Colleen Reece has written a pair of rollicking novels taking place on the frontiers of Wyoming in the post-Civil War era. Mountain Laurel--more often known as Laurel--has grown up in her twin sister's shadow. Ivy Ann is more vivacious, more flirtatious, and more socially adept all the way around. Laurel is happy in her quietness, but lurking inside Laurel is a spark of adventure that longs to see more of the country than just their West Virginia home. When Adam Birchfield shows up at the family's mansion and hears Laurel express her desire to follow her husband (should she ever have one) wherever he'd go, he applauds her adventurous thinking.

This is how Wildflower Harvest begins. With a generous helping of humor, Colleen creates a story that takes the reader on a spontaneous adventure to find love. Laurel just has to overcome Ivy Ann's duplicity of pretending to be her.

Included with this book is the story Desert Rose, who is the daughter of Laurel and Adam. Taking on a dare by her cousin Nate, she puts an ad in a magazine for a "Mail Order Husband." Nate sends her ad to a teacher he had at the boarding school back in Massachusetts. With the beginnings of a pen-pal romance, Carmichael Carey Blake-Jones decides to buy a ranch in Antelope, Wyoming, and go incognito as a ranch hand to learn how to run his ranch. In the meantime, he's still writing to Desert Rose and he's falling in love with her.

While Wildflower Harvest kept my attention all the way through, Desert Rose seemed a bit predictable because some of the elements are repeated from Wildflower Harvest. Nevertheless, both are good reads, and maybe the reader needs to take a break between the two books to come back to Desert Rose fresh. Four Strong Stars.

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

A great historical romance! In post Civil War West Virginia, twins Mountain Laurel and Ivy Ann have just had a birthday and are thinking about what they would like to do in the future. Ivy Ann is perfectly happy with marrying and living in West Virginia but her identical twin, Mountain Laurel is dreaming of moving into the untamed Western portion of the country. Dr. Adam Birchfield is a young doctor who has left Massachusetts to find her estranged brother in the Wyoming Territory. He stops in West Virginia along the way and meets the beautiful twin sisters. Ivy Ann is loud and somewhat of a diva, but she always manages to get any suitor that she wants, including her sister's choices. Adam is drawn to the quiet Mountain Laurel whom he finds to be great at conversation as she tells him about her dreams. Adam leaves to go to the Wyoming Territory and Laurel wishes that she could go after him. The rest of the story is beautifully written and was so sweet and endearing. I love historical romance and this story is a satisfying one. This book also has a bonus story entitled Desert Rose. I would recommend this book to all lovers of romance.

Wildflower Harvest by Colleen L. Reece will be available December 1, 2016 by Heartsong Publishers. The egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

This is a tender tale of twin sisters who are coming of age in 1873 West Virginia. They are identical in appearance, but very different underneath. Their differences finally cause a riff that makes one do something drastic, affecting the whole family. A good picture of redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation in this story. A squeaky clean romance with faith elements. 3.5 stars

The second story is a fun one, set twenty years later in Wyoming, with a family connection to the first. The cousins have a good brother-sister relationship, leading to a dare and subsequent events that bring big changes in their lives. I really enjoyed this story of adventure, danger, and a gentle romance begun through letters. Building on the first story made it feel more like a complete novel. Plenty of faith discussions too put this firmly in the inspirational fiction genre. Recommend!
4 stars

