Borrowed Light by Carla Kelly

Borrowed Light by Carla Kelly

Summary from Goodreads:
Julia Darling never expected to cook for some cowboys in Wyoming, but when she breaks off her engagement in Salt Lake City, it's the perfect opportunity for her to escape. Determined to stick the job out, Julia faces her biggest challenge yet - letting go of borrowed light to find her own testimony. Set in the early 1900s, this is one romantic adventure you'll never forget.

Read February 2013

Library Book

5 Stars

My Review:
I loved this book!  How could I be so lucky as to read 2 books in a row that I love.  Of course, the chores are being a bit neglected, but they seem to be there when I'm done reading.

This is an LDS fiction book.

I saw this book was a winner in the 2011 Whitney Awards and put it on my "to read" list.  There aren't a lot of LDS fiction books at my local library, but they have inter-library loans that give me access to a broader region.  Thank you local library!  I was checking the library sites to see if they had any books on my to read list and saw that this was there.  I ordered it, of course.  I wasn't sure what it was about or anything, just that it had one this award.

Well, I see why it won the Whitney Award for best romance.  This was a great story.  It had the struggles of leaving behind a life and starting a new one with new challenges.  It had the struggles of rugged, difficult country/surroundings.  It had wonderful characters, main and secondary.  But most of all it had the sweet relationship between the 2 main characters.  

This was not a romance with outward signs of romance, like lots of kissing or hugging, loving words whispered along with soft caresses.  This relationship developed with kindness, friendship, and mutual respect.  The love was there, ever present, but neither acted on it in an open way.  I appreciated the small, kind gestures they shared.  There was lots of comfort given to each other, without expectations.  

I also appreciated the spiritual journey that Julia went on.  She was a member of the church her entire life and never questioned her beliefs.  At the point of this book, she reads the Book of Mormon for the first time, at the age of 28.  I was brought up in the church as well.  Although I attended scripture classes as a teenager, I never read the Book of Mormon for myself until I was in college, away from home.  At some point,  each person has to decide for themselves what they believe and I liked reading about Julia's self discovery.

Warnings: Loved ones dying

I would let my 15 year old read this book.