Along the Rio Grande by Tracie Peterson is the first book in her historical romance series Love on the Sante Fe.

The setting, along the Sante Fe rail line, is fascinating and drew me to this series. I loved learning about the rail line and Harvey House hotels. In this book, Susanna’s uncle has built a rival hotel and her parents are supposed to manage it. She ends up having to do so because her of her parents’ situation.

If you love stories with a redemption themes, then give this one a read. You’ll especially love the ending, I think. I enjoyed the plot arc and really liked Susanna and Owen. If you like Christian historical fiction, I recommend this one.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book.
I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC guidelines.

Due to the many books that I have started and not finished lately due to the unrealistic, cliche or unoriginal, or lacking a faith base in a book from a Christian author or publisher. I've found too many and am just leaving this book as a did not finish due to my not getting into the book... I have previously really enjoyed Tracie Peterson's books very, very much, she has been a favorite historical fiction author of myself and one of my sisters, however. This one and other more recent releases however have been repetitive and I haven't really gotten into them due to the fact that they seem like they were pieced together from her former works.

Tracie Peterson has been a huge fan of mine. I love her Christian historical romances and this new series is definitely going to be a favourite of mine. A second chance romance, filled with all the wholesome characteristics that you love of a Peterson novel.

I loved this book! Tracie Peterson seldom lets me down! I loved Susanna's strength, and how upbeat and positive she was in how she faced life after experiencing tragedy. Her family was fortunate to have her hold so strong for them all. The characters were strong and well developed. This was a sweet love story.

Thank you, Bethany House and Netgalley, for this opportunity to read this story in exchange for giving an honest review.

Along The Rio Grande is the first book in the Love on the Santa Fe series.
I haven't read a book by Tracie Peterson in several years and it was so exciting to read one of her books again.
Susanna Jenkins is a widow due to losing her husband recently due to a respiratory disease.
She believes the best thing she can do now is go with her family to San Marcial, New Mexico to help them run her uncle's new Grand Hotel. Her father has had financial difficulties due to poor issues he's made. Her uncle will help the family but first they must show him they are worthy of it by managing the hotel. Growing up with wealth Susanna's mother is used to having servants at her beck and call she can't even imagine having to do domestic chores. Actually, you feel sorry for people like this that can't even do the simplest thing for themself, like doing dishes, making a bed or cooking.
The mother takes to her bed much of the time and is unwilling to help her husband as he starts to want to get things back on track.
Her brother is bitter towards her father, blaming him for losing the family fortune. He starts getting it in gear though by getting a job, but she still has worries about him.
With a near tragedy caused by her family's poor decisions Susanna is at her wits ends and wonders if her help is actually doing her family any good or making things worse.
I loved the fast pace of the story, and it had some surprises in it for me. The story could have gone several different ways and I was so glad it went the way it did.
I loved seeing the beautiful forgiveness and redemption in this story. All will come around to his satisfaction in his own timing.
Such a satisfying story. I loved it!

Pub Date 01 Mar 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Young widow Susanna Jenkins travels with her down-on-their-luck, but big attitude parents to San Marcial, New Mexico. Her parents, in their financial ruin, have been given a chance to redeem themselves by managing a hotel owned by her uncle. The parents, though, scoff at the manual labor that hotel work requires and leave most of it to Susannah.
A younger brother goes with them and he is bitter over his parents' lack of funds and his chance of fortune. He is no longer an entitled young man. As a railroad town, there are job opportunities for the brother and he meets Owen Turner, who becomes a Godly mentor to him.
The parents in the story are over the top, but they lend to the story in their unbending pride.

I did like the hero and heroine, but felt deprived of a lot of their character growth together. The story mostly focuses on Susanna's efforts as a new innkeeper in a western town. I enjoyed her time building the new business and getting to know new people in town.

I enjoyed all of Owen's scenes and wished they were more in balance with the amount of time spent with Susanna.

What I didn't like was the entire kit and caboodle of family Susanna was saddled with. They were shrill, entitled, controlling, and complaining all the time. I felt like I was supposed to like her uncle, but in "teaching his brother a lesson" he also told outright lies, and then expected to be thanked for his "wisdom" and that was never addressed. <spoiler> Also, the emotional repentance near the end left the family's characters entirely changed literally overnight. That's hard to pull off with one character, but with three it seemed to be very much a stretch of belief.</spoiler>

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Susanna Jenkins recently widowed has decided to follow her father, mother, and brother to San Marcial New Mexico Territory. Her father has managed to fritter away the money left to him through bad choices and now the family is destitute. His wealthy brother refuses to give him any more help, and has sent the family to manage his hotel at the Santa Fe Railroad stop in San Marcial.

