His Steadfast Love by Golden Keyes Parsons

Texan beauty, Amanda Belle, never really had to pay much attention to politics until the Civil War hits close to home for her. Prior to the outbreak of the war, she's been entertaining the company of Kent Littlefield, an officer in the Union Army. When Texas joins the Confederacy, her brother Daniel signs up with the men in gray. As the years of the war pass, Amanda's loyalty is divided between the man she loves and the family she holds dear. She questions her very faith when circumstances arise that shake her to her core. But through the course of the brutal war, will she rediscover her faith and who will be hurt by whatever decision she makes?

I love to read about the Civil War. It's really my favorite time period in history. To be perfectly honest, I felt that the book dragged a little at first. But once I got into it, I enjoyed it.

Most books that I've read about the Civil War, don't focus on Texas. As a Texan, I was happy to read one that focuses on my state. Amanda's in a hard position. She loves her brother. And she's in love with Kent. But her biggest fear is that they will face each other on the field of battle and one of the men she loves will be lost forever. She questions where is God in the midst of the conflict and whose side is He on? At one point she even goes so far to inform her pastor father that she wants nothing to do with a God who evidently doesn't care. Of course her mind changes when she must cling to her faith.

When her brother returns home injured, Amanda must come face to face with where her feelings really lie. War's changed her brother from the boy he was before heading off into a man full of bitterness. She realizes that it's not a good thing to keep so much bitterness bottled up inside and makes the decision that should Kent ask her, she will marry him and try to help heal both families.

Amanda's character develops and changes the most in the book. She goes from the naive young girl to a mature woman. War and death will do that. She also realizes that she's not the pampered girl that she once was. She's learned the benefit of hard work.

While I did enjoy the book, there were parts I didn't care for. At times, it felt that the writing was very stilted and that the author expected the reader to have an understanding of what makes the characters tick. I could never make up my mind completely where Amanda stood on the issue of slavery despite being a slave owner.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.