Straight Reading from the Library: Reconstructing Jackson by Holly Bush

Thanks to Goddess Fish Promotions for sending me this book to review. Be sure to leave a comment because Holly will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.  There are other reviews as well--check them out here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/02/virtual-review-tour-reconstructing.html  Want to know what the book is about?

READ THE BLURB

1867 . . . Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family’s plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over.

Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks and holds together her family’s meager property. A violent brother and a drunken father plot to marry her off, and gain a new horse in the bargain. But Belle’s got other plans, and risks her life to reach them.

Reed is captivated by Belle from their first meeting, but wheelchair bound, is unable to protect her from violence. Bleak times will challenge Reed and Belle's courage and dreams as they forge a new beginning from the ashes of war and ignorance.

READ THE REVIEW 

Reconstructing Jackson is an interesting look into the USA following the Civil War.  While I don't read a lot of historical romance, I do love to read early American.  As one who cut my teeth on Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour, the stories about how the US came to be have always fascinated me.  Reconstructing Jackson was no exception.

It wasn't an easy read.  Times are difficult for everyone in the book from the crippled hero, to the abused heroine, to the "darkies" who are now technically free, but still have to fight for every freedom we take for granted.  Ms. Bush has done a good job painting a picture of the time.  I admit to struggling to like our hero at first. It's difficult to sympathize with a confederate soldier's opinions on things in this day and age.  Still, Reed redeems himself over time.  Thankfully, he earns the love of a good woman to help him through.

Part romance, part historical fiction, Reconstructing Jackson was a story which satisfied both the desires of my heart and the needs of my head.  If you're a fan of early American historical romances, then this is one I can easily recommend.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Holly Bush was born in western Pennsylvania to two avid readers. There was not a room in her home that did not hold a full bookcase. She worked in the hospitality industry, owning a restaurant for twenty years and recently worked as the sales and marketing director in the hospitality/tourism industry and is credited with building traffic to capacity for a local farm tour, bringing guests from twenty-two states, booked two years out.  Holly has been a marketing consultant to start-up businesses and has done public speaking on the subject.

Holly has been writing all of her life and is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, particularly political and historical works. She has written four romance novels, all set in the U.S. West in the mid 1800’s. She frequently attends writing conferences, and has always been a member of a writer’s group.

Holly is a gardener, a news junkie, has been an active member of her local library board and loves to spend time near the ocean. She is the proud mother of two daughters and the wife of a man more than a few years her junior.

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