Wildflower Harvest by Colleen L. Reece is a Christian novel set in the 1800’s.
Thomas and Sadie Brown’s farm, Red Cedars, is nestled in the Allegheny Mountain’s in what has become West Virginia. It escaped detection by both Yankee and Rebel troops during the Civil War. Their twin daughters, Mountain Laurel and Ivy Ann, are very different from each other. Laurel is very quiet and reserved while Ivy is outgoing and flirty. They have recently turned twenty. A week later they are blessed to have the new doctor, Adam Birchfield, arrive.
The Birchfield’s have always made their home in Massachusetts until oldest son, Nathaniel, refuses to fight in the war he doesn’t believe in and leaves home. When he finishes school, Adam also leaves his family home in order to practice medicine where he is desperately needed and to try to find his brother.
The lives of these two families become entwined in some very unexpected ways over the years.
I really enjoyed this book and the characters though at times I wanted to yell at them when they made silly decisions. There is always some competition going on between Laurel and Ivy, some expected and some seem silly for adult women. The girls are both strong and adventurous when need be. When their lives take unexpected turns they focus on prayer to see them through. Adam finds Nathaniel is now a preacher in the vast Wyoming where the need for a doctor is great. Adam prayerfully considers whether God is calling him to join his brother.
I give this book 5 of 5 stars. There are many unexpected turns which kept me very engaged and reading to learn what would happen next. The main characters are all Christians but only share their faith through actions rather than being “preachy”. I recommend this book to all who enjoy a good, Christian based romance novel with some mysteries included.
I received an advance copy of this book from Barbour Publishing, through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Wildflower Harvest is a good post Civil War Historical. I enjoyed it. It is exciting to have the bonus story, Desert Rose, added to this book, which I enjoyed it, as well.
4 stars

This book is about the pure love of sisters yet the envy as well. We have Ivy Ann who is rambunctious and flirtatious and gets whatever she wants, and then you have Laurel who is shy and sweet, tender, gentle and loving. Did I mention they were twins. Ivy Ann could feel Laurel was pulling away - you see Laurel did have a drifters soul - when Adam Birchfield hears her desire to go on an adventure - well you will not believe what happens -
Now - this book gives you as a treat and a great thank you - a second book inside so the second book is:
Desert Rose
This is about Desert Rose on a dare by her cousin Nate puts an ad in a Mail order husband - she starts pen writing to his old boarding school - Carmichael Blake - who starts to fall in love - you will not believe what he does - I really mean that - you will not believe what he does next - you have got to get this book - it blows my mind - I wish someone would have done that for me - that is for sure - ahhhh true love.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Thank you for the second book, Desert Rose. It was equally awesome. Both books took turns and twists I never imagined and kept the pages turning. I highly recommend these books and this author,

Very sweet pioneer stories... a story from one generation and then the next. There were parts that stretched "believe-ability" a bit but I have been a long-time fan of Colleen Reece when I'm looking for a gentle read and these two stories did not disappoint.

Wildflower Harvest by Colleen Reece. I have not read a book by Colleen Reece for some time so when I saw an opportunity to do so I was excited. Twin sisters live in West Virginia with their parents and siblings and meet Dr. Adam Birchfield . He seems to fancy both of them. A rift between the sisters, who at five minutes apart in age, are as different as oil and water, makes one choose to do something unexpected that will affect the whole family.This author really paints a picture with her words. I can picture the beautiful, wild lands of Wyoming. This story is faith filled with forgiveness and redemption playing an important role.

Bonus Story Desert Rose

The second story is a sequel to Wildflower Harvest set 20 years later and revolves around the same family. There was so much action in this second story that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens. I was holding my breath as the I was reading the adventures within these pages. Light romance about how love is found through letter writing .
Both are gentle,clean and faith filled stories. What I really love about this author's book are the absolute incredible setting description. She made me feel as if I was there experiencing the hardships the people went through from the absolute desolateness to the blizzard to the flood. Believable descriptions like this really enrich the story for me and this author hits it spot on!
I highly recommend this book to lovers of Historical Christian Romance. I look forward to reading more books published by Colleen Reece.

Published December 1st 2016 by Barbour Books

Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Books for providing me with an e-book copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wildflower Harvest by Colleen L. Reece is a Christian novel set in the 1800’s. Thomas and Sadie Brown’s farm, Red Cedars, is nestled in the Allegheny Mountain’s in what has become West Virginia. It escaped detection by both Yankee and Rebel troops during the Civil War. Their twin daughters, Mountain Laurel and Ivy Ann, are very different from each other. Laurel is very quiet and reserved while Ivy is outgoing and flirty. They have recently turned twenty. A week later they are blessed to have the new doctor, Adam Birchfield, arrive.

