Stealing the Preacher {Review}

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer is a spin-off of from her novel, Short-Straw Bride. The novel is set in a rural ranching community of Texas in the late 1800s.  The storyline focuses on three main characters- Crockett Archer, a kidnapped preacher, Silas Robbins, thief turned rancher and his daughter Joanna.

Storyline
“On his way to interview for his first preaching post, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he’s forced off the train by a band of middle-aged outlaws and delivered to the ringleader’s daughter as a birthday present.

Joanna Robbins can’t believe it either. For months, she’s prayed for a preacher—a man to bring life back into her community’s church and help her fulfill the promise she made to her dying mother. Despite the circumstances, is there any chance she can convince this stolen preacher he ended up right where he belongs?” ^{(Bethany House)}

Book Trailer

Overall Thoughts
I was really excited to read Stealing the Preacher because I absolutely LOVED Short-Straw Bride.  Although, this book was good it didn’t live up to its predecessor. I felt like the main characters transformed a little too quickly even though the book seems to cover a decent span of time.  Silas’ heart was changed after only a few events and Crocket and Joanna fell in love before they really knew each other.  There were a variety of storylines taking place in the book (God pursuing Silas, Crocket and Joanna relationship, Holly pursuing Crocket, the marshal pursuing Silas, etc.) so this may have been a reason the characters development was lacking. One of the things I love about Karen Witemeyer is the way she develops her characters, but this one fell a little short compared to her other books I’ve read.  Overall, the storylines were interesting, but I wish more time was put into the characters.  While this book wasn’t my favorite from Witemeyer, I still enjoyed Stealing the Preacher and look forward to her next title.