I found Jody
Hedlund a while back when I picked up the first book of the Michigan Brides
series, Unending Devotion. I finished
the second book, A Noble Groom, earlier this month. When I had the chance to read the third book,
I jumped at the chance. And since I
spent my childhood summers on Mackinac Island (the setting for this book), I
was even more excited.
This book is
set way before the Grand Hotel, the horse drawn carriages and the fudge. About a century ago, the island was occupied
by the British. The Americans want the
island and their attempts to block supplies from getting to the island are
impacting the people living there as well as the troops.
Angelique is
one of these people. She lives with her
stepfather who is obsessed with making sure she lives a chaste and meek
life. Any minor mistake leads to harsh
punishment. She longs for the day when
her betrothed, Jean, will return and take her away from her prison. Even though she doesn't love him, he loves
her. He's a loyal American and was
forced to leave the island when he refused to sign over his loyalty to the
British. When Jean's brother, Pierre,
comes back after leaving abruptly five years ago, Angelique questions her
choices. She’s always favored Pierre,
but he’ll never quit being a fur trader and she’s unwilling to leave her
precious island.
Pierre has
come back to spy. He doesn’t recognize
Angelique at first, but once he realizes who she is, he can’t help but think
he’s a better match for her than his brother.
He’s played both sides of this war at one point and time, but now he’s
chosen his path. He longs to return to
his travels, but his mother needs his help.
And so does Angelique.
This book
was great. I’m not normally a fan of
this time period, but I really enjoyed reading the vivid descriptions of what
life was like a century ago on Mackinac Island.
I didn’t know the history of the island that far back and it was really
interesting. The characters were also
well written. As I got closer to the
end, I was afraid I wasn’t going to get that happy ending, but I wasn’t
disappointed.
The books in
this series don’t connect, so you can read them out of order or alone. They’re all pretty good, though. Next up for Hedlund is a new series. Love Unexpected is the first book in the
Beacons of Hope series and is due out November 25, 2014. It’s also set in Michigan and I’ll be keeping
my eye out for it! Good Book!
*I received
a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an
honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment