Browse

All Products
- Closeoutshttp://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=5401&Ne=1127620&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold
  - Fictionhttp://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=5401&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold (748)

Refine by

Advanced Search Links

Additional Views

Raider's Heart, Backwoods Brides Series #1

By: Marcia Gruver

Product Description

Two brothers join forces with a band of outlaws and vie for one woman's hand. Duncan McRae can hardly stomach the raids made by his family of bandits. Hooper McRae knows what he wants and takes it by force. When their paths cross that of Dawsey Wilkes, the competition is fiecrce. How far will the brothers go to win her love? Dawsey is burdened by a mysterious family secret, confusing memories of a long-departed mother, a papa unable to cope with his loss, and her repulsion to the McRae brothers. Is her faith strong enough to see her through?

Product Information

Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 320
Vendor: Barbour Publishing
Publication Date: 2011
Dimensions: 8.38 X 5.50 X 1.00 (inches)

ISBN: 1602609489
ISBN-13: 9781602609488
Availability: In Stock
Series: Backwoods Brides

Publisher's Description

Steal away to the Old South with Marcia Gruver’s Backwoods Brides series. Two brothers—one violent and one gentle—belong to a family of bandits. While Duncan McRae can hardly stomach their raids, his brother Hooper revels in the violence perpetrated by the band of thieves. When they meet mild-mannered Dawsey Wilkes, the competition steps up a notch as the brothers vie for her hand. Which marauder will steal Dawsey’s heart? Meanwhile, Dawsey holds the key to Dilsey McRae’s past. What will Dilsey do when she discovers the truth?

Editorial Reviews

Lots of twists, surprises and downhome fun await the reader in this creative easy to read novel! With characters the reader can relate to makes this a true keeper novel to reread and savor again, and a truly unforgettable novel you won''t want to miss! I look forward to reading the next in this series!

Gruver launches the Backwoods Buccaneers series with a tale of adventure, family secrets and romance. The characters are well rounded and well meaning, but also know that when the truth comes to light, no one will be the same.

The story plot was well thought out and unfolded amazingly. I don’t want to give away anything in the book, so I won’t delve into anything in this review. It’s one of those stories that’s full of surprises and you can’t explain too much about the book without giving it all away. And the ending was so sweet. It just made me sigh contently at the McRae’s life. It was certainly a perfect ending to an exciting book.

A light, fun read that will keep you entertained from cover to cover. It has twists and turns that will surprise you along the way. I enjoyed reading this book - my first by this author. I will certainly pick up another book of hers in the future!

This is an unconventional love story and drama. If you like historical novels, this is for you. Marcia Gruver brings history and the culture of south central North Carolina alive.

Marcia Gruver opens her new series, Backwoods Brides strong with Raider’s Heart. A tale of romance, adventure, and faith unfolds grasping the reader’s attention. Raider’s Heart is a story of forgiveness and letting God take control amidst tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and couldn’t put it down, consequently reading it in one sitting. The novel has one of those “feel-good” endings that while not the most realistic because it’s a bit too perfect; it is a nice break from real life. Sometimes one enjoys breaking away from reality for a few hours. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good, clean romance.

Product Reviews

Barbour PublishingRaider's Heart, Backwoods Brides Series #1

Overall Rating:ÃÂ

4.5 out of 5

Quality:ÃÂ

4.8 out of 5

Value:ÃÂ

4.8 out of 5

Meets Expectations:ÃÂ

4.5 out of 5

4 out of 4100%customers would recommend this product to a friend.

4 Two brothers join forces with a band of outlaws and vie for one woman's hand. Duncan McRae can hardly stomach the raids made by his family of bandits. Hooper McRae knows what he wants and takes it by force. When their paths cross that of Dawsey Wilkes, the competition is fiecrce. How far will the brothers go to win her love? Dawsey is burdened by a mysterious family secret, confusing memories of a long-departed mother, a papa unable to cope with his loss, and her repulsion to the McRae brothers. Is her faith strong enough to see her through?

Summary of Customer Ratings & Reviews

Click on filters to refine your results.

