My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains
By Susan Page Davis
Carmela Wade is a young orphan who has been raised by her uncle since the age of twelve. She is now twenty and for the last eight years, her uncle has forced her to travel the states and entertain people with a made up story about being an Indian captive as a child. She longs to be free of the life she lives, but is afraid of her uncle and unsure how she will support herself if she breaks free from him. When the two of them are traveling by stage to yet another show, she finds herself in the company of Deputy Freeland McKay and his prisoner. As they travel, they discover that Indians have raided and burned some of the stage stops and they are afraid of what they may find as they continue traveling. When a band of outlaws attacks, both of the stage coach employees are killed and her uncle is shot and dragged off by the outlaws. She is left alone with the Deputy and his prisoner, who tricks her into setting him free. Her and Freeland must now travel on foot to the next stop and try to find help so they can rescue her uncle. As they spend time together, feelings develop and Carmela is hopeful that she can have a normal life after all of this. She is hindered by the secrets of her past and her own fears. Can she find her way to the truth, and in so doing, find her way to love? This book was quite enjoyable and I really liked the different twists and the layers to the characters. I would recommend it anyone who enjoys reading historical romance. I received a free copy of this book for my honest review from NetGalley.

I liked Susan Page Davis' new book, My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains. It was an enjoyable read with memorable characters. I really felt for the main character, Carmela.
She has been with her horrible guardian for seven years. Uncle Silas has forced her to give speeches about being captured by Indians and her six months with them. She is forced to tell of her mistreatment and her face bears the tattoos the Indians branded on her face. Only it is all lies. Uncle Silas is using her to make money and now Carmela wants out of the deception. Enter her knight in shining armor, Freeland McKay. The two of them are thrown together in some dangerous and some romantic situations.
I think my favorite part of the book, is when other young women who have actually been kidnapped by Indians and escaped, come to Carmela for help. I think her reactions and advice show Carmela's true character.
I give this book four out of five stars.

A well written historical/western. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. If you enjoy a good clean quick read I recommend this book.

Carmela finds herself living a lie. Being an orphan she is raised by her uncle. Her life with her uncle brings him his income. And she begins to have feelings of guilt and doesn't want her past to also be her future.

I found this to be a really sweet read and I am glad that I was able to read it. I enjoyed the character of Carmela and she matures, learns about life and about herself and how to make choices and decisions. I think if you like western historicals, that you will enjoy this book, the people in it, the good and the not-so-good ones. It's a good Christian read and have enjoyed this and other books from this author.

I received an ebook copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review which I have given. All thoughts are my own..

Forced to give speeches by her uncle, since she was 12 about a supposed Indian abduction that happened to her,Carmela is miserable. When her parents and brother died on the trail she is alone in the world until her uncle swoops in and takes her under his wing . He says her father owes him a large amount of money that she must repay the debt. He forces her to speak about a fictitious Indian abduction happening to her. These speeches happen in many towns and he makes a large amount of money . On the way to the next town their stagecoach is robbed and her uncle is wounded. Not knowing if he is dead or alive she is rescued from the stagecoach by the deputy US marshal. She longs to end the deception and this way of life. This book was very interesting and kept my attention. I am really enjoying the, My Heart Belongs series from Barbour books. It's fascinating to read historical stories about different states. This takes place in Arizona and I used to live in Yuma, Arizona where part of this story took place. I could definitely see this taking place in the wilds of the Arizona desert.
Looking forward to reading more from this series.
Pub Date 01 Mar 2017
Thank you to Netgalley and Barbour Books for providing me with a review copy for my honest opinion.

Carmela is tired of living a lie. She travels the country with her uncle across the country telling "her account" of being a survivor of an Indian kidnapping and making a profit from telling the falsehood.

But when their stagecoach is attacked, freedom from the lies might finally be in reach even if it means being handcuffed to an unconscious man.

Carmela was never taken by the Indians but her uncle is her sole guardian after her parents died, and they owed him a lot of money, so she agrees to do what he says. She has stayed true to her faith, and feels terrible for the life that she has been living. She perseveres without complaint, is willing to work hard and speaks up for the sake of others.

Freeland McKay is the deputy marshal from Tucsan and he is escorting a prisoner, when things go horribly wrong on the stagecoach. When Freeland wakes up he finds himself handcuffed to Carmela, together they decide to walk to the next station, getting to know each other well along the way. I like that when Carmela tells the truth that he doesn't judge her and is understanding to her plight. He is a good man devoted to his duty, faithful , courageous, and strong.

I like that Freeland can see past Carmela's past and her lies, he encourages her to continue to break free and find her strength. The dialog between them is good, and I liked them together. A very enjoyable read.

