Author: Deanne Gist
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Grade: A
I have to admit to a bit of a prejudice against inspirational romance. Over the years I have read some that are just plain awful, some that abound with such a judgmental attitude that I feel I am being smacked in the face every time I pick the book up and some that have so much preaching I want to skip that weeks visit to church. For the most part I avoid the books. While I can manage to pick up a clunker in any genre I seem to have a special knack for it with this one.
Fortunately, this book quickly banished those past experiences; Surprising since it begins with a bit of a TSTL (too stupid to live) moment. Lady Constance Morrow is horrified when she finds out that her beloved Uncle Skelly is being deported to America for speaking against the King and slips away from the protection of family and servants to say a final goodbye to him on the ship taking him to the Colonies. The captain, seeing a young woman without protection, quickly adds her to the group of female felons he has changed down below who will serve as brides for the colonists. Travel in 1634 is no picnic and Constance finds herself hungry, dirty and devastated as her uncle dies and she lands in the Colonies with no way to prove who she is. Enter Drew O'Connor, a man not looking for a wife but who, with a few twists of fate, finds himself attached to Lady Constance.
Watching these two fall in love was a ton of fun. There were some truly hilarious moments between the two of them as they adapted to life seen through each others eyes. One memorable moment involving a shared trencher and two very hungry people had me laughing out loud but many others had me snickering, giggling and smiling my way through the book. I loved that Constance wasn't a doormat/Sunday school teacher type heroine but an honest to God woman who got cranky, could be selfish, liked to use her mind and was strong willed without (for the most part) using that will for TSTL'ness. Drew seems like one of those men turned bitter by the hardness of life (and he has a tough one) at first but pretty quickly we are shown the gentle heart beneath the tough exterior. His struggle at one point to determine if lust was an acceptable emotion or if his love was supposed to be something pure and he was somehow tainting everything was funny and touching, rather than heavy handed or preachy. There wasn't an assumption of what constituted good, Christian behavior from either of them and that made them seem very life like to me, very much like christian people I know in the real world. They didn't spout bible verses at every problem, nor did they indulge in judging their neighbors constantly. If I am harping on this issue I apologize but many an inspirational romance has lost me over just such things.
The book is sweet rather than hot and towards the end I felt the author was tacking on a bit to stretch things but the epilogue is great and the feel of the book overall brought a smile to my face. If you have been interested in giving an inspirational a try this might be the one to do it with.
Tea: How about something truly American? Here is a link to a recipe for Pumpkin Tea Bread! Seasonal, unique to our country (at least at first) and colonial (not sure about the bread but the pumpkin itself assuredly was!) http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Tea-Bread/Detail.aspx
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