Love's Awakening - A Review

Ellie Ballantyne comes home suddenly to find her parents on a trip and her siblings busy with other things. To keep herself from being bored, Ellie decides to start tutoring the young ladies of Pittsburg in the social graces. When one of her students is discovered to be a Turlock, tension already high between the two families escalates even higher. As Ellie finds herself drawn more and more to the secrets her family is hiding and to one of the Turlock men, Jack, she soon finds herself torn in two directions. What price will she pay for falling in love with the enemy?

When I read the first book in this series last year, Love's Reckoning, I was amazed at how beautifully written and engrossing it was. I had high hopes for this book. I was not disappointed. It was just as beautiful and emotionally gripping as the first. I loved how Jack wanted to be his own man and not live under the stigma of his family's misdeeds. I didn't like Ellie at first. I thought that she was, for lack of a better word, a wimp. But as her story progressed and I began to see the layers to her character, she grew on me.

I really loved this book. I highly recommend it.

I received a copy for free to review from Revell Books. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of JoAnne Bischof, Laura Frantz, drama, Julie Lessman

Rating - 5 stars - well deserving for a beautiful story

Available September 2014 at your local bookstore from Revell Books, a divisihon of Baker Publishing Group.

Band of Sisters - A Review

Maureen O'Reilly flees Ireland to New York with her younger sister in tow. The girls hope that the family of a man their father saved the life of during the Civil War will honor the promise in the letter their father received over twenty years before. When Katie Rose is quarantined at Ellis Island and Maureen is free to go, she's determined to find the Wakefield family and seek their help. Yet Maureen learns that Colonel Wakefield has died and that his son-in-law refuses to help her out. She's on her own and must find employment or be deported. She obtains a job at a department store with forged references, but soon learns that the store is a facade for a dark secret. She's determined to uncover it especially in light of seeing girls disappear from the store. Olivia Wakefield is livid at her brother-in-law for refusing to help Maureen, and takes it on herself to find the girl. Olivia receives aid from a businessman who soon comes to mean more to her than just a friend even though he is keeping secrets as well. When Maureen and Olivia finally cross paths, Olivia enlists the help of influential women to help fight for the injustice of the poor immigrants. But as the secrets come to light, both Maureen and Olivia's lives could be in danger. But will either woman be able to fully trust the divine leading let alone a chance to fall in love?

This book has so many layers in it that it's hard to fully explain it. It's very different than Gohlke's Promise Me This. I'd have to say that this is one of the most thought provoking books I've read this year. Maureen was abused as a young teen and has a problem trusting men and God. Yet she finally figures out that there are people out there who love her the way that God loves her and she surrenders to that love. This book also takes the concept of what would Jesus do as introduced to the characters via the book In His Steps  by Charles Sheldon. The issue of white slavery  is also dealt with in this book. My only experience with seeing how the poor were treated in New York around the turn of the century come from my high school history classes and the lectures my teacher gave. But the issue of white slavery was never discussed. I've only heard recently of how white slavery is still going strong in parts of America today, and that scares me a little.

While I didn't love this book the way that I loved Promise Me This, I definitely enjoyed this book.

I read the Kindle version for pure pleasure. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Karen Kingsbury, Laura Frantz, Lynn Austin, Julie Lessman, drama, Francine Rivers, and Sarah Sundin.

Rating - 4 stars