Title: Unbroken
Author: Rebekah A. Morris
Series: Triple Creek Ranch, #1
Genre: Christian/Literary Fiction
Age-Range: 12+ (upper middle grade/young adult)
Era: 1800s/early 1900s
Setting: the West (yes, that is the best I can do!)
Publisher: Read Another Page Publishing
Source: from author (as a gift)
Rating: 4/5 stars
Content: 1/5. Mentions of injuries. No language. No sexual content (unless you count some kisses between Jenelle and Norman … but there were no details; literally, ‘He kissed her.’)
Unbroken by Rebekah A. Morris
Difficulties arise at Triple Creek Ranch when Orlena, Norman Mavrich’s spoiled, pampered younger sister comes to live with her brother and his wife.
The move is much against Orlena’s wishes, and she doesn’t hesitate to let everyone know it. Time and again Mr. and Mrs. Mavrich are driven to their knees to find strength to face another day.
Join the young ranch boss, Norman Mavrich, his sweet wife, Jenelle, and the rest of the members of Triple Creek Ranch as they strive to be examples of Christ to the unbroken newcomer.
Buy on Amazon (free in ebook format!) ~ Add on Goodreads
I wrote the review as a freewrite today, so it’s not very organized, but here goes. 🙂
A couple months back I read the book Unbroken (Triple Creek Ranch, #1) by Rebekah A. Morris. Unbroken is the story of a rich city girl who, after the death of her grandmother, comes to live on a ranch with her brother and his wife.
This girl, Orlena Mavrich, is very spoiled and knows absolutely nothing about farm life. Although humorous at times, this is definitely a problem. Her brother, Norman, and his wife, Jenelle, are determined to show Orlena God’s love … and hopefully cure her of her tantrums!
Unbroken is a fantastic book. Besides being an exciting, sometimes humorous story full of little adventures, it also has some wonderful messages. Jenelle, in particular, is a wonderful example of Christian perseverance, gracefulness, gentleness, and sweetness.
Norman and Jenelle were really sweet together, and seeing Orlena change over time was really cool.
I do have a few negatives about this book, however. It’s squeaky clean Christian fiction … so perhaps the author didn’t want to go into it … but I thought perhaps Jenelle was pregnant. It certainly seemed like it. Always tired, dizzy spells … all the classic signs. Maybe I just have too active an imagination (or like babies a lot), but … yeah. That’s what I thought was happening! And yet … the weeks pass … and no mentions of an incoming baby! So maybe Jenelle just was tired from managing Orlena. But … but … but … I want there to be a baby! 😛
Then there was some head-hopping. If you’re writing from a more omniscient POV, this is okay, but I don’t think the author really was. She wasn’t telling the story; she was living it. While this makes the story more exciting and engaging, it also brings forth the death-trap, said head-hopping. You can only live a story in one head at a time. 😉
Before I move past the negatives, one more thing … I’d have liked some more background, some more set dates! What year are we in? How long have Jenelle and Norman been married? How much age-difference is there between Norman and Orlena? More details about their parents? More details about their childhood, especially Norman’s? Perhaps these will be given in the next book, though.
However, these things didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the story much. I still found it entertaining and delightful and sweet and sad and joyful. Miss Morris really knows how to bring all the emotions to play. And her books are so clean … it’s almost miraculous. I sit there going, “Where does the conflict come from!?” But it’s there, none-the-less. (Just kidding … but it’s kinda true; a lot of authors do add content in for the sake of conflict! Messed up, I know!)
Well, I hear the timer. Time to go.
~Kellyn Roth