Overall Rating:ÃÂ

4.5 out of 5

Quality:ÃÂ

4.8 out of 5

Value:ÃÂ

4.8 out of 5

Meets Expectations:ÃÂ

4.5 out of 5

4 out of 4100%customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Click on filters to refine your results.

Product Reviews

Overall Rating:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Very Exciting Read!

Date:March 21, 2011

dianaFlow

Top 250 Contributor

Location:W Columbia,SC

Age:45-54

Gender:female

Quality:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Value:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

I wasn't sure I would like a book about outlaws kidnapping a young woman, but this book was so much more than that. It's about love, forgiveness, and not judging others, when we have no idea what they have been through. Dawsey Wilkes is kidnapped by the McRae family, who you would classify more as "Robin Hood" type vigilantes than outlaws. Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, and "outlaw" or not, who doesn't like Robin?

I didn't like these outlaws at first, and of course, neither does Dawsey. When Dawsey is brought to their home in the Carolina swamps she is met with a surprise that changes her whole life! This book is filled with surprises, twists, and turns, that once I got into it, I found it hard to put down. I read it alot more slowly than I do most books, however, because of the detail that the author goes into, and I didn't want to miss a thing.

I unwillingly fell in love with this "outlaw" family, and so does Dawsey, and it leaves her to question her opulent lifestyle and what makes a person really happy. She had never experienced the warmth and love between family members such as displayed by the McRaes, who had so much less material wise. Both brothers fall for her, and my favorite aspect of this book was not knowing what was going to happen next or who Dawsey would end up with.

This was a very exciting book with nonstop action! Like I said, I loved the element of surprise and am looking forward to the next book in the series! One word of warning, there is some violence, but the author does not get too graphic. The epilogue brings forth another startling revelation... one that upset me (and caused me to judge this family again)...and really made me examine myself! Ouch!

Loved it, Marcia, and am anxiously awaiting the next book from your publisher! Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Share this review:

0points

0of 0voted this as helpful.

Overall Rating:ÃÂ

4 out of 5

Pleasant read

Date:February 17, 2011

Rachel Ropper

Top 100 Contributor

Location:Scotland, UK

Age:18-24

Gender:female

Quality:ÃÂ

4 out of 5

Value:ÃÂ

4 out of 5

Meets Expectations:ÃÂ

4 out of 5

Living a life of luxury in a blossoming North Carolina town, Dawsey Wilkes does not suspect that the root of her familyÃ¢ÂÂs problems is hidden in the bandit-ridden backwoods. Dawsey has never questioned whether her fatherÃ¢ÂÂs mental breakdown was due to anything more than her motherÃ¢ÂÂs death, which left the lonely and heartbroken widower to raise infant Dawsey by himself. But when she comes across thieves in her fatherÃ¢ÂÂs study, Dawsey is literally ripped from her privileged life. She finds herself deep in the woods of Shuffletown, where one of her captors is a girl who could be her doppelganger. Could Ellie McRae hold the key to her familyÃ¢ÂÂs troubles? And will Dawsey make it back to her father before one of EllieÃ¢ÂÂs brothers wins her heart?

What sounded like a fast-paced, action-filled historical romance about bandits and imprisoned girls didnÃ¢ÂÂt quite meet my expectations. It wasnÃ¢ÂÂt until chapter thirteen that anything actually occurred to bring our hero and heroine together, and I was almost ready to give up. While I was immediately captivated by the story of Dawsey, her mentally unstable father and her guardian aunt, it took me longer to warm up to the McRae family. WeÃ¢ÂÂre introduced to the character of Ellie Ã¢ÂÂ whose name isnÃ¢ÂÂt on the back-cover of the book, confusingly me immensely as I tried to work out who she was and why she had so much page-time Ã¢ÂÂ and her older brothers, Duncan and Hooper Ã¢ÂÂ neither of whom interested me, making me wonder why one of them would turn out to be DawseyÃ¢ÂÂs love-interest. Thankfully, once Dawsey was kidnapped in chapter thirteen the story picked up the pace and was able to keep my interest.

