Along the Rio Grande

Love on the Santa Fe, Book 1

By: Tracie Peterson

Narrated by: Barbara McCulloh

Is her compassion doing more harm than good?

Recently widowed Susanna Jenkins has decided to follow her family to the booming town of San Marcial, New Mexico, for a fresh start and to aid in her family’s sudden change in fortune. They are tasked with managing her uncle’s new Grand Hotel, and it takes all her patience to try to help her parents see the good of their circumstances and relinquish their sense of entitlement.

She’s hopeful when her brother becomes determined to get a job and make his own way, and she feels drawn to his kind boss, Owen Turner, who works as a boilermaker for the Santa Fe’s train shops in town. But the hard work only seems to fuel her brother’s anger, and his rough new friends give her pause.

When misguided choices put Susanna’s family in an even more precarious situation, she worries her help has only made things worse. Leaving her family to fend for themselves seems like the best option, but how can she walk away from the true friendships—and love—that she’s found?

©2022 Tracie Peterson (P)2022 Recorded Books

Sweet 4.5

If you’re looking for a story which has interesting historical details specifically designed to share information about women’s daily lives, a story in which protagonists struggle to set boundaries, a sweet story which is distinctly Christian evangelistic, this book is for you! The story is about two people whose family members are lazy and selfish. These two are compassionate and responsible. They often make difficult decisions about when to help and not to help. This book presents a more complex look at what people do in situations like this.

It may be easy to say to just walk away from such selfish people, but that sometimes presents other complications which are detrimental to even the responsible person. I think this nuanced approach is the best part of the book, though the romance is good as well in my mind because both characters really have dealt with the same problems so understand and help each other. The author does a good job of showing them as a good match in every way possible.

This said, I found the book often repetitive and maybe a bit too long. The book isn’t gritty; even the bad people are more pathetic than evil. This makes the book seem light on the actual darkness in the world, though the purpose of the book is to show repentance before the characters dive wholeheartedly into wickedness. The characters do damage to each other without completely destroying each other, though they come close. I think that some may see the lack of grittiness a problem while others will appreciate its absence.

This book shows the healthier parts of the West such as good family relationships within the Latina population which is another strength in my opinion. Readers who like historical fiction with the concentration on women’s experiences in a sweet manner will love the book.

Thank you for this wonderful inspiration in this book,

It truly shows how the love of God is so great in our lives to the writer. Thank you for writing these wonderful books to the speaker. Thank you for bringing them to life. May God bless all those who had a part in this wonderful audiobook book.🙏🏻💯🫶🏻💯

Good salvation message.

I had a difficult time listening to the narrator reading the book. I felt that her intonations were inaccurate at times.

The story was very good and kept you wondering what might happen next.

It was nice to have people becoming Christians in the story and how it changed their lives.

Wonderful story and narration

You can't go wrong with Tracie Peterson and Barbara McCulloh. I love that Tracie actually writes about the faith and failings of her characters. I've read some so-called Christian novels and other than mentioning God at the beginning or the end, the book is completely bereft of Jesus and the characters' relationship with Him.

Barbara is a captivating story teller. She's so natural when changing tones or emotions. She always speaks clearly and concisely, and at the right speed. I always look forward to listening to a book when she's the narrator.