It’s been four years since Francine Rivers last released a novel and longer than that since she’s delivered a historical romance similar to her enduring classic, Redeeming Love. To say that The Lady’s Mine is highly-anticipated is to downplay just how much her fans have been clamoring for this novel. As someone who got to read an advance copy, let me tell you—it’ll live up to the hype. Rivers checks all the boxes you’d expect while delivering some surprises and twists along the way. I’m not exactly Rivers’ target demographic (a Millennial male), but she kept me entertained even during the cheesy bits and had me rooting for her no-nonsense heroine.

The Lady’s Mine is the perfect title for this book. It plays off the rather stereotypical (and male-oriented) quest to win over a lady’s hand, but Rivers twists it, making her heroine a somewhat well-to-do young lady who has just inherited her uncle’s mine. Kathryn Walsh is encouraged to sell the mine, but is determined to put down stakes, take over her uncle’s business, and make it in what is clearly a man’s world.



She’s quite a disruptive force in Calvada, a quickly-built boomtown with only a bare semblance of law and order and whose only other single women aren’t exactly the marrying kind. Shocked by the treatment of local miners, haunted by the knowledge her uncle was murdered, and with nowhere else to go, Kathryn determines to make the town a better place by taking on Calvada’s most powerful and wealthy mine owner. And she doesn’t need any man’s help.

Despite that, Matthias Beck—hotel/saloon owner—is right there at the ready. Matthias is a good guy, but his intentions are not quite clear. He’s drawn to protect Kathryn, sometimes over her objections, and the two fall into a fairly stereotypical and predictable banter-and-disdain-until-we-fall-in-love storyline. If it was me, the one thing in this book I’d change would be the inevitable. Their romance always feels a bit forced even as Rivers telegraphs what’s going to happen with them from almost page one. It’d be a great inversion of trope for them to remain platonic friends but…yeah…that wasn’t going to happen. It’s not quite as overbearing or central to the story as the romance in Redeeming Love, making it a bit more palatable, but still more than a bit paint-by-numbers.

The Lady’s Mine combines vintage Rivers’ style with a strong female character who shows remarkable grit and resilience. There’s action, mystery, romance, some surprising twists, and more than a bit of interesting history. This era and this type of story is Francine’s forte and it shines with brilliance from start to finish. Given the soon-upcoming Redeeming Love movie, one has to wonder if The Lady’s Mine will be the next in line to get the Hollywood treatment. It’s certainly deserving.

The Lady's Mine by Francine Rivers is a humorous lighthearted historical romance. It is set out west in a mining town called Calvada. I had so much fun reading this book. The heroine, Katherine is a redheaded suffragist who has passion for social justice and turns that town on its head. The hero, Mathias Beck is a saloon owner and does his best to keep Katherine out of trouble. The whole time I was reading this, I kept picturing Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne with the witty banter.

I have found during the pandemic that I have been reading more light hearted books and romantic comedies. I wasn't sure what this book was all about. I've read a handful of Rivers' works and they were pretty serious and gritty. (loved them) However, this book, while very humorous does have a deeper message and an inspiration that one person can make a difference. The epilogue tied everything up in a nice bow and it is a very Happy Ending. I loved it!

I wanted to like this book, but it is really just a historical romance. I expect so much more from Francine not two people that spend the entire story struggling with how attracted they are to each other. There are some good story threads throughout the story but the romance takes over the story completely. The main male character refuses to allow the main female lead to do anything on her own. He refuses to respect her decisions. I was so frustrated by his lack of respect of anything and everything she did it drove me nuts. He only wanted to marry her and continued to push for that only for convenience to “save” her. As if marriage is the answer to all of women’s problems.

I hate to give a negative review as I respect Francine Rivers a great deal. I am also sure that others will love this book, I personally did not.

I have to say this is a solid 4 stars for me. The story of Kathryn and Beck. Kathryn family kicks her out to Boston because of her progressive view on Woman Rights. When she lands in California after the Civil War she is at a loss for what to do. He inheritance a mine and a newspaper. Many don't believe she can live a life without a man especially Beck the owner of a Salon next to her. She will show them and show them she does. Can Beck and Kathryn see pass their differences and fall in love and will he let her to remain a free woman? Only time will tell. I did like the book but it took me a long while to get into it. I listened to this book on Audiobooks and the narrator wasn't that good so for me the 1st half of the book was so bland I almost DNF it but so glad I continued. No its not Francine Rivers best book but it was a book I needed to give me a good laugh once I got into the book. I do recommend it but I would read the book instead of listening to it on Audiobooks. Now we have to wait for the next Francine Rivers book to come out!! I hate the wait!!!!!!

I have loved almost all of Francine Rivers’s books… but this one was a struggle for me to finish. After reading the author’s note, it seems she intended this novel to be more lighthearted and not as serious as her other works in the past… but it just didn’t excite me. Nothing stood out as particularly deep or meaningful, there was no substantial faith journey of the characters, and even the romance just didn’t quite interest me.

This was a hard book to put down! I finished it in a little over 24 hours and I even woke up once in the middle of the night to read a chapter.

This felt different than Francine Rivers' usual books, but I still loved it. There was more banter and humor between the main couple than in some of her other books and it felt more like a typical romance novel. Of course the content is still clean, but there are plenty of moments with lots of pining, tension, and kisses. It was packed with several interesting characters and tidbits of what life was like during the time of California mining history.

I think Kathryn is one of my favorite of Mrs. Rivers' characters. She's spunky and smart and independent. She feels like a modern woman stuck in the wrong era. I loved that Matthias matched her step for step too, even at the very beginning of their relationship. He was a gruff-but-lovable hero who had a protective streak that took over when Kathryn got herself in trouble with her business adventures, which was quite a few times. I think what I loved the most about them was their ability to laugh/argue with each other, their eventual respect for each other, and how much they grew as individuals before they sealed the deal as a couple. Their relationship reminded me of a John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara western--their chemistry was off the charts.

I've been a fan of Francine Rivers for a long time, and I'm still a fan after reading this one!

A delightfully old-fashioned (but clean) historical romance, The Lady's Mine is a fun western romp with a strong-minded suffragette heroine and a hero who has to learn it's better to work with her than try to stop her.

Mar 10, 2022 Nora St Laurent rated it really liked it

This novel reminds me of a TV series titled, “When the Heart Calls” it too takes place in a mining town, you get to know the people and see how the town grows, how they deal with loss and how they get the courage to rebuild. These are all the elements in this novel and much more.

I was immediately drawn to Kathryn Walsh and her situation in 1875. She was banished to Calvada mining town by her stepfather. Her mother and father didn’t know what to do with her outspoken, unladylike ways. She was there to claim her inheritance, which turned out to not be much of anything.

When the stagecoach pulls into town, she draws a lot of attention. There weren’t many ladies in this mining town. The local saloon/hotel owner Matthias Beck makes a point to introduce himself to her as he was a close friend of her uncle C.T. Walsh. Kathryn reminded him of his friend, a redhead, feisty and not afraid of doing the right thing, no matter the cost.

I enjoyed walking along with Kathryn as she learns about her uncle, deals with busy bodies, and makes her own way in this mining town. I enjoyed this story, the characters, and their grapple with allowing the Lord to have a say in their lives.

This book is a delightful read, it’s fun, humorous, different, lighthearted, has a mystery to solve, with quirky and loveable characters I enjoyed hanging out with. I missed the author’s usual deep spiritual thread that is natural and not preachy. But you don’t want to miss this novel, it’s a great escape into days gone by. It makes you appreciate the time we are living in.

I’m disappointed. Perhaps it would be a four star book from anyone else, but my expectations were too high. Or perhaps I would have put it down a quarter of the way through finding it not worth the time to finish had it been from anyone else. I’m not sure. I think another 1870s mining town story fresh off the Redeeming Love movie was too much. It’s too hard to not compare books, even though the stories are different, and that’s a tough one to go up against. However, it’s not just that. I didn’t like Matthias for 7/8 of the book. He was an unlikeable lead guy for a vast majority of the book. His behavior wasn’t endearing, it was insulting. Kathryn kept saying she was drawn to him, but that would go against everything we know of her. Rivers just really didn’t give us enough of a glimpse into why we should cheer for them. Too bad

Anyone else watch Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and overlay this story with it? Granted many differences but it was still easy to visualize the town and people, lack of privacy, historically accurate sexism set against a western mining town. All the storylines come together masterfully.