When the Storm Breaks

I love this author and her books are exception very good it keeps my interst and I am sending these books onto my daughtr in Indiana next week . she will enjoy them also Iam sure

I've always enjoyed historical fiction, and especially Bonnie Leon's WWII stories, though I admit I haven't read anything written by her in about six years. For some reason When the Storm Breaks didn't excite me very much. Maybe because it was the third book in a series and I hadn't read the first two? I liked the characters, the setting, the culture in Australia (then called Queensland because it was the 1870s) and the Aboriginal peoples. However, the conflict wasn't very unique. It was another "western-type" story where someone was going to lose their land due to harsh conditions. Then when the bank wouldn't loan the rancher the money, the man went to a loan shark--something like a 19th Century mobster who charged ridiculously high interest and extracted their payment in flesh if it didn't mean their requirements. Then, of course, the cattle must be nearly wiped out so the rancher's means of payment is trashed. Normally that would be a reasonable amount of tension for me, but I've read several stories like that lately, so maybe that's what bugged me. I did like the spiritual theme in regards to the heroine's witness to the native woman whom she called "friend", though in Queensland that was frowned upon just like whites associating with slaves in the south. Overall it was a good story. I just didn't hold my breath. Ironically, I read the story straight through. I think it's because I kept hoping I would really care about what happened in the story. Yeah, there was a ranch hand who was unjustly hanged. That did get to me a bit. But otherwise the story failed to jerk my heart-chain. At the end of the novel I was disappointed because I wanted to feel more, but then the story was over. So for fans who enjoy historical fiction you may like this one. I thought it was good, just not great.

Bonnie Leon has done it again, only better in this closing book of the Queensland Chronicles. Fire has swept through Douloo Station, destroying everything in it's path. With his family and servants living in a tent, Daniel finds himself frustrated and at the end of his rope. He appeals to the banker in Thornton Creek for a loan, but because he has no collateral the banker refuses to loan the money. Daniel turns to a shady character in Brisbane for a loan, putting up the station itself as collateral. Even though he feels in his gut it's not the right thing to do, he feels he has no choice. With his mother dependent upon him, with his wife, son and newborn daughter Daniel agrees to the terms of the loan. True to form, the "lone shark" becomes vicious demanding payment and when he doesn't receive it, retaliates, killing one of Daniel's workers. Fearing for his family, Daniel sends them to America to visit Rebecca's Aunt Mildren in Boston. Rebecca's servant and friend, accompanies them. As in all three books, Rebecca has tried to be a testimony to Callie, an aboriginee of Queensland, of her faith through teaching her to read. Callie has not responded until now and finds herself questioning and searching. When the Storm Breaks is the story of a family that has suffered hardship and come through finding that God is faithful even when His people are not. God provides, often at the very last minute. With a dramatic finish Bonnie has wrapped up all the lose ends in this series and tied them all together in this final book; the best in the Queensland Chronicles. Kudos for her!