"Jenna’s Cowboy" by Sharon Gillenwater

"Jenna’s Cowboy" by Sharon Gillenwater is a romance novel of sorts. It centers around a divorced woman, her child, and an old friend. Characteristic of most romance novels, Nate (the old friend) comes back to her town more dashing than when he left, with muscles to boot. Jenna herself is also described as good looking and athletic. Anyway, the story is quite predictable. Judging from the title, the reader knows that Jenna and Nate will end up together. Since this is published from Revell--a predominantly Christian publishing company--the reader also knows this entails matrimony of some sort. There is little romance in the book that is physical--a plus for Christian readers looking to avoid raunchy / trashy romance novels. There is some mention of kissing and affection, but there is nothing beyond that to cause readers to be reviled. Although Gillenwater does write about Jenna's family, the majority of the book revolves around Jenna and Nate, with events hosting her child in the background. So, readers can read some of this book, put it down, pick it up a week later, and not miss a beat. What makes this romance novel different from others is that the male is a war veteran from Iraq. Post-traumatic-stress-disorder is covered heavily. Descriptions of the Texas surroundings and rural lifestyle are included, too. As said before, this book is tiredly predictable. However, Gillenwater works her magic to make the reader keep turning those pages in placid entertainment.

Available January 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group