💐🩺💕 “Against the Wind” (Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing #2) (2023) 💕🩺💐 – Book Review

 

MY REVIEW 

 

 

Series: Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing (Book #2)
Paperback: 368 Pages
Publisher: Revell Books (October 3, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0800740653
ISBN-13: 978-0800740658
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information 
 

“Doctor-in-training Louisa Vaughn has no intention of remaining in Sweetwater Crossing. She's just there for a few days to help a friend. But she can't abandon the injured man she finds at the side of the road. Until his broken leg heals, she'll serve as the town's doctor and midwife. She may not be fully qualified yet, but surely she's better than nothing.

 

Josh Porter's plans to win his grandfather's challenge and fulfill his father's final wish to gain full control of the family business hit a roadblock when he breaks his leg. But his enforced stay in Sweetwater Crossing gives him new ideas about the expansion of the company into new territory--ideas Louisa could help turn into reality.

 

If only the town were more accepting of Louisa's talents! Someone is determined to convince her to abandon her dream of healing others. Can Josh help her uncover the person behind the threats before it's too late? And is there any future for them together when neither of them plans to stay?” 

 

Thank you in advance to the publisher, Revell Books (a division of Baker Books), for providing an advanced review copy through Interviews & Reviews. A positive review was not required, and all words are my own. 

This is the second book in the Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing series. The first book was the first one I’d read by the author despite having her Texas Crossroads series on my TBR list. 

 

I got those books through both a library book sale and eBay. And, being from Texas, any books set there, I tend to want to read them as a way of revisiting my home state. Last time I was there was in November 2005 for a NASCAR race. 

 

Moving on …

 

Having read the first book, and intrigued by the way Louisa Vaughn left Sweetwater Crossing – I KNEW I had to read this. Those who haven’t read After the Shadows, it is STRONGLY recommended and HIGHLY encouraged to do so. Some of the events referenced here, as well as some of the characters, were established in that book.

 

For those who have read the first one, Louisa Vaughn left quite angry at her older sister – not knowing the full scale of what her sister had been through in her short time away.

 

In the first book, Emily Vaughn had returned to Sweetwater Crossing after the death of her first husband, George. What no one knew – she was a battered wife. She only told Craig, and Louisa had no idea. 

 

When Emily arrived, she found her father dead – an apparent suicide. However, as the story went on, it was discovered her father was the victim of foul play (among other citizens throughout the story).

 

However, as the result of his death, Emily had to turn their home – Finley House – into a boardinghouse to make ends meet. This angered younger sister Louisa so much, that she left their town and went to Cimmaron Creek, where she became a doctor-in-training and midwife. This also ties in with Doc Sheridan and the previous story. 

 

The middle sister, Joanna was in Europe at the time, and as of this book – she still is, even missing some family weddings between both books. 

 

Readers will see the return of the following characters: 

 

👒 Emily (owns/runs the Finley House Boarding House)

🩺 Louisa (doctor-in-training/midwife)

🏫 Craig (schoolteacher)

🧸 Noah (Craig’s son)

🏫 Gertrude Neville 

🏠 Mrs. Carmichael

🏛️ Mayor Alcott

⚖️ Sheriff Granger

👱🏻‍♀️ Alice (marries Pastor David Grant)

🎀 Jane (Alice’s daughter)

⛪ David

🏫 Beulah (a child with Downs Syndrome)

👨🏻‍🌾 Thomas Neville

🥫 Adam Bentley (owns/runs mercantile)

 

Cabot introduces new characters:

 

👩🏻 Tina Bentley (Adam’s wife, did not recall her in book #1)

🐎 Josh Porter 

👨🏻 Raymond Knapp (Adam and Tina’s nephew)

🧵 Caroline (seamstress, becomes manager of Porter’s)

 

This does have some darker elements to it, and readers are highly advised to take caution when reading. There is a tragic accident during construction of a building, a miscarriage/premature birth (somewhat detailed), and a mother/child death resulting from childbirth. These subjects can be difficult, if not disturbing for some readers. 

