Unrivaled

Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell
3.5/5 stars
Bethany House, 2013
391 pages
Adult Inspirational Historical Romance

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

I read this author's She Walks in Beauty and I really enjoyed it so I was pleased to check out another title from her. My interest was further piqued about discovering that it was about candy makers in early twentieth century St. Louis. I don't think I've read many (any?) books set there so it would mean a new setting for me.

Lucy is the daughter of a brilliant confectioner but poor businessman who lost his candy company and has spent the intervening years trying to top his greatest success. Charlie is the son of the man who took over the candy company; long estranged from his father, he has the opportunity to rebuild those family ties. As Lucy frantically tries to save the family's fortune, she pushes against her mother's desire for a good marriage and wrestles with her own feelings for Charlie who she has dubbed the enemy. Meanwhile he wrestles with feelings of inadequacy as the dual narration takes us deep into both of their heads.

Favorite moment was definitely when sweet, nice Winnie Compton had a conversation about God with Charlie that poked at my thoughts about the God who Is versus the God I want. Charlie thinks that there should be more to the process of God forgiving him but Winnie teaches him that that's not how God works. Winnie later has a similar conversation with Lucy. I heard a sermon about that and then this book just magnified those thoughts. Regardless this book didn't feel very heavily Christian to me. Neither main character particularly likes attending church and although there is a pivotal scene of understanding in a church, I think non-Christian readers who like historical fiction would be fine with this book.

Second favorite moment would have to be reading about the actual history of candymakers, which was an intensely competitive field (see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for a taste). The author's note at the end gives a little bit of insight in to this exciting time period.

Do you see what I don't mention? I didn't say anything about liking the main characters or their romance. That's because I didn't really like them. Lucy is incredibly obsessed with candy making and very naive about a couple of plot twists even as I yelled at her about what was occurring. Charlie wavers a lot on principles and what really matters (especially the lip service he pays to his mother and all her hard work while eagerly absorbing himself in his father's shady business practices). I found the writing and plot compelling enough but I really didn't like the characters and that dragged down the whole book.

She Walks in Beauty

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Bethany House, 2010
392 pages
Christian Historical Romance
4.5/5 stars

Source: Library

I flew through this book as it was arranged just the way I like books with relatively short chapters and lots of section breaks.  That means I can read a section real quick while waiting for something or encourage myself to finish it faster as I say "I'll just read one more section...and then one more...etc."

Clara is a year away from her debut into New York society and grateful as she yearns more for books and academia than balls and a husband.  Her aunt however moves up the year of her debut in order to garner a marriage with Franklin De Vries, heir to a fortune and to a family that once wronged Clara's.  Soon Clara is the belle of the season but she finds herself far more interested in Franklin's younger brother Harry and troubled by her growing knowledge of the dirty world of New York politics.  When tragedy strikes, Clara must decide who she really is.

Clara seems like a pretty typical heroine.  Although too tall and without a fashionable figure, she's a devoted reader and pretty loyal friend and daughter.  Watching her struggle and then triumph navigating the tricky mires of society was amusing and exciting.  Although her aunt was often very harsh, I really loved her.  Toward the end, she explains that she was trying to help Clara survive in a world that is very harsh to women and I could appreciate her motivation. What about Clara's parents? Her mother died a long time ago, bequeathing to Clara a book of Byron (hence the title from a Byron poem) but her doctor father remains dispensing his miracle tonic and preparing for Clara to win the heir to the De Vries fortune and thus restore the family honor.

Of course there's a love story.  Franklin is a bore who loves to talk of himself and his horses while Harry is the friendly, sweet, well-intentioned man who naturally captures Clara's attention.  He is also the one who introduces the main Christian theme that God loves His creation which proves so challenging to Clara's faith.  I was expecting much more Christian language but it was very minor overall.  I imagine non-Christian historical fiction fans could read it and just skip the few passages where a relationship to God is discussed.

There were many little tidbits sprinkled throughout the story such as Jacob Riis's How the Other Half Lives; the painfulness of a corset; men's trips to the Bowery; newspapermen and celebrity; scandal!; the minutiae of society; and medical quackery that were fascinating but not given enough attention in my opinion.  Some receive more than others but despite Clara's sympathy for the poor exposed by Riis, there is never any mention of her attempting anything to help and little chance of that given the ending.  Obviously not all of them could be treated but I would have preferred a tighter focus on a few.

Overall: The Christian content was lacking but the historical details and the character Clara kept me engaged.

Cover: The cover is what attracted me to this book-I think everything about it is very pretty.