Afraid of people and disease, wild child recluse Ilsa Nordegren lives isolated on Hope Mountain when successful business man and neighbor Mitch Warden returns from New York. He brings danger with him as gunmen turn up to kill him. On a trip to the city to get help, Ilsa and Mitch’s relationship gets time to blossom in the midst of intense danger.

Woman of Sunlight is installment #2 in Brides of Hope Mountain Series. The story is about the three young Nordegren women living in isolation on Hope Mountain, Colorado. New York business man Mitch Warden return to help his family, but brings with him danger as armed gunmen turn up. The Nordegrens and the Wardens use all their skills to apprehend them and go to town delivering them to the local sheriff. It becomes vital for Mitch to hire a nation-wide detective agency to investigate the two strangers so he goes to the city. Ilsa insists on accompanying him and it becomes an eye opening experience for her as she has lived such a reclusive life. The mystery of who is trying to kill Mitch kept me gripped right to the end.

Fiercely independent recluse Ilsa Nordegren, is illiterate but knowledgeable about Indian medicine. She seems socially impaired, cut off from the world for too long. I love that she is such a complex character. On the one hand she seems a person having been isolated from other people having little experience; on the other hand she has the most amazing survival skills that come in handy in dangerous situations.

Civil war veteran and successful businessman, Mitch Warden, is Ilsa’s friend and neighbor. Returning from New York he finds his family has been run off their rightfully owned land and stays to help. He is also trying to escape troubles in New York, but that seems to have followed him to Hope Mountain.

Wax Mosby is a hired gun who helps chase innocent settlers and drive them of land they own by law. He is not shying away from criminal acts in the process. I am happy to see he seems to wise up somewhat throughout the plot. His conscience seems to bother him and he seems to feel a pull back to his mother’s Bible teachings. For initially such a bad character, it’s nice to see he seems to go through a process of wanting to get back to his faith and live a decent life..

This plot has elements of a western tale including outlaw gunmen horse riding, criminal activity and gold, which I really enjoyed. My favorite part of the story is descriptions of Ilsa’s love of nature and Mitch’s tireless work to teach her to read and help her adjust to life outside what she had been used to all her life.
Ilsa and Mitch’s romance seem to start with anger and scolding, continue with moments of closeness and finally more and more awareness of their feelings for each other.

Woman of Sunlight (Brides of Hope Mountain #2) by Mary Connealy is a sweet, entertaining and easy read with elements of faith and family, but also danger and hardship. I read it as a standalone which worked absolutely fine, but as a rule I try to read a series starting with #1. This is the first book I have read by Mary Connealy and I will read Aiming for Love (Brides of Hope Mountain Book #1) to catch up with the story line running through the series.
Woman of Sunlight (Brides of Hope Mountain #2) is recommended for fans of Mary Connealy and for readers of historical romance fiction or historical fiction.

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for this eARC which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.