 

Like the previous book; even with all the other characters; this is only a dual POV book – Louisa and Josh’s views.

 

This picks up right after the first book with Louisa heading back to Sweetwater Crossing to attend Doc Sheridan’s funeral with Mrs. Sheridan. His death happened at the end of the first book. Her friend, and the Doc’s daughter – Phoebe – doesn’t return at all. She also doesn’t think Louisa has a future there. 

 

On the way, Louisa meets up with Josh Porter who has been thrown from his horse and has a broken leg. He is traveling and sampling foods to take back to New York. He’s in a competition with his cousin to gain control of Porter & Sons (P&S) from his grandfather. Josh wants to fulfill a promise he made to his dad. An accident, in which he loses his horse (Zeus), derails him.

 

Louisa sets Josh’s leg in a cast and decides to temporarily stay in Sweetwater Crossing until his cast can be removed. Having been against the idea of her childhood home being used as a boarding house, it is the first place she thinks of having Josh stay. It is clear her time away has helped her. 

 

After the funeral of Doc Sheridan, his widow gives Louisa the keys to his office and everything in it. This gives Louisa a reason to stay as she slowly sees the possibility to become the town’s first woman doctor and midwife despite opposition from some in town. There are some that feel women cannot be doctors. 

 

While Josh is sidelined from his goal, after seeing the Sunday homes, he sees an opportunity for a tearoom and a store that can bring a bit of New York, Britain, and Europe to the small town. Some are excited, others are not. The homes were first talked about in After the Shadows and belonging to two widows who later ended up dead. It is clear Adam Bentley has an issue with Josh’s idea despite the mayor heartily agreeing with Josh. 

 

Josh looks to Louisa for ideas and designs, even picking out China settings for the tearoom. At first, he sees it as a potential “pitch” to his grandfather to gain control of the company. As he and Louisa invest more time in it – it becomes something solely his – Porter’s. He is afraid his grandfather will want to control it. 

 

Still, he wants to honor the promise to his father to gain control of the company. Though he begins to feel content in Sweetwater Crossing, almost happy to be there. However, he does want to recover his horse, and get back to NY and Winifred. Winifred is the reason Louisa isn’t more open about her feelings for Josh. 

 

While Louisa is trying to gain the trust of the town in becoming their “doctor”, she has highs and lows. Some of the “lows” pile up, starting with an injury that even Sheriff Granger knew couldn’t have been healed (broken neck). Louisa is then subjected to some brutal accusations, yet she maintains her resolve. 

 

She is also being courted by Raymond who doesn’t think she should be a doctor or a midwife. While she enjoys Raymond’s company, it is clear that this romance is not going anywhere. And, it is clear who Louisa truly cares for, even if Josh is heading back to NY. 

 

Despite the opposition around them, Josh and Louisa are determined to succeed in their goals in town. However, the romance between them has a huge divide to conquer despite their mutual feelings. Would Louisa be better off in NY, or is Josh going to abandon a promise for love?

 

Tragedy, sabotage, and scandals abound in this novel – one that keeps going until the last page has been read. 

 

For me, Against the Wind started off promising and held my interest for a while. But, as it went on, it seemed to lag with the everyday stuff and focus too much on the tearoom and store. I loved how Josh and Louisa worked on it together, and that was what brought them together eventually, as well as their mutual admiration and respect for each other. I also like that she was able to recover his horse for him. 

 

The romance was already in an interesting position to start with, as Josh was practically engaged to Winifred back in New York. Then Louisa begins being courted by Raymond – which, I thought took up too much space. It isn’t until about ¾ (75%) into the book, Josh realizes he can’t picture a life without Louisa, and understands what she told him about love during one of their first meals together. She was aghast when he equated it to a business transaction as opposed to a fairytale. 

 

It is also around this time (75%/¾) that the mystery around the danger to Louisa’s life begins, which gave it very little time to build up. It almost seemed anticlimactic – mentioned, and very brief. I would’ve expected, for what was going on and the back of the book blurb, the mystery to be a bigger part of the story. The culprit was, for me, easily guessed; and the motivation was clear. 