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Carmela's Quandary...a great title for this story. Carmela was a little girl when her wagon train was attacked by Indians, her parents killed and she was taken captive. She lived five years with the Indians and was marked as their own by a series of tattoos that cover her lower face. Now she goes around speaking and sharing her story. Her uncle manages all her events and controls the money. Now Carmela is 20 years old and has a problem...a big problem. Everything she has said has been a lie!!!!

Carmela finds herself finishing a speaking engagement in Tucson, the second one in five years, and then heading out on a stagecoach to the next town for another engagement. There are also several other passengers onboard, one of whom looks like a grown version of a young boy she meet years ago on her first visit to Tucson. That young boy told her that he could help her, more importantly, his brother who is a deputy could help her. Well that deputy brother, Freeland McKay, is on the stagecoach escorting a prisoner. Carmela can't believe the chances of meeting him in this way. Could he possibly be the answer to her prayers? Could he be the one to help her right the wrongs and lies she told for years under her uncle's direction?

This was a sweet western romance with peril and soul searching. There were a few moments where it seemed slower paced and I found myself skimming. I enjoyed the struggle that Carmela had to go through. I liked watching her figure out how to go about becoming the person she truly wanted to be and not the person she was told she was by her uncle as well as all those who had heard her "story". She truly sought to do good and be a good person. Even with how she was used by her uncle she still had compassion towards him. She was definitely a good example for the many people she encountered. I liked the way the author wrote Carmela's character as being able to help others. Also that Carmela never lied in her personal interactions when asked questions, she did her best to be honest and not lie.

As the stagecoach they are riding on is attacked Carmela finds herself in several perilous moments. Her uncle is shot, she is handcuffed, the stage is stolen, her uncle gone, and she is left in the desert with an unconscious deputy. With many encounters with Indians, bandits, townspeople and others who were captured by Indians, Carmela has much to learn and much to offer.

The story alternates between Carmela and Freeland's POV. Sometimes they are together and other times they are separated by his duties as a deputy. I enjoyed reading their different perspectives and thoughts.

Content: Sweet clean romance, some shootouts and a couple battle wounds but nothing graphic. This is a Christian fiction so there is talk of God and the characters occasionally offer prayers asking for help. It flowed very well with the storyline and with the growth Carmela went through.

I received an ARC from Barbour publishing via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

I just couldn't manage to get into this book. The characters seemed wooden and it moved quite slowly.

Firstly thanks to netgalley for my review copy.

I have been reading books by Susan paige Davis for many years and have always enjoyed them as she writes many different genres. This book is a historical with a mystery. The book starts with Carmela at around the age of 14 and upset she has to tell the story her uncle forces her to tell. It is here she meets a young boy who says he will get his brother to help only for her uncle to come and take her away before he gets back.

Fast forward to when shes around 20 we see Carmela and her uncle on the stage along with the local Sheriff who is transporting a prisoner to the state capital. As they travel on they encounter both Indians and outlaws. Here uncle is hurt and she ends up handcuffed to the Sheriff in the Arizona heat. This is just the start of the story and from here we see what will happen.

I enjoyed the pass of this story and how Carmela has to deal with all her uncle had forced her to do and what she would do. I also really liked Freeland he had integrity and the strength to help her with some of her decisions. There are also secondary characters that are very endearing and pivotal for the story. The story deals with forgiveness both from others and forgiving yourself. If you enjoy historical fiction I would recommend this book.

This book will be released on March 1st.

I enjoyed this book so much! If you like a clean Western, look no farther!

"My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains: Carmela’s Quandry" (2017, Barbour) by Susan Page Davis, second in the "My Heart Belongs" series, is a Christian Western with a touch of romance set in 1866 Arizona Territory, right after the civil war. The novel is a standalone story, with the first book written by another author and set in another state. I jumped at the chance to receive this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, because I previously enjoyed this author’s "Prairie Dreams" trilogy.

Rating: 5 stars

The heroine: Carmela Wade was orphaned at age twelve and became a ward to her Uncle Silas. Unfortunately, Silas viewed Carmela as a way to make a profit. He put black and blue Indian markings on her chin and coerced her to give speeches about her (completely fabricated) captivity by a group of Indians. She hates doing it, but “if she didn’t say her piece word-perfect and reply to the people’s questions with the answers he had formulated, she would pay dearly for it later.” In chapter two, the story jumps forward several years, and Carmela is still in the same predicament, but she is twenty years old and will soon reach her majority.

The hero: In the first chapter, which feels like a prologue, Freeland McKay’s little brother Will recognizes that Carmela is in need of help. Will asks Freeland to use his position as a deputy marshal to find a way to help Carmela. Circumstances intervene, and Carmela leaves town before he can do attempt to do anything. Five years later, her uncle has scheduled another speaking engagement in Tucson and this time, Freeland and Carmela cross paths. Adventure follows!

