Rekindled (Fountain Creek Chronicles, Book 1)

Author: Tamera Alexander

Publisher: Bethany House

Published Date: 2006

Softcover; 334 pages

Genre: Christian Fiction/Romance

ISBN# 978-0-7642-0108-0

FTC FYI: library copy

“At a different time, in a different place, under different circumstances… could two people fall in love once again?”

Ten years ago Kathryn Jennings made a vow. For better or worse. And that promise still holds true, even though her marriage has not turned out as she expected. When her husband fails to return home one stormy winter night, she struggles to keep their ranch, but her efforts are blocked at every turn. After a shocking glimpse into her husband’s past, Kathryn uncovers a hidden truth. What she wouldn’t give to turn back time and be able to love her husband for the man that he was, not for the man she always wanted him to be.

Larson Jennings has spent his entire life running from a broken past, unable to trust, reluctant to try again. One fateful night, his life takes an unexpected twist, and soon he is forced to make a choice. Whatever he chooses, his decision may cost him his life.

Though Larson and Kathryn’s many years of marriage have been happy, hard times and the inability to conceive have added to the growing tension in their relationship. Both Larson and Kathryn realize that something is missing, though neither is sure what it is or what to do about it.

Larson rides out to take care of some business matters and stops in a ravine for the night where he is attacked. While trying to get away, Larson takes shelter in a nearby shack. Too late, he realizes it is full of explosives. The explosion and subsequent burning nearly take Larson’s life.

When Larson fails to return, Kathryn does her best to keep the ranch up and running. Most of the ranch hands quit, believing Larson died after becoming lost in a storm. An accident reveals that Larson and Kathryn’s last night together resulted in a long-awaited pregnancy. After a series of devastating events, the ranch goes into foreclosure and Kathryn moves into Willow Springs to work. Week after week she hopes for her husband’s return while facing the realization that something terrible has happened and he will never see their child. A grisly discovery in a ravine confirms what everyone has long suspected. Larson is dead.

After several months in the care of an unlikely yet loving couple, Larson regains his strength and returns to his ranch to find it abandoned. Reaching Willow Springs, he sees a small group gathered around an open grave. He recognizes Kathryn and notices she is with child. The realization that she has been with another man since he left cuts deeply. He is surprised to find the grave is marked with his name. Realizing that his scars have made him unrecognizable, that he has no money to save his ranch and believing he has nothing left to give Kathryn, Larson takes a new identity as “Jacob.”

Despite wanting to give Kathryn the chance at a new life, Larson can’t stay away from her. When he sees her coming and going from the back door of the town brothel, he mistakenly believes he understands how she became with child. After Kathryn gets a job as a housekeeper at Casaroja, the ranch owned by a man who has long desired Larson’s land, he gets hired on as a stable manager so he can keep an eye on her. Larson’s feelings swing between the love he feels for the woman he now realizes he never fully appreciated and the hurt he feels by her supposed betrayal, evidenced by the growing child within her. Despite everything, Larson still needs Kathryn to want him.

The longer Kathryn is without her husband, the more she realizes that she didn’t truly appreciate the man he was. She deeply mourns the loss of her husband, but something about the gentle Jacob keeps drawing Kathryn’s attention. She wishes she could go back and accept her husband for the man he was instead of trying to make him into the man she wanted. She fights her growing attraction to quiet and genuine Jacob but he still finds a way in to her heart.

Rekindled is a good story that I enjoyed for many reasons. It is different than most other romance-type novels because it’s about a married couple, something that I don’t come across often. I found it to be a mature (intellectually, not inappropriately) and relatable story. Like a lot of Christian fiction, the book is clean and there are several scriptural references but nothing too preachy. As is typical with Christian fiction as well, the characters are put through several horrible events, nearly losing all hope, before their hearts are turned to Christ.

The story did drag a little at times, but my interest in seeing how things would end up kept me turning the pages. The conclusion is full of action and suspense. I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted the big “reveal” to go, and I liked the way things played out. I found the interactions between Larson/Jacob and Kathryn interesting and the conclusion of their story quite satisfying. I reread Rekindled before writing this review and enjoyed it just as much the second time through.

My Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Would I-

• read it again? I hope to read it again someday, but I’d like to read the next two books in the series first

• recommend it? Yes, especially to married women who enjoy a good historical romance set in the West

• read more by this author? Definitely. Tamera Alexander has another series as well that I would like to read.