I just gave another one-star rating so you know what that means. It's review time.
I had seen this book around on Hoopla quite often and borrowed it while it was a bonus borrow. It started out decent but then went down from there.
I felt that the time period was completely wrong for this book. The protagonist seemed to think that she lived in today's society as opposed to sometime in the 1800s. She wore boys clothes and tried to do the tasks of a male.
Another thing that bugged me was that she was engaged. She lived under the same roof as her fiancé for weeks and they never get married until the very end. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a huge no-no back in the day.
And speaking of Nicholas, there was no way they could ever be a couple. They did not talk the whole book and when they did, he was acting as a father would (Nicholas is old enough to be her father by the way) by correcting Faith's behavior. And then suddenly Faith and Nicholas realized that they were IN LOVE. Nope. Not buying it.
Nicholas's mother drove me insane. There comes a point when someone has to stand up for themselves. This book basically had the message that God wants you to be a good Christian and lay down and take what others throw at you. Nicholas and Faith did whatever Liza asked, no matter how unreasonable. Nicholas is in his 30s and his mother still controls his life as if he were 10 years old. Nicholas rarely stood up for Faith when his mother was being a jerk to Faith. And someone please tell me when you can honestly threaten to tan the hide of grown adults. And then tell Liza the same answer.
I admire Faith for wanting to open a school for the blind, however, once a woman was married, she was expected to stay at home during this time period. I highly doubt everyone would have been fine with her starting up her own school.

I know this review is a bit of a jumbled mess, but so was the book.

1 Star ( )

52865

I liked how this book started; by giving you the preview of what the next 3 stories were going to be about. When the 3 sisters lose their pastor father, they all 3 set out to find the right man through being mail-order-brides. Faith is the first sister to leave and heads to Texas, where her well-to-do rancher, Nicholas Shepherd awaits her, along with his not-so-pleasant mother. Their wedding keeps getting postponed for different reasons, while Faith tries to get along with the Mom and learns to try and understand the quiet and sometimes moody, Nicholas.

There is much going on in this story and you will be cheering Faith on as she is determined to make her circumstances work. Her strong Christian background from her father will help her out when she wants to use her tongue for more than kindness. I enjoyed and appreciated watching both Nicholas and his Mom change and loved how the author brought this story to its conclusion. Looking forward to reading about how the other two sisters do in the next 2 books, "June" and "Hope".

In the back of the book "About the Author" it states: "When asked what one thing Lori would like others to know about her, she readily says, 'I'm not perfect, just forgiven by the grace of God.' Christianity to Lori means peace, joy, and the knowledge that she has a Friend, a Savior, who never leaves her side. Through her books, she hopes to share this wondrous assurance with others." I feel she did a great job of doing just that! ( )

Great story and a nice book to start a wonderful series. I gave 4 stars. ( )

Great story and a nice book to start a wonderful series. I gave 4 stars. ( )