A Borrowed Dream (2018)

A Borrowed Dream (2018) by Amanda Cabot is the second book in her Cimarron Creek series. This book comes in all forms including eBook, and is 347 pages in length. With a full-time job and a very busy five-year old, A Borrowed Dream took me four days to read. I received a review copy of this novel in paperback form from Revell Books. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I give A Borrowed Dream 5 STARS. This story is a Christian Historical Romance.

About the Book

Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the town doctor’s excessive bleeding treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek’s dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life without love or family, a life where dreams rarely come true.

Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He’s managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.

With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.

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My Thoughts

A Borrowed Dream has a little bit of everything — a sweet friendship that becomes a wonderful romance, good friends who can be counted on for a laugh and guidance, a bit of suspense and mystery, a colorful town full of various personalities, a couple of the cutest children who manage to wriggle into the reader’s heart, and a two of the most vile of villains. There is definitely no way to be bored by this book!

Catherine Whitfield is the main character of this book, and boy does she hold a grudge! She hates doctors. The local doctor of Cimarron Creek single-handedly killed Catherine’s mother due to archaic medical practices. Now, Catherine does everything in her power to keep people as far away from the town doctor as possible. I can honestly say that I have never read a book before that dealt with a character hating on a medical professional, and I admit I found it interesting. In fact, I even found myself rallying to Catherine’s side as I can completely relate to Catherine’s feelings. Due to serious doctor negligence, my husband and I almost lost our daughter when she was three months old. Only by the grace of God, and one fantastic Children’s Hospital Emergency Team, did my daughter survive the gross negligence. To this day, I am always hesitant to take my daughter to anyone but her wonderful pediatrician. I do have a slight distrust of doctors. I mean, it’s called “practicing medicine.” That doesn’t really instill in me a sense that doctors know what they are doing. As I was reading, all of the old feelings of mistrust were rising up in me. It was at that moment that I realized one very big theme of this book — forgiveness. Neither the fictional Catherine, nor the very real me, should hold grudges against people. And, we definitely shouldn’t hold prejudices against an entire group of people because of the actions of one. That completely goes against everything Jesus teaches. Halfway through this book, I realized I still needed to forgive the doctors who did not treat my daughter appropriately. I needed to forgive and move on. It was like God reached into my heart and told me, “Nicole, it’s time to let that anger go.” I love that God was able to work through this wonderful story and change my heart for the better!

This book does deal with some really ugly truths. As a warning to sensitive readers, child abuse, rape, adoption, murder-suicide, and the criminal underbelly of society are all topics dealt with in this novel. I felt these topics were handled in a very respectful manner, but I do think it should be known going into this novel that things get very heavy. With that said, it is a lovely story of friendship, protection, forgiveness, and grace as well. Literally, this book has it all!

Overall, A Borrowed Dream is a very well-written, well-crafted story that I highly recommend. It is a fast-paced and highly engaging read. I very much look forward to book 3 in this series. If you are looking for a book that is “un-put-downable” and forces the reader to really look inside to the prejudices that may be within, then I recommend running to the nearest bookstore and purchasing a copy of A Borrowed Dream. You will not be disappointed!

Giveaway

I am giving away ONE (1) paperback copy of A Borrowed Dream by Amanda Cabot. The giveaway begins today, 4-12-18 at 10:00 am (PST) and ends on Monday, 4-16-18 at 12:00 pm (PST). To enter, click on the Rafflecopter link below. Good luck!

Congrats to Perrianne A.!

YOU HAVE WON THIS GIVEAWAY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.

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