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Beyond Forgiveness
Tracson Cordera and his cousin Billy were best friends. They'd built cattle ranches side by side during the gold rush years in Montana Territory. One spring day Trac made a foolish bet with his headstrong cousin. Billy was killed, leaving his young wife Janie a widow. Trac's guilt and Janie's hatred of him changed everything. He couldn't stay and he couldn't go, but one thing he knew...he could not abide Janie's contempt.
There was one other secret he kept buried deep in his heart. She'd chosen Billy, but Trac had loved Janie from the moment he'd laid eyes on her when she was a young girl. And what could he do about that now?
There was one other secret he kept buried deep in his heart. She'd chosen Billy, but Trac had loved Janie from the moment he'd laid eyes on her when she was a young girl. And what could he do about that now?
242 pages, Nook
First published January 1, 2011
22 people are currently reading
626 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 7, 2012
I really enjoyed this book.It touched me when Janie blamed Trac for her husband's death.My heart went out to Trac for bearing the guilt and total unconditional love for her.I enjoyed the way how Trac did his best to help Janie and her baby. Love the brother - sister relationship[ Trac and Lousia ] and Lousia's kids too.Love the epilogue too.:D
August 12, 2025
I am very sad that I had to stop reading this book around page 40. Great concept for a story, though on of the issued I have is in the authors decision to not follow the rules on changing the characters POV. That makes it confusing and difficult to follow. The other issue I have is there is no real depth to the characters. I felt they were stiff, cold and one dimensional. They did not come alive. The story seemed to move really slow. The characters didn't interact enough or well. Kind of cut and dry. The writing was done more in telling then showing.
October 7, 2018
Took my breath away what beautiful gift of god and love..
November 14, 2012
This was a freebie. All in all, it was a good book. I read it in nearly one setting. It is set in the 1800's in frontier Montana. This book has strong Christian themes, based on forgiveness, charity, prayer and faith - though to be honest, this book doesn't beat you over the head with an effort to promote Faith. Though I am a regular church-goer myself, I usually avoid Christian themed stories since they tend to get preachy and avoid any of life's little humanisms (like sex, or hard feelings or other moral shortcomings.) I usually read for escapism. I did NOT feel that this book was too preachy, however. The Christian themes in this book really felt like just a reflection of the characters in the story and not like a drawn out morality story. That said, if you are looking for a love story in which you get to enjoy the consummation (both figuratively and literally) of the couple in the story - then don't bother.
As much as I enjoyed the characters, and I did, I feel pissed that I didn't really get to see their happy ever after. I just got to read a little summary of it in the very short epilogue. This the romantic literary equivalent of the proverbial movie helicopter crash behind the hill: you don't see the crash, but you are aware that it happened. In this story, we get to experience the characters' angst, their sorrow, their anger and sadness. We see their longing, their loneliness and their faith...however, when it comes to the resolution of the story, we see two kisses (maybe 3?) and a quick - THE END. I felt cheated. I don't need a play by play of their bed sport, but I did want to know that they found joy in each other, physically as well as spiritually and emotionally. (Can I just say, that even Christians make love, and that this can be described in tasteful non-explicit ways that still leave the reader with the satisfaction of knowing that the people they have come to love have found love in each other.)
In addition - there are many errors, typos, formatting issues, misspellings ('dirt clogs'?), etc. Some are probably due to poor editing, some due to poor formatting. I was easily able to overlook most of them because I was invested in the story.
Bottom line: sweet, chaste story. Great Male character in Trac. Janie was not as deeply fleshed out, but still sympathetic (we got to see her grief, but not much of her real personality). Ending was way too abbreviated and chaste and made me feel cheated for being so invested in the story. Great story for serious Christian romance readers.
On a scale of 1 - 10 (which I think is a much better scale), I would have given this story a 7.
