Charity L. (kingsdaughter1611) -
This next book is by an author I have followed since reading her first book, The Frontiersman's Daughter. Laura Frantz knows how to write a good book and I have loved all her stories. Love's Reckoning is the first book in the Ballantyne Legacy and I am anxiously awaiting the next one. Let me tell you my thoughts on this one first though:)
One of my favorite things with Laura's books is the ability to go back in time to a different period and see how things were. Reading one of her books is like going on a journey or taking a trip. This one was no different. I also love her Scots who are bigger than life. Silas is the apprentice who is given an ultimatum, marry one of my daughter's, or leave. I had never heard about the tradition of an apprentice marrying into the family to keep the trade alive. He has slowly fallen in love with one of them through a lot of scripture. If you haven't read this, you won't understand what I mean but I don't want to give anything away.
There is a lot of secrecy and mystery in this book along with some good romance. There is one part I didn't care for but I know things like this happen. This part is about two-thirds of the way through and at that point, the story-line took a turn for the worse. Not for me, but for Silas and Eden. It was a little odd going 6 years into the future but didn't take away from the book.
My only gripe, I wish the book hadn't ended where it did. I would have liked to have some of the book with them married but I am hoping the second book delves into that a little bit more. My last thought, I LOVED it! Another excellent read from Laura Frantz. Keep them coming:)
Available September 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
According to FTC regulations, I received a copy of this book for review purposes. I did not receive any monetary compensation. All thoughts are 100% mine.
One of my favorite things with Laura's books is the ability to go back in time to a different period and see how things were. Reading one of her books is like going on a journey or taking a trip. This one was no different. I also love her Scots who are bigger than life. Silas is the apprentice who is given an ultimatum, marry one of my daughter's, or leave. I had never heard about the tradition of an apprentice marrying into the family to keep the trade alive. He has slowly fallen in love with one of them through a lot of scripture. If you haven't read this, you won't understand what I mean but I don't want to give anything away.
There is a lot of secrecy and mystery in this book along with some good romance. There is one part I didn't care for but I know things like this happen. This part is about two-thirds of the way through and at that point, the story-line took a turn for the worse. Not for me, but for Silas and Eden. It was a little odd going 6 years into the future but didn't take away from the book.
My only gripe, I wish the book hadn't ended where it did. I would have liked to have some of the book with them married but I am hoping the second book delves into that a little bit more. My last thought, I LOVED it! Another excellent read from Laura Frantz. Keep them coming:)
Available September 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
According to FTC regulations, I received a copy of this book for review purposes. I did not receive any monetary compensation. All thoughts are 100% mine.
I agree with a reviewer that Laura Frantz is rocketing to the top of Christian fiction with writers like Rivers and Lewis. She is by no means a copy of anyone; but, I've really enjoyed her style. Love's Reckoning...and I'm guessing the rest of the Ballantyne books is worth your time.
***Beware Potential spoilers*** I loved the main characters in this book, Eden and Silas. Watching them fall in love in the midst of the deprivation of others was really enjoyable. I really got invested in their story and rooting for them to overcome. About 75% of the way through, something horrible happens and they reach a climax in their relationship. I am on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what will happen. I go to the next chapter which begins eight years later! At first, I didn't realize it was so long, because I am not one of those readers who pays attention to dates listed at the beginning of chapters. The story jumps eight years ahead with Silas and Eden living separate lives and then there are five more chapters before they see each other again. At the end, they wind up together and it is a happy ending, but I have to say that the absence of years and then the long amount of time getting them together from there, really took the wind out of my sails for liking the story. I found myself reading the last quarter of the book because I couldn't leave it unfinished, versus the original excitement that I had for them overcoming their obstacles.
I love novels that so completely fill my heart, overflowing story, characters and the romance of lovelove of faith in Christ and the romantic love that promises more than just a happy ending for characters Ive fallen in love with.
Whats the first word we think of when we want to describe a book weve adored? Love. It seems too simple, too cliché a description for when I think of Eden and Silas upon the page.
There is a rhythm, a cadence to their story, the words sweeping me into eighteenth century America. When I started reading their story, I thought the beginning a bit slow, but read much further than one hundred pages and youll find two well-crafted characters rise from the ashes of their circumstances. Circumstances that made me want to leap through the pages and fight for them together.
The novel takes a heart rending turn almost three quarters of the way through the story and I ached for the time lost in the romance between these two characters. There is a passion to their story, not romantically, but in their faith, in how they live life.
Eden and Silas are larger than life, filling the pages, my mind with glorious word-painted images and my heart with the purity of their romance. My only wish? The novel hadnt ended with their beginning. But I cant wait to see them together again in book two of the Ballantyne Legacy.
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.
**Available September 2012 from Revell, a division of Baker Publishers**
Whats the first word we think of when we want to describe a book weve adored? Love. It seems too simple, too cliché a description for when I think of Eden and Silas upon the page.
There is a rhythm, a cadence to their story, the words sweeping me into eighteenth century America. When I started reading their story, I thought the beginning a bit slow, but read much further than one hundred pages and youll find two well-crafted characters rise from the ashes of their circumstances. Circumstances that made me want to leap through the pages and fight for them together.
The novel takes a heart rending turn almost three quarters of the way through the story and I ached for the time lost in the romance between these two characters. There is a passion to their story, not romantically, but in their faith, in how they live life.
Eden and Silas are larger than life, filling the pages, my mind with glorious word-painted images and my heart with the purity of their romance. My only wish? The novel hadnt ended with their beginning. But I cant wait to see them together again in book two of the Ballantyne Legacy.
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.
**Available September 2012 from Revell, a division of Baker Publishers**
