By Mary Connealy
Bethany House, 2021
293 pages
Amazon Description: Left with little back in Missouri, Kevin Hunt takes his younger siblings on a journey to Wyoming when he receives news that he’s inheriting part of a ranch. The catch is that the ranch is also being given to a half brother he never knew existed. Turns out, Kevin’s supposedly dead father led a secret and scandalous life.
But danger seems to track Kevin along the way, and he wonders if his half brother, Wyatt, is behind the attacks. Finally arriving at the ranch, everyone is at each other’s throats and the only one willing to stand in between is Winona Hawkins, a nearby schoolmarm.
Despite being a long-time friend to Wyatt, Winona can’t help but be drawn to the earnest, kind Kevin–and that puts her in the cross hairs of somebody’s dangerous plot. Will they all be able to put aside their differences long enough to keep anyone from getting truly hurt?
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I’ve been reading Mary Connealy’s books religiously for a long time, and I’m so excited about her new Brothers in Arms series, of which Braced for Love is book one. The idea of finding out your dad had multiple families and then set up a complicated and unexpected will that brings them together is so fascinating and brings up all kinds of potential problems and joys. This book is really an exploration of family — who makes up your family and how to honor your family, whether they deserve it or not.
I really loved how the brothers are all so different but also in some ways the same. They have their own baggage to deal with, and have a good-for-nothing father brings them together as much as it pushes them apart. The dynamics between the brothers and the extended family they have surrounding them are interesting to say the least.
My favorite part about Mary Connealy is that she’s funny. Her characters think and say witty things that you can totally imagine a real person thinking and saying, and get themselves in to situations that lead to humor. I give Braced for Love two thumbs up and can’t wait for the next book in the series (A Man with a Past) which releases July 6th.
More books by Mary Connealy:
My daughter and I have read quite a few Mary Connealy books, but I didn’t know that she has a new series out! This is going on my to be read list.
Yes, there are two more books planned and I’m very excited for them!