THE PRICE OF TRUST by Amanda Stephan

Carly Richards is on the run and on her own. She is dodging her ex-fiance, Ian, who is abusive, possessive and rich. His money allows him to find her every time. When her car conks out in a small town in Montana she's sure he won't find her there. She is given a job at the hardware store and allowed to live in the small apartment above the store. She makes some friends but doesn't want to get to settled because she's sure she'll be leaving soon. That is until she meets Joe Baird, the handsome farmer she could easily fall in love with. Joe's been burned by one fiance, can he trust Carly not to run??? Will Carly find the faith and courage to stay and let God take care of the rest???

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. There were many elements that caught my attention. One was the zippy dialog and it was chuck-full! Another was the banter between the brothers (as well as Carly & Kelly). I LOVED that! It was fun and made me want to join in. I liked how there was an underlying message about dependence on the Lord to provide and meet out needs. Carly had all the traits I like in a heroine. She was spunky, sassy and yet had an inner strength to be admired. Joe was a very romantic hero. You can see why Carly would fall for him. There were a couple of places in the story where I felt how Joe reacted or the actions he "didn't" take seemed a bit out of character to me. I think Joe's brother, Todd, and his girlfriend, Kelly were a wonderful addition to the story. I also enjoyed the whole suspense surrounding "if" and "when" Ian would come for Carly. Overall I thought this was a great story and I would definitely recommend it. I am looking forward to future works from this author!