Love At Any Cost: A Novel (Heart of San Francisco, #1)

by Julie Lessman

Jilted by a fortune hunter, cowgirl Cassidy McClare is a spunky Texas oil heiress without a fortune who would just as soon hogtie a man as look at him. Hoping a summer visit with her wealthy cousins in San Francisco will help her forget her heartache, Cassidy travels west. But no sooner is she settled in beautiful California than Jamie McKenna, a handsome pauper looking to marry well, captures her heart. When Jamie discovers the woman he loves is poorer than he is, Cassidy finds herself bucked by love a second time. Will Jamie discover that money can't buy love after all? And can Cassidy ever learn to fully trust her heart to a man?

With delectable descriptions and a romantic sensibility, bestselling author Julie Lessman brings the Gilded Age to life in this sumptuous new series. Readers will faithfully follow Lessman to the West Coast for more romance, passion, and surprising revelations found in Love at Any Cost.

• ISBN10: 0800721675
• ISBN13: 9780800721671
• Publish Date: 15 April 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Imprint: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe)]

*Note: This review is from my original posting in March of 2014, which can be found here:http://cafinatedreads.com/book-reviewlove-at-any-cost-by-julie-lessman/. My thoughts are still the same, my emotions are still the same as the first time I read it!*

Sweet Saints above, Ms. Lessman has done it again!!! Next to Karen Kingsbury, she is absolutely positively my absolute favorite Christian Fiction author. I love her work! Her characters (my favorite is Katie from A Hope Undaunted!) steal you away to their time and place and sweep you into their mix for a time. I laugh, I cry, I smile through all her books and her characters……well, they are chiseled absolutely perfectly for their stories!

Oh my! Cassidy was absolute a breath of fresh air! I loved the phrases she used through out the story. Ms. Lessman used phrases my granddaddy used to use before he passed away years ago, it brought back so many memories for me! And her heart, bless her, she just wanted to let go of her broken engagement from a gold digger and move on with becoming a teacher in a new place. I laughed at her and wanted to wrap her up and squeeze her tight!

And Jamie McKenna……oh sweet lawdy, I loved him! Can we say *drool*??? That is one fine man….err, um. Yes, back to my review. Jamie is a wonderful man and I saw it from the start! He was made out to be a womanizer but I could just tell that deep down, he was a tenderhearted, one woman man. Yes sirree I did indeed see it! Ms. Lessman did a wonderful job with his creation and I didn’t want to say goodbye to him, especially as I started watching him pursue Ms. Cassidy.

I can’t give this book anything less than 5 stars! It would be an utter disgrace to do so! Ms. Lessman combined laugh out loud laughter, spark flying romance (clean, of course!), and a setting to sweep you off your feet! I highly, hats-off, two thumbs up, the whole shebang, recommend this start to a fabulous series by Ms. Lessman!This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads

[cherryblossommj]

When it comes to Julie Lessman I already know that I'm going to have a book on my permanent keeper shelf. Now I know that I put some thoughts about this one already down on paper somewhere, but I cannot seem to find them. So hopefully I can repeat the good of what I've said (or dreamed that I thought) before. When I think Julie, I think Boston and that wonderful Irish family. But this is an entirely different story, a different kind of story in a very different location. The characters are different, their problems are pretty different. Backgrounds are different and futures are different. Goodness, even the timeframe is different. So, the question is, when Julie can pull off such a wonderful series (well two connected series over seven books!) can she do it again when it is all so different? You bet-ch-a!

Jamie makes me so mad that I could spit. Ugh. Smack that boy. His pride is soo... it's his ego. He's just blind. Ignorant. Irritating! But my goodness is he sparkingly attractive. Yes in the description and reaction of the ladies that pass him by, but you should see the boy in the movie trailer. Woo. I just want to throttle him. Now, Cassie. She reminds me a bit of a Deeanne Gist heroine. Now, while I typically love Dee's stories and books overall her independent creatures that protagonize the stories often drive me bonkers. Cassie and Cait while I'm at it are so... what is it that I'm trying to say... they're such amazing independent and so vulnerable. Goodness gracious me, they are so real and remind me so much of me (minus the independent streak that I sometimes wish I had) that it drives me bonkers! Goodness, I said bonkers twice (now three times!) in one paragraph. My point is that Julie is bringing text on a page to life in something that I can truly imagine. Male and female.

The other thing is that as a reader I know how I want the story to end... I know how the story should end. But reading in the situation, how can it POSSIBLY end in the correct way. Goodness gracious does Julie have a way with a pen!


*Thanks to Revell Books for providing a copy for review.*

posted: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2013/04/20/love-at-any-cost/