The characters in this story were quite the variety. Susanna is strong and hardworking, but her weakness is covering for her family and brother rather than making them do their parts. Gladys Ragsdale, her mother lives in fantasy land, and still believes she belongs in and should be treated as upper class. Susanna's brother, Gary, is spoiled and pampered and has never worked a day in his life. Her father, Herbert, has no intentions of managing the hotel and plans to spend his time finding his next "get rich quick" scheme.

Enjoyable story and wonderful debut to Peterson's newest series.

Tracie Peterson gives us a story that looks at compassion, can it do more harm than good or will good triump!
Tracie has created wonderful characters to bring to life the facets of people facing their problems and working to overcome.

Along the Rio Grande was about a widow and set in 1899, it is set in New Mexico.
It had characters that made it interesting and yet, you see a a more powerful story woven throughout the story. A story of forgiveness and repentance.
It also had a love story thrown in as a nice sprinkle.

Along the Rio Grande
by Tracie Peterson
Pub Date 01 Mar 2022
Bethany House, Bethany House Publishers
Christian | Historical Fiction | Romance


I am reviewing a copy of Along the Rio Grande through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:




If you’re looking for a story of Romance, adventure, and rebirth then Along the Rio Grande is definitely the book for you.




Susanna Jenkins who was recently widowed decided to follow her family to the booming town of San Marcial, New Mexico, for a fresh start and to aid in her family's sudden change in fortune. They have been tasked with managing her uncle's new Grand Hotel, and it takes all her patience to try to help her parents see the good of their circumstances and relinquish their sense of entitlement.




Susanna finds herself hopeful when her brother is determined to get a job and make his own way and she feels drawn to his kind boss, Owen Turner, who works as a boilermaker for the Santa Fe's train shops in town. But the hard work only seems to make her brother even angrier, and his new group of friends have her worried.



When bad choices put Susanna's family in an even more precarious situation, she worries her help has only made things worse. Leaving her family to fend for themselves seems like the best option, but how can she walk away from the true friendships--and love--that she's found?



I give Along the Rio Grande five out of five stars!





Happy Reading!


Happy Reading!

Sometimes all you need is a quiet historical fiction full of simple and amazing faith, love, and a romance plot to give you a good nice read

It's such a break from the fast-paced and contemporary drama ( Heyy, I really love it!!) don't get me wrong but sometimes I feel reading a simple Christian Historical fiction is a good break for my brain

This book was a story about Susanna who's parents can't understand their wrongs and is struggling with keeping their family together and their journey moving to Santa Fe RR, and Susanna's chance to find love again in life after losing her husband

➡I loved the faith that was included in this book, all the characters were amazing I really liked the supporting characters and how Susanna got along with them...it's quite a feeling and journey going from widow to finding friends and a community who care for each other like family 🥰

Many may think the drama with her parents might be overdone but no y'all It's true, we do have such people
I've seen them & still see them too!
I'm glad her parents changed and It's a good message to keep on praying for them if they don't 💙

Well! Let's just say this won't be my last book by @authortraciepeterson
Though being my first I did anticipate a bit more romance, it's okay it's nice

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐🌟

* Thanks to @netgalley and the publishers for an e-arc in exchange for a honest review
All views expressed are my own

Yes -read it!

Another outstanding read and a first in a new series from Tracie Peterson. The description of the story is accurate but I would argue that the publisher under promised & the author over delivered! The storyline wasn't predictable, had characters you loved and a few you'd like to slap upside the head.

It's a fun read. The next in the series is due out in July so make this your spring read since you'll have a good summer one !

i received an ARC from Netgalley to help me prepare my honest review.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This story was pretty amazing. I enjoyed watching Susanna respectfully defy her parents’ unfair demands. She appropriately showed how to respect one’s parents while not enabling their poor decisions. That balance was exquisitely written and provided a fantastic example to learn from.

I liked that there were a couple of different ethnicities working together in harmony. Mrs. Peterson has proven herself strong at writing this sort of thing in a very believable and realistic way that reflects real life and how people of different backgrounds may work together to build a strong community. I especially like how she always incorporates faith in God in the mix, because He’s the One Who is able to heal broken communities.

This story was a beautifully rich and emotional story of an imploding family, and it provided many themes to cherish along the way. From correcting wrong life paths and working to love one another to finding second love and encouraging family members to make better choices (and not enabling them despite their begging and mischief-making), these themes were strong and encouraging and challenging.

The cover is gorgeous and drew me in immediately, but the story itself was just as beautiful.

The disappointing bits were several uses of the “forsaken” that takes God’s name in vain and a few expletives. These were inappropriate and disheartening, so I had to dock a star.

Content: profanity, alcohol, skinny dipping mentioned, gambling, expletives

Along the Rio Grande is the first book in the Love on the Santa Fe series by Traci Peterson. It is set in 1899 New Mexico and if you are familiar with Tracie’s work you know she conducts a lot of research for her novels.

