Reviewer's Bookshelf: Swept Away by Mary Connealy

*I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers to give an unbiased review*

If I see a new series of books come out by an author I love...I'm going for it!  I've been reading Mary Connealy's books for a while now, and I've thoroughly enjoyed her take on the wild west.  In "Swept Away", the story begins with Ruthy, traveling in a wagon train with her adopted family.  Ruthy is basically used and abused by them...forced to do all the chores and treated like she's worthless.  Her adopted brother also keeps giving her uncomfortable looks and her parents have agreed to arrange a marriage between the two.  Not good.  We also have Luke, on a mission to reclaim his father's ranch that is rightfully his.  The evil man who has taken over claimed it as his own and won't give it up without a fight.  Luke is ready to give him a fight, along with his Civil War "brothers" who are going to help him.  Then Ruthy and Luke's lives cross unexpectedly after Ruthy is swept away by a raging river and ends up washed up right in his path.  Ruthy isn't well enough to be left alone, so Luke takes her along.  This is the beginning of a fantastic tale of hardship, loyalty, courage, and of course, love.

Ruthy's character has some similar traits to some of Mary's other female characters.  She's strong, smart, and she'll get right in the fray with the boys.  Ruthy is different in that she has been abused by her adoptive parents, so it makes her overly hardworking and protective of those who have to endure abuse themselves.  She was a very likeable character.  Luke, the male lead in the story, was fired up with revenge.  He was ready to do what he had to so that he could get his ranch back.  Ruthy helped balance him out and cool him down.  I loved the interaction between these two characters.  It was fun, romantic, and just made me smile.  An aspect of the story I particularly liked was the "band of brothers" that came together in the story.  Luke's friends had set themselves up in town, waiting for Luke's arrival so they could come together and get his ranch back.  They had different professions: lawyer, doctor, preacher, and law man.  That created some great action in the story, as they took on different roles in the "brotherhood".  They also were all imprisoned together at Andersonville, another point of interest since I live close to Andersonville and have visited there before.  I could picture the prison camps that the men were held in.  It made the fact that they had formed such a strong bond there more convincing for me...because I've seen what horrible conditions were there.  To survive, I can see how men would come together and be so dependent on each other. 

I really enjoyed this book.  If you're a fan of western adventures with a twist of humor and romance...you'll like this one!  If you're read The Kincaid Brides series by Mary, there is a connection between those books and this one.  It's kind of neat to see other characters pop up here and there in later book series...well, it is for me, anyway : ).

Happy reading!