Every Perfect Gift

Every Perfect Gift by Dorothy Love
4/5 stars
Thomas Nelson Books, 2012
320 pages
Christian Historical Romance
Book #3 in Hickory Ridge trilogy

Source: Received a free copy for review from the publisher via Booksneeze.

My reviews of Beyond All Measure and Beauty for Ashes

Well, I read the first two books in this series so I was certainly invested in returning. Our heroine this time is orphan Sophie Robillard, who was adopted by Ada and Wyatt at the end of the first book. She has now grown into a fine young woman who struggles with her lack of knowledge about her blood relations and the subsequent torments she endured. Her ambition is to return to Hickory Ridge and revitalize their newspaper in the wake of the building of Blue Smoke Resort.

One of the first people she encounters is Ethan Heyward, who is in charge of getting Blue Smoke built along with his wealthy senior partner Howard Blakely. Although the pair clash initially due to her willingness to report on the less than ideal living conditions, a mutual respect develops. But both have big family secrets that have left scars threatening their future.

Sophie is a lovely woman-she is strong and tenacious. I love her go-getting ways, feminism, and optimism (it's 1886 and she's sure woman's suffrage is only a matter of time-try 34 years away!) As a writer, she has a commitment to the truth and trying to help people, which does in a variety of ways. Ethan was a bit harder to get to know since Sophie is the focus but he is also an upstanding hard worker and the pair are well-matched.

As the two fall for each other, more obstacles crop up with some well-resolved and others less resolved to my taste. Still, I think this was my favorite of the series and if you've read the others, you'll certainly want to read this one.

Cover: I do really love this cover-the white is so striking and pretty although something with newspaper might have been more fitting.

Beauty for Ashes

Beauty for Ashes by Dorothy Love
4/5 stars
Thomas Nelson, 2012
325 pages
Christian Historical Romance

Source: Received an ARC through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

Last year I read Beyond All Measure and enjoyed how faith was incorporated into the book while also mostly liking the historical setting of just post-Civil War. So I eagerly snapped up this next book, a companion novel set in the same small town but focusing on different characters. I feel like it could be read as a standalone but since I've read the first book, I'm not the best source.

It has been four more years, long and lonely ones for the widow Carrie Daly whose elder brother has recently decided to take a wife, the insufferable Mary, mother to two rambunctious boys. After repeated instances of disrespect, Carrie is fed up and leaves, attempting to make her own way in the struggling town of Hickory Ridge. Meanwhile she attempts to fight her feelings for charming Griff Rutledge, master horseman who has no intentions of settling down. Can these two people follow God's plan for their lives and find their way to each other?

This book actually follows a lot of physical movement on the part of Carrie in addition to her emotional changes. First she lives with her brother, then she moves out and ekes out a living through several odd jobs in town before returning to live with her new family. It is a hard life that is described, not just because of the historical time period, rural setting, and Depression-era economy. I felt so overwhelmingly grateful for my life after reading this. All the work that Carrie must do just to ensure that everyone has the basic necessities while their meager Christmas celebration especially brought home just how fortunate I am.

A large element of this book is the romance but there are many sections of the book where all Carrie and Griff do is stare after the other. I enjoyed the scenes when they were together as Griff has charm to spare and I was heavily invested in Carrie's well-being, which would be improved by a relationship with Griff. It just took a really long time for that to be the centerpiece. I think part of that is because both Carrie and Griff need to have their character changed in some ways before they are ready for each other. But it left me a bit disappointed.

Overall: Some beautiful lessons in faith but there are definitely some slow moments that may frustrate other readers.

Cover: I love the green dress, the hat, and the horse, the latter two which are plot elements of the book. I don't remember the green dress featuring but it doesn't really matter.

Beyond All Measure

Beyond All Measure by Dorothy Love
Thomas Nelson, 2011
313 pages
Christian Historical Romance
3.5/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the cover for this with that lovely purple and the hat. I personally don't like wearing hats but I am interested in seeing other people wearing hats such as the lovely Ada Wentworth, main character in this book, and of course that is appropriate for the time period.

Ada is a destitute Bostonian who takes a position as a companion to the elderly Lillian in Tennessee. Upon her arrival, she is shocked to discover that her job is even more grueling as she will be maid, cook, and nurse to Lillian. She is also surprised by Lillian's handsome nephew Wyatt, lumber mill owner, the smallness of the town despite its flourishing in tough conditions, and the presence of the nascent KKK and its intolerance for black people and Northerners.  She is also haunted with "whys" in regard to her father's mismanagement of money and a broken engagement.

I mostly liked the characters although Lillian has a difficult temperament and there's another character who was very grating and outright mean to Ada. And as a Northern, I have soft feelings for someone who is from the North who is trying to make it in the South, especially in the post-Civil War years.  Wyatt is a good man, who cares for his family and longs for the land of Texas. The clashes between Ada and Wyatt at the start were interesting (Wyatt was kind of a jerk and unable to understand the difficulties of being a poor woman without a male protector).

While I liked the main characters, I thought the KKK aspects and the villagers' bigotry was shoehorned in a bit awkwardly although I appreciate the attempts to include them. I guess I thought they could have been more menacing and I didn't entirely buy that most of the characters we met denounced the KKK. Seriously? But it is Christian romance so I understand why those elements wouldn't be played up enough.

My least favorite part came when Ada's ex-fiance shows up and reveals the secret behind why he broke their engagement. I spent much of the book waiting for him to arrive because he was obviously going to show up and push her toward Wyatt although that whole sequence of events happened even faster than I had anticipated.

Overall: An okay historical romance; the faith elements were lovely though.