davalynn on Facebook\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Davalynn ends with a word to readers: \u201cI hope readers will enjoy this brief trip into Colorado\u2019s Rocky Mountains, warm themselves by the home fires of love, and come away with a good helping of faith and fresh hope.\u201d
\nClick below to purchase from your favorite online vendor!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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MY REVIEW: The end of The 12 Brides of Christmas is fast approaching with bride number eleven “The Snowbound Bride”. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series thus far and hate to see it come to an end with the next novella. I would be hard pressed to choose my favorite among them but once again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,57,34,41,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-christmas","category-historical","category-romance","category-western"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18140"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18145,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140\/revisions\/18145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}