Susanna’s father is a gambler who made some bad decisions and lost their money. She is widowed and decides to follow her family for a fresh start. At times you want to be frustrated with her as she consistently helps her family to the point of enabling. The family dynamics are frustrating at times but her developing relationship with Owen makes up for it.

Owen and Susanna are likeable characters. Even though their families were not good role models they seem to be developing a healthy relationship. Owen has to learn to let go of his past and the mistakes he made.

There will be two more books in the series with independent stories. The series sis connected by the setting of New Mexico and the Santa Fe Railroad.

This is my first book reading about the Rio Grande. What fun it was to journey along with these amazing characters as they travel through a very difficult time in their lives. Susanna Jenkins' uncle was fed up with the poor choices made by her dad, so he sends them to San Marcial, New Mexico, to run one of his hotels. But the Jenkins family didn't work; they had servants to do that. But not at this hotel. Join in the fun with this dysfunctional family with the most childish parents you will ever meet.

I love, love this story. Tracie Peterson does a fabulous job with every part of this story. The characters, though some are not so loveable, are perfect for the story and developed so well. The deep research was apparent in all of the many vivid historical scenes throughout the story. I was so engaged in reading the historical details of the setting I found myself going back reading scenes and pages over to savor the goodness of it all. I was impressed with Suzanna and her brother being so willing to really work for a living. I was really annoyed at the parents' holier-than-thou attitude. The one thing I always appreciate with Tracie Peterson books is the way she shows the love of Jesus in such a subtle way. In Along the Rio Grande, Ms. Peterson shows life is bearable, even when we think it's not when we let God in. Second chances is strongly shown in the story as well. This book is chunked full of fun and interesting facts and fiction and it deserves Five Stars from me. I really want to encourage you to give this book a try. You will love it as much as I do. I promise you!

Great start to a new series set in the aridness of New Mexico!

Susanna Jenkins recently lost her husband to the Spanish Flu, but she has no need to worry about financial means. Meanwhile, her father has made some bad investments that left he and her mother financially ruined and even lost the estate that they have lived in for many years. When her uncle refuses to just bail them out and instead gives them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes as managers of a new hotel in New Mexico, Susanna decides to accompany them at the request of her uncle. Unfortunately, her parents can’t grasp the concept that everything shouldn’t just be given to them and much of the hotel’s operations fall to her. Will her parents and younger brother ever be able to understand the lesson they are trying to be taught?

Owen Turner is a boilermaker for the Santa Fe railroad. You might say that the railroad is in his blood since his father was an engineer on the line until he died. Owen tries to live his life right and walk with God, but he still has a lot of skeletons in the closet. When he meets the new hotel managers, he is quickly drawn to Susanna, especially when he learns that she is now widowed. When her brother comes to work at the railroad, he has a lot of trouble learning the craft and falls in with a group of friends that don’t help his behavior. Can Owen open his hear to Susanna and help her brother at the same time?

Tracie Peterson writes such fun stories and for those of us who love steam trains as well, what could be better than a historical romance set amid the beginnings of the Santa Fe rail line? I loved the setting (especially since I only live about 5 hours away) and the talk of local cuisine would always make me hungry. Both Owen and Susanna were such lovable characters that you couldn’t help but hope that would end up together and not have a stumbling block. Susanna’s parents, however, were nothing short of loathsome characters for most of the book. With their attitudes throughout, I couldn’t believe that Susanna came from the same family. But things have a way of working out in the end, especially when God is in charge. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Fan-favorite Tracie Peterson kicks off a new series with a tale of sweet romance and new beginnings.


Susanna was a sweetheart. I really admired her for the way she handled the change in her family’s situation. My heart went out to her as she dealt with her less-than cooperative parents and brother. Yet in spite of the adversary, she faced life with grace and humility. Owen was a stand-up hero. Hardworking and quiet, he was always set on doing what was right for everyone around him, making him a character to admire.


Peterson’s eye for historical detail brings late 19th century New Mexico to life. Descriptions of the adobe architecture, the Harvey House, and the train station fill the pages and create the perfect backdrop for this sweet historical romance.


Sweet and heartfelt, Along the Rio Grande is a solid choice for readers of historical romance.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

It seems all Tracie Peterson books have a good lesson in them, and this start to her new series certainly does, too.

I felt compassion for Susanna and liked most of the characters - her parents are a different story however! They just couldn't get it through their minds that they were the ones failing, not everyone else causing their problems. It took a long time to get them to understand, it got a bit annoying - but that itself was part of the lesson.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a digital, temporary ARC for my review.

Haven’t read a Tracie Peterson book for a long time. I enjoyed this one. Good storyline and likable characters. God’s message was clearly given. Looking forward to more.