Sixty Acres and A Bride by Regina Jennings

Bethany House Publishers (February 1, 2012) 368 pages

My Rating: 4/5 stars

My Thoughts:

Sixty Acres and a Bride is loosely based on the book of Ruth(from the Bible). All of the characters and the setting have been changed to where it's not Biblical fiction. I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise.

Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law, Louise, return to Texas after the death of each of their husbands. They discover that their land has been abandoned and they only have a few short months to earn enough money to catch up with the back taxes. Rosa's culture is very different from the other Texans, so she also struggles with being accepted. Weston Garner, along with his sister Eliza, and her family provide Rosa with much needed support as she deals with many struggles.

I was surprised at the humor I found through the pages. I wouldn't label this a humor book, by any means, but it definitely had it's moments. There was one particular scene involving a slap that I found hilarious! On the other side, though, I didn't overly care for the scene where Rosa is threatened a trip to the woodshed for a spanking. Did women get taken to the woodshed for bad behavior back in those days?! Craziness! (I know that this scenario happens quite often on I Love Lucy, but I assumed it was purely for humor, even if I don't ever find it humorous).

I think Sixty Acres and a Bride was a great debut novel! I'm looking forward to seeing other books from the same author.

*I was provided a review copy from Bethany House in exchange for my honest opinion.