As much as I enjoyed the characters, and I did, I feel pissed that I didn't really get to see their happy ever after. I just got to read a little summary of it in the very short epilogue. This the romantic literary equivalent of the proverbial movie helicopter crash behind the hill: you don't see the crash, but you are aware that it happened. In this story, we get to experience the characters' angst, their sorrow, their anger and sadness. We see their longing, their loneliness and their faith...however, when it comes to the resolution of the story, we see two kisses (maybe 3?) and a quick - THE END. I felt cheated. I don't need a play by play of their bed sport, but I did want to know that they found joy in each other, physically as well as spiritually and emotionally. (Can I just say, that even Christians make love, and that this can be described in tasteful non-explicit ways that still leave the reader with the satisfaction of knowing that the people they have come to love have found love in each other.)
In addition - there are many errors, typos, formatting issues, misspellings ('dirt clogs'?), etc. Some are probably due to poor editing, some due to poor formatting. I was easily able to overlook most of them because I was invested in the story.
Bottom line: sweet, chaste story. Great Male character in Trac. Janie was not as deeply fleshed out, but still sympathetic (we got to see her grief, but not much of her real personality). Ending was way too abbreviated and chaste and made me feel cheated for being so invested in the story. Great story for serious Christian romance readers.
On a scale of 1 - 10 (which I think is a much better scale), I would have given this story a 7.
December 6, 2011
I won a signed copy (!) of this novel as a giveaway on Goodreads. This novel is a sweet, Christian story of a man wracked by guilt after his cousin and best friend dies, leaving behind a young widow. Plotwise, it reminded me a lot of Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke, which is about a young widow and widower who find love together. That likeness is definitely a good thing because Love Comes Softly is one of my favorite books and series. I felt like Trac was a good man who worked hard to do what was right by his family and Janie. I liked how close he was to his sister Louisa and her two daughters. I thought it was really interesting that Strefling chose to write the novel from Trac's perspective instead of the female perspective of Janie, but I thought she pulled it off.
From a technical standpoint, this book had some minor grammatical issues with punctuation and a few fragments. Also, there were a few sections that I felt needed some expanding or more details. But nothing major and certainly nothing that got in the way of enjoying the story.
Definitely an enjoyable, inspiring story of loss and moving on to find love again. I was so happy when Janie finally came around to liking Trac! Thanks to the author and goodreads for the free copy and allowing me to read this touching tale.
From a technical standpoint, this book had some minor grammatical issues with punctuation and a few fragments. Also, there were a few sections that I felt needed some expanding or more details. But nothing major and certainly nothing that got in the way of enjoying the story.
Definitely an enjoyable, inspiring story of loss and moving on to find love again. I was so happy when Janie finally came around to liking Trac! Thanks to the author and goodreads for the free copy and allowing me to read this touching tale.
January 18, 2012
This was a free book through goodreads giveaway. This book was very fast to read and was about two cousins growing up in Montana. A bet was placed which went wrong and cost the life of billy. Trac feels very bad as feels responsible for this and had a hard time moving on. He ends up falling in love w cousins wife. Totally enjoyed this book.
November 27, 2012
Very engaging story. The only downfalls being a rocky beginning (very wordy and disjointed through the first chapter but not in the rest of the book) and poor punctuation with misplaced quotation marks in much of the kindle version.
Otherwise a good read.
May 21, 2013
This was a First Reads book.
Sometimes it is nice to read a book that is just a really nice story. This is one of those. It really highlights the good in people. I enjoyed it and will probably took for more from the same author.
Sometimes it is nice to read a book that is just a really nice story. This is one of those. It really highlights the good in people. I enjoyed it and will probably took for more from the same author.
July 20, 2013
I fell in love with this story and was pulling that Tracson would win Janie's heart. It's hard to lose a husband(Janie) and a brother(Trac). I could feel each and every emotion each character portrait. Once again I found a book I couldn't put down until I finished it.
November 16, 2012
Wasnt great
December 31, 2012
Good book it's a different type of love story. While it is a bit drawn out it is still a good read.
June 8, 2013
An unusual and often heart-breaking Western romance with exceptionally well drawn and very human characters. I really loved this story.
January 29, 2013
Is a great book to read
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews