BOOK REVIEW- THE OUTLAW'S REDEMPTION

Claiming His Child- Who would guess the most formidable adversary former gunslinger Hunter Mitchell ever faced would be a fiery, violet-eyed female? Now that he's served his time, Hunter intends to claim the daughter he's only just discovered. While the law is on his side this time, his daughter's devoted aunt certainly isn't.
Annabeth Silks can't bear to let a onetime outlaw take little Sarah. As the daughter of an infamous madam, she knows the hardship of an unstable home. But every glimpse of Hunter's reformed character dares Annabeth to look beyond his past…to the family and future she never thought to find.  AMAZON

I didn't expect it but I fell in love with this story. And it happened pretty quickly. I'm not even sure I can list all the reasons why. But here are a few...Hunter Mitchell and Annabeth Silks are both interesting people with separate crosses to bear. Their pasts are wildly different but still there are some things that have to be overcome. I guess I'm a sucker for an over comer story.
Sure I've seen the storyline of a gunslinger trying to walk the straight and narrow but this book had some unexpected elements to it as well. Who Annabeth's mother is for one thing. And the connections between Mattie (her mother), Mitchell and Annabeth gets more surprising as the story unwinds. Sarah is nine years old, living at Charity House, without mother or father but she does have Annabeth. No one realized that the desire of Hunter's heart has always been for a family of his own. And he has brutally lost that opportunity..twice. Now, he often thinks that is something he will never have; a wife who loves him and see him for who he is now, and a child. So at the very least, he will fight for his child. There are several other good secondary characters in the story too.
I also liked the subtle weaving of faith in God that is woven into the story. The author kept a delicate balance and kept the story interesting through out. The story just flowed and was over almost before I knew it.

P.S. What a sweet dedication to the book.