4/5 stars
Thomas Nelson, 2012
307 pages
Inspirational Historical Romance
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't sure about this book as the time period setting is not my usual (early twentieth-century America) and with a not pretty dress on the cover. But I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did.
I found this book compulsively readable. I'd pick it up to read a chapter or two and then discover I had read a hundred pages or more. I just could not stop because I had to know more. This was a little odd as I found the characters flat and the story very predictable. But I could not put it down.
Katherine Osborne is a young widow whose husband's profligacy has left her struggling to manage her inherited orange groves. Her wealthy parents want her to return to New York, rejoin society, and make a brilliant match befitting their status. Katherine is wooed back for a summer by the promise of a loan to save her groves but is still intent on returning to Florida. Another persuasion is Andrew, an attorney who is socially beneath her and is in fact cousin to the man who has been earmarked to her. Yet Katherine has no interest in him, feeling drawn to Andrew despite the many obstacles placed in their way by her snobbish mother.
Obviously that is the main couple and their developing relationship takes up a great part of the book. I thought is was very sweet and I loved their cuteness. However I was less enthused about their conflicts which I found repetitive and tired. Katherine can't decide if she should pursue another romantic relationship after the mess of her first marriage; she's also still struggling with parental and societal expectations. Andrew did not seem to have much of a personality beyond his long-time love for Katherine and his faith in God, both qualities I like in a hero but I need someone with a bit more pizzazz. The other characters were similarly cookie-cutter and flat.
Still, rated highly for my inability to put the book down even as I listed the problems I had it with and the sweetness of the main romance.
Cover: I think it's really bleh-I like bright eye-catching colors but this one is so plain.
I used to read a lot of inspirational historical fiction and I'd have to say that many of the books did feature flat characters and predictable stories but I still enjoyed reading them perhaps because of the historical setting and promise of a happy ending. It is interesting that the main character has orange groves in Florida. I haven't read anything set in Florida during that time and it is too bad that instead of focusing on the hardships and challenges, the story sends the heroine back to her wealthy family.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! Inalsonlive historical fiction. I agree that the cover could use a pop of color!
ReplyDeleteSorry - on my phone. where is autocorrect when I need it?
ReplyDelete