 

Given how long it took for the romance to build up, the ending to the book seemed far too abrupt and short, almost as if it was ended that way due to a word count restriction. 

 

There was one incident that didn’t get (to me) a satisfactory conclusion. It is one of the first cases Louisa comes across – a girl (Violet) has a bad cough, Louisa offers to help her, the mother refuses despite being told it was what Doc Sheridan would give (the mother doubts this), and that is the end of the mention of the girl. I would’ve liked to known what happened to her – did she get better or worse? 

 

That said ...

 

I loved seeing both Josh and Louisa make their dreams a reality despite opposition, sometimes from the same people. Their resiliency and determination in the face of adversity was inspiring.

 

Without giving a spoiler, a serious scene is diffused with some humor. I too had to laugh about Louisa wielding a smoked ham as a weapon. Though, I ended up with a few tears for what happened to the ham. Another laugh I had, was a letter from Winifred. It was absolutely hysterical and Josh’s reaction was the cherry on top. 

 

I love how the author included the first book title in this book, as well as referenced the title of this one. It refers to the sisters and moments in their lives or what they are going though/have gone through. Emily’s “title” is in a reveal to her sister about her marriage to George. Louisa’s is in a conversation with Josh.  

 

There was a moment where Adam was talking about Tina’s headaches and needing to be in a dark room. Louisa knew it was a migraine as she’d heard about them, I can definitely agree with this as I have had quite a few bad ones. One last three days and I was sensitive to light, sound, and touch. It is interesting to note the word for the intense headaches dates back to ancient Egypt in 3000 B.C.

 

Despite the good points, I found myself struggling to get through this book despite reading it for hours on end. This isn’t too surprising, some “middle” books suffer from what I call MBS – middle book syndrome. They’re solely to connect the first one to the last one. That’s not to say I didn’t like the book, it just didn’t “wow” me. 

 

Given the teaser at the end for book three, readers will likely want to read it! I know I’m definitely going to put it as a MUST-READ on my TBR list.

 

I also can’t wait to see all three books together. The covers of the first two are beautiful (still partial to the first book), but the spines are GORGEOUS!! 

Despite being from a primarily Christian publisher, this had minor themes of faith in it. Characters prayed a bit, and went to church. It doesn’t come off as if one is being preached to or reading a sermon.

 

 

 

RATING:  

 

4 (3.7) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads  

  

4 (3.7) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub  

 

4 (3.7) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html; update: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html) 

 

 

Previous Book in the Series:

Series: Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing (Book #1)
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Revell (March 21, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN: 0800740645
ISBN-13: 978-0800740641
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information

“A brighter future awaits – if she can escape the shadows of the past

 

Emily Leland sheds no tears when her abusive husband is killed in a bar fight, but what awaits her back home in Sweetwater Crossing is far from the welcome and comfort she expected. First she discovers her father has died under mysterious circumstances. Then the house where the new schoolteacher, Craig Ferguson, and his son are supposed to board burns, leaving them homeless. When Emily proposes turning the family home into a boardinghouse, her sister is so incensed that she leaves town.

 

Alone and broke, her family name sullied by controversy, Emily is determined to solve the mystery of her father's death – and to aid Craig Ferguson, despite her fears of men. The widowed schoolmaster proves to be a devoted father, an innovative teacher, and an unexpected ally. As they work to uncover the truth, they just may find the key to unlock a future neither one could have imagined.”

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

AMANDA CABOT is the bestselling author of After the Shadows, as well as several historical and contemporary romance series, including Mesquite Springs, Cimarron Creek Trilogy, Texas Crossroads, Texas Dreams, and Westward Winds. Her books have been finalists for the ACFW Carol Awards, the HOLT Medallion, and the Booksellers’ Best. She lives in Wyoming. Learn more at www.amandacabot.com.  

 

 

You can find her on the following social media outlets:

 

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/

 

 

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