Magnolia Creek

I love books by Lavyra Spencer (sp) and have read them all. She stopped writing books and I was CRUSHED. UNTIL I found Jill Marie Landis. Ms. Landis is a great romantic writer!!! I'm really tired of poor girls falling in love with spoiled dukes and princes. This is like real people! YEAH, Keep those books coming!!

Dr. Dru Talbot has returned from the Civil War looking forward to the life he will lead with his "new" wife Sara. When he returns home he discovers he's in for the shock of his life. Sara is there, having just returned herself, but she's not alone. With her is her daughter, who is way to young to belong to Dru. Sara was lead to believe Dru was dead and being the naive, backwoods girl she was, fell under the spell of a Yankee soldier, who used her and left her with a baby. Sara returns to Kentucky and is an outcast by everyone except Dru's mentally disturbed sister, who takes her in. Can the damage done to this family be repaired??? Can mistakes be forgiven??? Can love conquer all???This book was absolutely wonderful. It was so easy to read and had characters who seemed completely believable and sincere. I agree with the other reviewer that it is nice to read books about characters other than the ton and royalty. It is great to read about our country and the past it has with characters who are written to fit right in to the time period. The characters were well developed and the storyline seemed to be well thought out before the author started writing the book. If you love romances or books about America's history you will love Magnolia Creek.Magnolia Creek was such a good read that I had the book finished in just two days! It was just too good to put down. I just love a book that leaves you wanting more after the last page and this book definitely does that. These characters seem so real that they become part of you and you miss them when you are finished. This was my first Jill Marie Landis book and I guarantee it won't be my last! A great book to be read again and again.

Despite all the rave reviews, I wasn't in the mood for a novel set in post-Civil War. Obviously it'd been a while since I read a Jill Marie Landis story because the focus shouldn't have been on the setting at all. I'd forgotten what a great story teller Ms. Landis was - no matter what the era. Sara and Dru haven't been around each other much but know as all young lovers seem to immediately know that they are meant for each other and thus they marry right before he goes off to join the war. He's young and she's even younger at 17. When Dru gets home 6 years later, everything and everyone has changed, including himself.Dru's image of the Sara he carried in his heart for the 6 celibate years he was away from her is crushed when he returns and finds his wife with her baby who is much too young to be his child.How Dru and Sara deal with that and how they grow from that is the crux of this heart wrenching love story. I wet a few pages reading this endearing romance about idealistic young lovers who thought they had the perfect love to two adults who come to realize the meaning of what love is really all about.The secondary characters also make this book. Louzanna, Jamie, Sara's grandfather Daniel and A little girl crying for her "Woo" have been engraved in my previously-thought-immune-to-boo-hoo-about finctional-characters-heart.This is a love story revisisted. About redemption. And Ms. Landis has written another keeper for us romance fans.

I am not a romance novel reader per say. I happened upon this book by accident. Starting reading it to pass the time, and found I couldn't put it down. This may be a romance novel, but the story is beyond captivating. The charachters came to life in my head as I read. This is obviously the first book of Jill Marie Landis's I have read but I'm certain it won't be the last.

As Kentucky struggles to recover from the consequences of the Civil War, her people do not easily forget the transgressions of the past. Small town Magnolia Creeks bears the memory of Sara Collier, a widowed woman who dared to flaunt her relationship with a Yankee soldier before disappearing with him. Now the war has ended, and with nowhere else to go, Sara returns to the town that would prefer to reject her and her small child. Only Lou, her former husband's sister, opens her doors to Sara.Dru Talbet rises from the dead to return home, dreaming of the bride he left behind. Little does he suspect that he has been reported dead. The months and years of surgeon's life during the war have taken their toll, and only the memory of Sara has kept him going. But the war exacts a higher price than just battle service when he's faced with proof of his wife's infidelity. As he sets up practice in Magnolia Creek, he will find the town does not forgive him easily for not forcing Sara to leave immediately. Worse, Dru can neither easily forgive nor forget Sara's infidelity, or his own responsibility in the past.A bold and daring tale of the aftermath of the Civil War, author Jill Marie Landis creates a searing tale of love and betrayal in MAGNOLIA CREEK. Sara's justifiable infidelity challenges readers' perceptions of right and wrong, even as she wins their hearts with her courage and determination. Dru's own responsibility in events gone awry is not to be dismissed, either, as he struggles with the town's opinion of his wife, his feelings, and his attraction to the woman he struggles to scorn. Secondary characters likewise spring vividly to life from Dru's hysterical sister to the devoted freedman who once lived their slave. With surprising plot turns and entrancing characterizations, readers will be mesmerized by this masterful storyteller's voice. Add this one to the keeper shelf. MAGNOLIA CREEK earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence.