The Rebel: the heartbreaking, yet hopeful final book in the Emerson Pass Historical series

The Rebel is the eighth and final book in the Emerson Pass Historical series by Tess Thompson. After four years at a university, Delphia Barnes returns home to Emerson Pass; however, no one is at the station to welcome her home. When she sees Jack Depaul, she wonders why her family isn’t there, he tells her the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Jack is a proud second generation horse breeder in Emerson Pass. Only his love for Delphia equals his love of horses. As America prepares for war, Jack and Delphia finally confess their feelings for each other and marry before Jack ships off to fight overseas. He doesn’t want to leave her now that they have come together; but the desire to serve is too strong. Jack promises her he will return, alive and well. She prays that it is a promise he can keep. Will Jack survive the war? If he comes home, will Delphia recognize and love the man who returns?

I have loved this series and the Barnes family’s adventures and it is exciting and yet sad to finish the final book. It was hard to say goodbye and yet I could not tear myself away from the pages as the Barnes family deals with the horrors and sacrifice of war. My heart broke for Delphia and Jack as they fall in love and marry in innocence even as war looms. And they fall in love again as they deal with the aftermath and pain of war. I loved how Delphia refused to give up on Jack and I cheered as others around Jack refused to let him give up and with tough love to show him that life can still be lived fully and love is deeper than skin deep. As the historical series ends, I look forward to jumping back into and finishing the contemporary Emerson Pass series. I highly recommend the Historical Emerson Pass series if you haven’t started it. I highly recommend The Rebel. 

The Rebel is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Rebel: secrets, family trouble and enemies to lovers

The Rebel by Jennifer Bernard is the first book in The Rockwell Legacy series. Deep in the Cascade Mountains, the Rockwell family has been running the historic Rocky Peak Lodge for generations. The lodge and its legacy is a risk. Kai Rockwell is the oldest and always the rebel. He left home when he was 18 and would rather die than deal with his father, “Mad Max” Rockwell. Now fifteen years later, he’s being called home as his father has a health scare and the lodge needs a lot of help. All Nurse Nicole Davidson wanted security for her and her disabled sister. When the job as an in-home nurse for Max Rockwell comes up, she is recruited to do a little intel for her friend’s investment group. No problem until Kai comes home and everything is thrown into a chaos. Kai and Nicole are equally determined to protect their families, they aren’t sure if they are enemies or lovers. 

The opening chapter of The Rebel hooked me in and let me down from there. I’m not really sure why but the story fell flat. There were a lot of secrets that the characters hinted at but took forever to reveal them. By then, I didn’t care what the secrets were. I did enjoy Kai’s character and despite his vow to never to return, he couldn’t truly abandon his home. I didn’t care for Nicole’s friend who was so pushy that I wanted to yell. Nicole giving her information about the lodge was plausible but her friend’s demands were way out of line. The introductions of Kai’s siblings didn’t heighten my interest enough to read the rest of the series. It is not my favorite by Ms. Bernard and I have loved the books I’ve read by her so far. Overall, I just didn’t care for the romance between Kai and Nicole. 

The Rebel is available in paperback and eBook