I eventually warmed to the McRae family and they were a very endearing, entertaining bunch of characters. They explained to Dawsey why they were living in the backwoods of North Carolina, and we got a very small history lesson on the suffering that Native Americans experienced during the Civil War. At least, I think thatÃ¢ÂÂs what they were talking about. The details were so vague that someone who hasnÃ¢ÂÂt studied this period of US history might not have understood the McRaeÃ¢ÂÂs explanation. I prefer my historical romances to actually have some real history in them, rather than just having a general Ã¢ÂÂhistoricalÃ¢ÂÂ feel because the characters ride horses, hunt and occasionally reference a war gone by. However, I did enjoy reading about the McRaeÃ¢ÂÂs and witnessing DawseyÃ¢ÂÂs growing relationship with them. Hooper became an interesting character, but he didnÃ¢ÂÂt seem as fleshed out as Dawsey and Ellie. As for Duncan, he had so little page-time that I immediately suspected that he would lose the fight for DawseyÃ¢ÂÂs affection. Despite this, it was still amusing to see the two brothers fight over our heroine, if a bit redundant.

Ellie got a little romantic subplot of her own, and I have to admit that at times I preferred her story to DawseyÃ¢ÂÂs. My only complaint about Ellie would be her slightly awkward, unneeded discussions with Dawsey about God and prayer. Every so often, the author would chuck in a scene where Dawsey witnessed to Ellie and it felt very forced, making for uncomfortable reading. IÃ¢ÂÂm not sure why the author decided to add these sections when DawseyÃ¢ÂÂs faith in God was already apparent and succeeded in classifying the novel as inspirational. Other than this, Ellie and Dawsey were wonderful characters. Even if Hooper and Duncan werenÃ¢ÂÂt entirely convincing, the girls were, suggesting that perhaps the author needs to work on her portrayal of male characters. That said, I would be interested in reading more about Duncan and I would consider continuing this series if further books featured him and Ellie.

While I have a lot of criticisms of this book, IÃ¢ÂÂll admit that it was a pleasant read and kept me entertained. RaiderÃ¢ÂÂs Heart doesnÃ¢ÂÂt bring anything particularly new and original to the genre of inspirational historical romance, but readers can rely on Marcia GruverÃ¢ÂÂs Backwoods Buccaneers series to provide an interesting setting, plenty of conflict, clean romance and a splash of history.

Many thanks to Barbour and NetGalley for providing this book for review purposes.

Share this review:

0points

0of 0voted this as helpful.

Overall Rating:ÃÂ

4 out of 5

This Book Stretched Me.

Date:February 17, 2011

Sharon A Lavy

Top 250 Contributor

Location:OH

Age:Over 65

Gender:female

Quality:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Value:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:ÃÂ

4 out of 5

More like 4.5 rating.

Like others, I have mixed feelings about this book. Maybe because I learned some things about myself that I'm not sure I like. What is a happy ever after ending? We can't go back and undo the things of our past. We can't. We can be forgiven, but what we did in the past may have consequences. Are some consequences more acceptable than others?

Is this book a page turner? Absolutely.
Would I recommend it to others? Yes I would.
Why? Because it will stretch you and make you think. And that is novel writing at it's best.

Share this review:

0points

0of 0voted this as helpful.

Overall Rating:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

An Unforgettable Novel You Won't Want to Miss!

Date:January 7, 2011

kattrox

Top 50 Contributor

Location:Indiana

Age:45-54

Gender:female

Quality:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Value:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:ÃÂ

5 out of 5

The author creates a unique story about two families, the McKays and the Wilkes. Distance apart from each other and so alike yet so very different. It's a story of love, heartbreak and forgiveness, of haves and have nots and the desire to be different. How the love of two young women for their families, the secret that separates them and the truth that brings them together. It's the story of a young man called Tiller who discovers love through discipline. It's a story of two brothers Hooper and Duncan vying for the attention of a young woman, complete with outlaws and gunmen woven into one very hard to put down book. Lots of twists, surprises and downhome fun await the reader in this creative easy to read novel! With characters the reader can relate to makes this a true keeper novel to reread and savor again, and a truly unforgettable novel you won't want to miss! I look forward to reading the next in this series! Thanks to Barbour Publishing for providing this ARC copy for me for my review.