Christian elements:

*The theme of deceit versus truth is very much present throughout this book. In fact, it may be the best literary example I’ve ever seen. It includes a well-balanced and realistic picture of the impact of deceit and and of the aftermath once the truth is told. (It is simultaneously freeing and challenging to turn your life around.)

*I also really liked Carmela’s faith. “Her mother had always taught her that things turned out best for those who loved God. That was hard to accept now, with her parents gone and the deception she’d been forced to live for the past eight years. Now she was utterly alone, but she couldn’t shake off her faith. Bad things happened to God’s people, she knew that. She wasn’t sure why He allowed suffering, but somehow, all of this was supposed to lead her to a good outcome - if not in this life, then in the next.”

What I liked:

*The author included an impressive amount of detail, and this book seems to be very well-researched. I learned a little bit about the Superstition Mountains, which I had previously never heard of. Also, I found the following quote informative: “Now that the war was over, there was no money to build things like railroads. The West needed time to recover.” I’ve never witnessed the effects of a war, but this statement makes perfect sense.

*I enjoyed the action in this story. It was just enough to keep it interesting, but I didn’t feel like it was implausible.

What I didn’t like: I would have preferred more romance. Given the plot, I don’t think the lack of romance was a flaw, so this doesn’t affect my rating. But I think it’s worth noting here, because like me, some other readers prefer romance to be more present. Personally, I seek out almost exclusively romance novels, and I rarely (and grudgingly) read stories that are not romances. I actually wouldn’t classify this book as a romance. While there is a HEA (happily ever after) at 98% into the book, and the reader knows partway through that the hero and heroine hold each other in high regard, there is no witty dialogue or flirting between the two. Surprisingly, though, I was totally content with their interactions, because this was a wonderfully engrossing, well-written story.

I recommend this book to fans of Christian (and/or clean) Westerns. I will continue to read more of Ms. Davis’s stories. I have put "Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island, Canada" on my to-read list, as my husband and I will be going to PEI in the not-too-distant future. :-)

This is part of a series, but each book can stand alone. Descriptive setting provides a nice backdrop for the historical time period.

A historical romance with the flair of the old West! Quick paced for the most part, with interesting characters, and a bit of real history mixed in, it kept me turning the page to find out what happened next! Arizona Territory in 1866 was a rough, unsettled place, and made a colorful backdrop to the story.
Carmela is a sincere young woman stuck in a dishonest situation, torn between family loyalty and the need to break free. I loved her stalwart spirit, and the compassion she shows others, often at the risk of her own safety. Stepping out in her fledgling faith, she moves towards righting past wrongs, hoping for a new beginning. I couldn't help but cheer for her!
Freeland is a great western hero, brave and true, recognizing the special young woman he has been paired with in their adventure together. His kindness underneath the tough exterior made him a very likable character.

Recommend to readers who enjoy historical Christian romances in a western setting!

My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountain : Carmela's Quandary is a great book. It is full of drama, mystery, romance, and action. All that a reader would expect in a historical fiction set in the west. A wonderful story to see the inner beauty.
5 plus stars.

I reviewed this book already. Is it still here because I accidentally downloaded it more than once?

Carmela has spent years telling crowds about her time as an Indian captive. She and her uncle travel all over the Wild West to share her story- and people pay good money to hear her. Carmela talks about her years in captivity, the work she was forced to do, and the murder of her parents at the hands of the Indians.

The truth, however, is far different. Carmela has never been an Indian captive. The only one holding her captive is her uncle- and Carmela desperately wants her freedom. When their carriage is attacked on the way to a speaking engagement, Carmela just might find what she is looking for.

While the title of My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains was somewhat intriguing, the book itself did not hold my interest. There was a lot of good historical content and there certainly was a lot of action. Despite that the narration itself felt slow-paced to me. I did appreciate the faith that the author wove through the books.

I rate this book a three out of five stars. I received a complimentary copy from Barbour Publishing, Inc.

5 Stars! The story inside this beautiful cover does not disappoint! I loved it!
Carmela's Quandary is a quick moving story filled with tragedy, suspense and many twists and turns.
Carmela becomes the ward of her Uncle Silas at the age of twelve when her parents die on the trail west. Silas forces young Carmela perform in front of large crowds, telling a made up story of captivity. As Carmela ages she longs to stop the lies, but her uncle says she must perform, he says she owes him for her father's debt. A stage coach robbery provides an opportunity like none other. With Uncle Silas injured and taken by the robbers Carmela ends up handcuffed to a handsome deputy.
I will stop here, I don't want to give any spoilers. If you are drawn to the Inspirational Historical western fiction genre, you will love this book, if not, this would be a perfect introduction.
* I requested and received an e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. A positive review was not required