Love In the Balance by Regina Jennings

Jennings's Newest Historical Romance 
Is a Delight! 
Molly Lovelace dreams of a life without cares in Lockhart, Texas. She also dreams of handsome wrangler Bailey Garner, her ardent but inconsistent beau. The problem is, with Bailey's poor prospects, she just can't fit the two dreams together.

Then mysterious stranger Edward Pierrepont sweeps into town--and her life--and for the first time Molly wonders if she's met the man who can give her everything. But he won't be in Lockhart long and while he talks about their glorious future together, she can't quite get Bailey out of her mind.

What's a girl to do with all these decisions when love is in the balance?

Regina Jennings takes on a love triangle with careful calculations and a realistic approach.  Molly is a woman who wants to findthe  man of her dreams...should it be this hard to find him?  He must be out there, right?  Bailey, a charismatic and good-looking wrangler, definitely seems to like her and she seems to like him, but he isn't the wealthy man she always thought would sweep her off of her feet.  When Edward, a newcomer to their small town, arrives with a flourish, Molly can't decide if he might be the man of her dreams.  She must decide rather quickly between Bailey and Edward and decode the inner workings of her own heart.

Molly's character is nice enough.  I wasn't that big a fan of her flip-flopping between two men; I felt like she should just make a decision and stick with it.  She was a sweet character, never wanting to hurt anyone's feelings.  I suppose she couldn't help being a dreamer and wanting to think through her choices before choosing between the two men.  Bailey was a great character.  Thereader can tell that he really likes Regina and wants the best for her.  Edward has that "new guy" feel to his character.  He is almost an intruder in the sense that Molly and Bailey were steadily growing closer until he decided to ride into town.  He is certainly a smooth talker with handsome features, but is Molly reading too much into his arrival?  The other characters were mainly utilized for background information.  I liked how the author spent a long time developing each character with precision and care to allow the reader to care about them as much as possible.

The plot was not exactly new and slightly predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  There are religious elements in this novel, but a reader who isn't particularly religious should still enjoy this book.  Overall, I would recommended Love In The Balance to adult readers.

4 Stars

This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.