This is the third book in the Troublesome Creek series, featuring its heroine Copper Brown.  In this story Copper has returned to the farm in the Kentucky Mountains that has been given to her by her father.  She is newly widowed and now a single mother to a “precocious” toddler.  The old family farm is in tough shape and life in the mountains is a challenge to the young widow.

In the neighborhood old friends step in to lend help, including Copper’s childhood friend and first love John Pelfrey.  Due to the tragic nature of her husband’s death, Copper doesn’t believe she can ever dare to love again, and John’s strange and secret union to another woman from the mountains adds interest and tension to the every day business of living in the rural setting.  Many minute details of this life and the surrounding area give testament to the author’s love of Kentucky, and the spirit and faith of the people she writes about.

To be fair to Copper, I haven’t read books one and two in the series, so I haven’t “grown up” with her.  I found her character to be a bit unbelievable; Copper is presented as, incredibly beautiful, incredibly talented, and just a bit too incredible in everything about her.  I did enjoy John’s character, but found myself wishing he’d find someone else to fall in love with during his time away in Lexington.  This was an easy read, but nothing in it compels me to find books 1 & 2 and read them.

Reviewed by Jae Anderson