The story is about two twin sisters Laurel and Ivy Ann who lives with their parents in West Virginian. They meet a handsome doctor, Adam Birchfield who seems to like both of the sisters. There is a rift between the sisters which makes one choose to do something unexpected. Adam leaves West Virginian to joins his older brother Nat in Wyoming who is a preacher. Laurel decides leave and go to Wyoming too.

The Birchfield’s have always made their home in Massachusetts until oldest son, Nathaniel, refuses to fight in the war he doesn’t believe in and leaves home. When he finishes school, Adam also leaves his family home in order to practice medicine where he is desperately needed and to try to find his brother.

The lives of these two families become entwined in some very unexpected ways over the years. I really enjoyed this book and the characters though at times I wanted to yell at them when they made silly decisions. There is always some competition going on between Laurel and Ivy, some expected and some seem silly for adult women. The girls are both strong and adventurous when need be. When their lives take unexpected turns they focus on prayer to see them through. Adam finds Nathaniel is now a preacher in the vast Wyoming where the need for a doctor is great. Adam prayerfully considers whether God is calling him to join his brother.

There are many unexpected turns which kept me very engaged and reading to learn what would happen next. The main characters are all Christians but only share their faith through actions. I recommend this book to all who enjoy a good, Christian based romance novel with some mysteries included.

I received an advance copy of this book from Barbour Publishing, through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Wildflower Harvest
By Colleen L. Reece

Wildflower Harvest is 2 stories set in historical America. The first, Mountain Laurel, is about twin girls and the second, Desert Rose, is about their children. Colleen Reece does a great job of making you feel at home with each of these stories. She accurately paints a picture of life during the time America is expanding and moving forward.
Mountain Laurel and Ivy Ann (the twins from the first novel) are two young ladies who live with their parents. Fortunately, their home was left intact during the war and they enjoy the company of young men who call on them while learning how to run a household for when the time comes. The story opens with them at their birthday party. Laurel is tired of being eternally overshadowed by her louder and more boisterous twin. It would seem that Ivy Ann even goes out of her way to make sure the boys notice her rather than Laurel. Adam Birchfield is a young doctor who longs to go to Wyoming to be with his older brother and help him settle the frontier. He meets the twins and has mixed emotions about them. On one hand, he really likes Laurel, who is easy to talk to and seems to understand him. Ivy Ann, though, is bright and lively and fun. When he leaves for the frontier, both girls write to him and then Laurel makes a surprise move: She leaves for Wyoming to be with him. Nobody can believe it. Her bold move causes Ivy Ann to reevaluate herself and her life. When the rest of the family decides to head west also, the twins must reconcile their differences and Adam must decide which twin he loves. When danger strikes both twins, it would seem that love finds a happy ending for them all.
In Desert Rose, both girls are happily married and have children of their own. The children have grown up in Wyoming and are proud of their home and country. When Desert Rose’s cousin Nate convinces her to send a marriage advertisement to a magazine on a dare, she is completely surprised to receive an answer. However, he really sent her ad to a friend of his from New England. Carmichael Blake Jones is a young man who has been teaching at an all- boy’s school but finds himself at loose ends after the loss of his parents. When he receives Nate’s letter, he decides to write Desert Rose and see what happens. Through a series of events, he actually ends up purchasing a ranch near hers and meeting her, although she doesn’t know who he is because he is using an alias. As the two fall in love, danger lurks and they must work together to battle an evil man that has come to steal cattle and cause pain. Will they work it out? Will love find a way? Readers will enjoy this book as they discover what happens! I really liked it and would love to hear more about Mountain Laurel, Ivy Ann, Desert Rose, and the rest of the family! I received a free copy of this book for my honest review from NetGalley.