Book Review: "A Love to Last Forever" by Tracie Peterson

All Beth Gallatin has really wanted out of life is to settle down in one town, with one man, and raise a family. But with her father's roaming ways, she's always been denied that dream; instead, she found solace in reading romantic books. With her father's passing, she can, for the first time, dare to claim the rugged Montana frontier as her home. Nick Lassiter has loved Beth since she first came to town, but she's always seemed to think of him more as a brother. Just when he finally gets Beth to consider him, however, a challenger threatens the affection growing between them. But neither Nick nor Beth is prepared when they must face the consequences of Nick's complicated past. As a past fraught with unwise choices and guilt invades their world, can Nick and Beth find a love that will last forever?

This book continues the story of the Gallatin sisters and this book focus on Beth, the sister with the romantic dreams and wishes. She's an avid reader of dime store novels and seeks to find that storybook romance in her real life. Unfortunately for her, it's not as easy as for her to find true love as it is for the heroines in her books. Beth is the type of character I'm not really too fond of in books. I really don't like heroines that can't make up their minds about what they want. It's ok to be have goals and hope to attain them one day, but I despise wishy-washy folks. I did though enjoy reading about Beth's adventures with her sisters. It's nice to read about families that are still close even when they are adults. The historical bits are fun to read, and I still like reading about how they are running the house as a stop for travelers.

The romance in this book is very much there although slightly rushed. I thought the wedding in this book came rather abruptly, it seemed like it came out of nowhere. Obviously the signs were all there, but I just thought there would be more build up and growth of a relationship. The biggest thing that really bugged me about the book was the fact that the sisters did the whole laudanum trick again, this time on an entire saloon. I honestly cannot believe that they did not learn from their previous time doing this with their now brother-in-law, that this is very dangerous. It's played off for laughs but I just can't believe that they thought this was a smart idea. To be honest the whole book I felt sorta lackluster while reading it. I enjoyed it, as I always do Tracie's books. It was just that with this book, I felt that everything in the story has been written before in other books. There wasn't really anything that stood out to me to make this one special. Perhaps my problem is that since I've read all of Tracie's books, I can easily spot when a storyline gets reused. For a new fan, this won't be a problem and it is a very enjoyable book. Hopefully the third book in the series will be a little better for me.

A Love to Last Forever by Tracie Peterson is published by Bethany House (2009)